Chapter 3. Research findings and discussion
This chapter presents the reader with the research findings which were made
available through the various methods of collecting and analyzing evidence, as they
were discussed in chapter 2. In the two main sections which follow, first a detailed
presentation of the findings is provided, and an interpretation of these findings is
attempted, in relation to what has been referred to in chapter 1 concerning the way
children think and learn and the way they learn languages.
In the second section, the implications of the research findings are discussed in
relation to the research questions, as they were stated in the introduction to this book,
and a number of suggestions are made in order for the situation to be improved.
3.1 Presentation and interpretation of results
As the questionnaire was the prime tool for collecting evidence, the findings
arising from it are presented first. Proceeding, the findings arising from the other
sources of information, such as t he supplementary material teachers provide their
students with, the classroom observations, and the interviews with the teachers
observed, are used in a complementary way in order to validate the questionnaire
results and to provide the reader with information concerning how teachers feel about
the lesson they deliver, and why they act in the way they do. Thus, by comparing
findings coming from different sources, a more accurate picture of the respondents’
beliefs and practices is provided, and potential inconsistencies between what
respondents believe they do and what they actually do are revealed.
3.1.1 Findings arising from the questionnaire
In relation to what was referred to in chapter 2 concerning the methods of
analyzing evidence (see section 2.2.1), the questionnaire results were subjected to
three different kinds of analysis. Thus, in the sections that follow, the distribution of
the respondents’ answers to each particular question is presented first. This helps us
build a profile of the persons who participated in the research and indicates common
trends and attitudes which need to be further investigated. Proceeding, the
respondents’ answers to a number of questions are cross-tabulated, in an attempt to
find out whether a causative relationship between certain variables can be established.
Finally, using the Likert scale, the respondents’ overall practices are classified
according to the degree to which they represent traditional or more communicative
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