Traditional Literature Review and Research Synthesis

The exponential growth of research and enormity of the body of knowledge that has been accumulated in applied linguistics make the need for quality and reliable synthesis of the available research more pressing than ever. Traditional reviews seek to critique existing research, provide an overview of the research, and/or contextualize a new study. Research syntheses aim at reaching conclusions by means of aggregating the totality of the empirical research that has been carried out on a certain topic. This chapter discusses the procedures and best practices of each of the two approaches and concludes by making a comparison between the two approaches and proposing ways to integrate them.

[1]  G. Cumming.  Understanding the New Statistics: Effect Sizes, Confidence Intervals, and Meta-Analysis , 2011 .

[2]  Helen Stewart Carpenter.  A Behavioral and Electrophysiological Investigation of Different Aptitudes for L2 Grammar in Learners Equated for Proficiency Level , 2008 .

[3]  Shaofeng Li.  The Associations Between Language Aptitude and Second Language Grammar Acquisition: A Meta-Analytic Review of Five Decades of Research , 2015 .

[4]  Denise E. Bronson,et al.  Finding and Evaluating Evidence: Systematic Reviews and Evidence-Based Practice , 2011 .

[5]  S. Gass,et al.  Quantitative Research Methods, Study Quality, and Outcomes: The Case of Interaction Research , 2011 .

[6]  Shaofeng Li.  Student and teacher beliefs and attitudes about oral corrective feedback , 2017 .

[7]  Y. Maeda,et al.  Elicited imitation as a measure of second language proficiency: A narrative review and meta-analysis , 2016 .

[8]  Frederick L. Oswald,et al.  Meta-analyzing second language research , 2015 .

[9]  G. Glass.  Primary, Secondary, and Meta-Analysis of Research1 , 1976 .

[10]  Luke Plonsky,et al.  STUDY QUALITY IN SLA , 2013, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[11]  Mark W. Lipsey,et al.  The efficacy of psychological, educational, and behavioral treatment. Confirmation from meta-analysis. , 1993, The American psychologist.

[12]  Lawrence A. Machi,et al.  The literature review : six steps to success , 2009 .

[13]  Laurene Elizabeth Zaporozhetz.  The Dissertation Literature Review: How Faculty Advisors Prepare Their Doctoral Candidates. , 1987 .

[14]  Wei Pan,et al.  A Comprehensive Review of Effect Size Reporting and Interpreting Practices in Academic Journals in Education and Psychology. , 2010 .

[15]  Shaofeng Li.  The Effectiveness of Corrective Feedback in SLA: A Meta-Analysis. , 2010 .

[16]  Jill K. Jesson,et al.  Doing Your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic Techniques , 2011 .

[17]  R. Ellis.  DOES FORM-FOCUSED INSTRUCTION AFFECT THE ACQUISITION OF IMPLICIT KNOWLEDGE? , 2002, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[18]  Jing Zhao,et al.  What We Know About Second Language Acquisition , 2012 .

[19]  Rod Ellis,et al.  DOING META-ANALYSIS IN SLA:PRACTICES,CHOICES,AND STANDARDS , 2012 .

[20]  Therese D. Pigott,et al.  How Many Studies Do You Need? , 2010 .