Reflexivity in Applied Linguistics

This edited collection provides research-informed guidance on how reflexivity may be practised in applied linguistics research. Specifically, we promote reflexivity as an essential hallmark of quality research and argue that doing reflexivity confers greater transparency, methodological rigour, depth, and trustworthiness to our scholarly inquiries. The collection features perspectives from different sub-fields of applied linguistics, including intercultural communication, language education, and multilingualism, and draws on data from a range of settings, including language cafés, classrooms, workplaces, and migration and displacement contexts. Each chapter follows a unified structure: theoretical background, context of the empirical study used as a backdrop for the chapter, an analysis of how reflexivity played out throughout the study, and conclusions which include takeaway points for other researchers. This approach allows readers to gain a sound understanding of the challenges and affordances of doing reflexivity in concrete examples of applied linguistics research whilst also gaining guidance on how to nurture and report on researcher reflexivity as this unfolds throughout the lifetime of a project. This book will appeal to students and scholars in applied linguistics, particularly those with an interest in research methods in the areas of language education, multilingualism, and intercultural communication.

Sal Consoli is Assistant Professor in Language Education at the Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh. Previously, he worked at other universities in the UK and Hong Kong. His research examines the psychology of language learning and methodological debates in the domains of narrative inquiry and practitioner research. Sara Ganassin is Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics and Communication in the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University, UK. Her research examines the interplay of language, culture, and identity in contexts of mobility and displacement. She co-authored Intercultural Challenges for the Reintegration of Displaced Professionals (2022, Routledge).

Foreword Ema Ushioda 1. Navigating the waters of reflexivity in applied linguistics Sal Consoli and Sara Ganassin 2. Emotional reflexivity during a global health crisis: emotion 'work' in online health communication research Margo Turnbull and Xiaoyan Ivy Wu 3. 'Making the familiar strange': reflexivity in linguistic ethnography within a context of former legal professional practice Judith Reynolds 4. Journeying through languages and voices: A reflexive account of researching teachers' language practices in the multilingual and multicultural context of Mauritius Aruna Ankiah-Gangadeen and Pascal Nadal 5. "There would be no project if I were to disregard my own self!": An autoethnography of becoming reflexive as a doctoral student in applied linguistics Samuel C. S. Tsang 6. Critical reflexive phenomenography in a study abroad context: navigating Arab sojourners' international academic experiences in Britain Anas Hajar 7. Researching language cafés: engaging the researcher's authentic multilingual self Nuria Polo-Pérez 8. Collaborative reflexivity through feedback dialogues: developing the research and the doctoral researcher Maxine Gillway and Hugo Santiago Sanchez 9. Reflexivity, Emerging Expertise, and Mi[S-STEP]s: A Collaborative Self-Study of Two TESOL Teacher Educators Laura M. Kennedy and Peter I. De Costa 10: Reflexivity, emerging expertise, and Mi[S-STEP]s: A collaborative self-study of two TESOL teacher educators Helen Sauntson 11. Learning from the messiness of research: Reflexivity in sharing sessions with domestic migrant workers Hans J. Ladegaard Afterword. Journey into applied linguistics: reflecting on reflexivity and positionality Li Wei