Semi-structured Interview

Interviews are one of the most popular methods of gathering qualitative data for social science researchers (Basit 2010). Interviews have many advantages. For example, interviews are not only able to reveal and explore the research subjects, but also allow researchers to conduct in-depth focused study on specific issues and themes (Cohen et al 2007). Kitwood (1977) (in Cohen et al 2007) believes that a well-conducted interview, with respondents being sincere and well- motivated, may obtain accurate data. Unlike questionnaires, interviews always allow face-to-face interaction, which is helpful for trust and building cooperation between the researcher and respondent (Dooley 2001). In addition, the interviewer can be flexible (Bailey 1994), is able to clarify comments from the respondents, and can stimulate the respondent to give richer and full answers (Robson 1993). In addition, in an interview, any unexpected results from the questionnaire can be followed up in order to gain deeper understanding of the participants (Kerliner 1970).

Hence, the use of interviews has been identified as an appropriate method to answer Research Questions 3 and 4. Among the three available types of interviews, namely structured-interviews,

semi-structured interviews, and unstructured interviews, I decided to use semi-structured interviews, which are the most favoured type of interview used in educational research (Basit 2003). There are several reasons for this choice. First, due to the fact that no frameworks or models for dealing with a Chinese audience viewing films and TV series produced in the English speaking countries have been found in the existing literature, the nature of Research Questions 3 and 4 is mainly exploratory. RQs 3 and 4 provide the main direction and issues to explore. However, the course of an interview needs to be flexible enough to allow supplementary questions, prompts and probes to be used during the interview in order to gain comprehensive, in-depth and rich data. Compared to other interview types, it is believed that the semi-structured interview meets the above requirements (Cohen et al 2007; Basit 2010), and hence is the appropriate research method for the project.

In terms of format of the interview questions, the indirect approach was adopted, because the less obvious the purposes of the questions are, the more likely frank and open responses will be produced (Tuckman 1972). Also, in addition to the main questions, prompts and probes were also prepared. Prompts provide opportunity to clarify topics or questions and probes allow the researcher to ask respondents to extend, elaborate, provide details for and clarify their answers. In this way the researcher is more likely to obtain the richness, comprehensiveness and depth of honest responses which are some of the hallmarks of successful interviews (Morrison 1993; Patton 1980).

According to the way in which an interview is administered, interviews are divided into two main types, namely, individual interviews and group interviews. Individual interviews comprise personal or face-to-face interviews and telephone interviews (Baker, 1999; Bryman 2004). Group interviews, sometimes described as focus groups or focused interviews (Baker, 1999; Bryman 2004), have been very popular because they are a less expensive yet effective way to get responses from a small group of people to a focused matter (Baker, 1999:224).

Hence, in addition to individual interviews, I decided to conduct group interviews as well in order to ensure the comprehensiveness, richness and trust-worthiness of the data. This is due to several characteristics of group interviews. First, a group interview can generate a wider range of responses than individual interviews. Second, a group interview can bring together people with “varied opinions, or as representative of different collectivises” (Cohen et al 2007:373). In addition, as Bodgan and Bklen (1992:100) indicated, group interviews are useful ‘for gaining an insight to what might be pursued in subsequent individual interviews’. Also, some interviewees may not feel entirely comfortable being interviewed alone by a stranger.

In addition to the above beneficial features provided by group interviews, another reason for interviewing CCSs both individually and as groups is because, based on my personal experience as a student inside and outside of China, as well as observation as a college English teacher in China, CCSs watch films in different settings. For example, they sometimes watch program alone in their dormitory, at the cinema or at home. At other times, they may watch films together with friends or family members. By interviewing CCSs both individually and as a group, it was hoped to capture, as much as possible, authentic and comprehensive data which will give in-depth answers to the research questions.

However, group interviews are not without disadvantages. As Arksey and Knight (1999) rightly point out, some interviewees might be reticent in front of others. They also suggested that some people might be more dominant than others, who may withhold information and not speak out in front of other group members. As a result, a ‘public-line’ or ‘group-think’ (Watts and Ebbutt 1987) might be produced instead of more personal, honest response. In addition, as Watts and Ebbutt point out (1987), group interviews have little space allowing personal matters to emerge. These issues were kept in mind when conducting the group-interviews, and counter-actions were taken when these issues arose. For example, after asking the questions, I would let the more reticent interviewees express themselves first and then let the dominant ones speak. In addition, when the group provided uniform statements, efforts were made to ask each individual to give further explanation of their statement.

The design of the semi-structured interview I used will now be described. Each interview contained five stages (see Appendix 3 for details).

Stage A

Take personal information from respondents.

Stage B

Warm up interviewee by chatting casually, and meanwhile search for more information and further explanations on their answers to questions in Questionnaire section 3.

Stage C

A film card in A4 size was prepared in advance (Appendix 4). The card includes the names and posters of films and TV series, in total 36, showing on the front and back of the card. By showing the card to the interviewee, it was hoped to help the interviewee recall a memory of a film or TV series they have seen before. Also, by asking them about their memory of the program they’ve watched, what they think and how they felt about the program, it was hoped to identify any long- term effect (i.e. whether or not they had learned anything about Americans or British from the

program). Also, interviewees’ answers were used to help decide on the clips which were viewed later.

Stage D

Twenty-three clips from seven films and one American TV series were chosen (see Appendix 5 for a description of each clip). There were three main criteria that were used to choose the clips. First, based on observation, research on IMDB, genre and anticipation, chosen clips should include the ones the interviewees might have seen before and the ones they might not have seen before. Second, the clips should cover as many different subjects and topics as possible. Third, based on my experience and knowledge as a Chinese citizen and college English teacher, I chose clips that contained issues which might stimulate rich responses from the Chinese students.

The average length of each clip was 2-3 minutes. Depending on the interviewees’ answers to questions in Stages B and C, two or three clips would be shown to the interviewee. I always gave the interviewee a chance to choose what they wanted to watch. The clip was either from a film he or she had seen before, or from a program they had not seen before. After each clip I asked them a series of questions which aimed to discover how they made sense of the clip.

Stage E

The main purpose of this stage was to find out whether their teachers used films in their English classes. If their answer was no, I asked them questions to find out their opinions on using films in ELT. If the answer was yes, I asked them about their views on their teachers’ methods. These views are a valuable resource for examining pedagogical implications of using films in ELT. In addition, by asking students to recommend any program they believe can help students learn more about the U.K. and U.S.A., it was hoped to get extra data to help answer Research Questions 3 and 4 (sense-making and effect).

In the fieldwork, both individual- and group-interviews were conducted following the above steps. Having presented the rationale and design of the research methods (see table below for summary), the following section will look at the pilot study relating to the proposed research programme.

Research method Research question(s)

Questionnaire Research questions 1 & 2

Semi-structured interview Research questions 3 & 4

Literature review (chapter 3) Research question 5