The approach

When it came to methodology the qualitative paradigm seemed the logical choice. Firstly, the study of social and/or cultural phenomenon is dominated by qualitative methods and this is overwhelmingly supported by the literature. Further reading reinforced the ‗fit‘ until it seemed to become common sense. Broadly defined, qualitative studies can be defined as research that is based on descriptive data that doesn‘t regularly use statistical data (Mackey & Gass, 2005). Basically, qualitative research focuses on obtaining naturalistic data. This can be contrasted with quantitative research which tries to obtain data in a controlled, objective manner to be presented as measurable outcomes. The possibility of a mainly quantitative approach was excluded early on as it was clear that classrooms were not laboratories where variables can be controlled. Senior (2006, p. 15) wrote:

In classrooms it is almost impossible to exclude all the variables that may influence the findings. In controlled environments such as laboratories it is much easier to establish cause-effect relationships, since extraneous variables can be identified beforehand and then eliminated or acknowledged to have had a possible effect on the findings. This is virtually impossible to achieve in naturalistic settings.

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There was little support from literature about what might be found in the class in this particular context. I needed to go into the environment with a general question, and leave behind any previous assumptions that had formed from my previous experience in the setting. Therefore there was a need for a broad view at first and then as the study progressed and themes emerged, the study could progress and delve deep into the behaviour of the social setting. Qualitative research is open-ended with ―categories that emerge‖ (Mackey & Gass, 2005, p. 165), and it is ―designed to lead the researcher into unforeseen areas of discovery‖ (Holliday, 2007, p. 5).

Another important point is that the qualitative researcher must avoid ―reductive cultural overgeneralization‖ (culturalism or essentialism). It is problematic for qualitative research in that it implies how things are before any research is done (Holliday, 2007, p. 12). The researcher in other words must not presume how things are, how people behave, before any research commences.

Defining qualitative research, Mackey and Gass (2005, p. 162-164) state that it has the characteristicsset out below.

There is rich description. ‗Real‘ and ‗rich‘ data.

There is natural and holistic representation. Naturalistic and uncontrolled observations in natural settings.

There is a need for emic processes or the insider‘s perspective. There are possible ideological orientations.

All of these characteristics provided a base of understanding and were influential in indicating how the research project would progress.

The concept of ‗culture‘ was the starting point for the whole project. When researching such a concept, the word ethnography comes to the fore. This was backed by literature which espoused the virtues of looking at culture with such an approach. An ethnographic approach seemed to be tailor-made for the research at the beginning as it suited the nature of the project and this was reinforced as the study progressed.

It suited this project as ethnography can research sociocultural processes in language learning (Watson-Gregeo, 1988) by focusing on and analysing how groups of people think and behave in their natural environments (Fetterman, 1999). Mackey and Gass (2005, p. 167) state ―from a second language research perspective, ethnographic

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research aims to describe and interpret the cultural behaviour of a group.‖ Harklau (2005, p. 179) writes that the purpose of ethnography ―is to come to a deeper understanding of how individuals view and participate in their own social and cultural worlds.‖ An ethnographic approach focuses on culture (‗ethnography‘ literally means the study of culture) and tries to interpret and describe it in its many forms.

From an ethnographic perspective a classroom culture is always there whether or not the participants are aware of it (Frank, 1999). As stated earlier culture is omnipresent (2.2), it is present wherever there is human interaction. An ethnographic approach ‗provides a lens‘ to understand the patterns of behaviour and interaction in the classroom that are often implicit because they become ―so regular, patterned and ordinary‖ (Frank, p. 3). Even the simplest of things in the classroom like where to sit and where the teacher is positioned in relation to the students becomes customary and routine to the participants. An ethnographic lens can reveal the explicit and implicit patterns and routines.

Finding strategies to put the approach into practice was not an easy task. It was an ongoing process. It involved reading methodology literature, thinking about and discussing the practicalities of the research at hand and analysing what others had done previously. There were some concepts that were strong influences on the types of data collection methods employed, however, and these included:

the need to have multiple data collection methods. Multiple types of data collecting methods are necessary not only to give depth to any claims but also to gain a holistic view, a comprehensive and complete picture of the classroom. Davis and Henze (1998) state that the credibility of ethnographic studies is enhanced by the use of multiple resources and methods. Methodological triangulation involves the ―multiple, independent methods of obtaining data‖ of phenomena in order to justify research findings (Mackey & Gass, 2005, p. 181). It was decided to employ a number of data collection methods to look at the same phenomenon from a number of ‗angles‘.

there are multiple realities. The views of all the participants in the setting, the ‗emic‘ insider‘s perspective, was necessary to understand and describe the classroom. Fetterman (1999, p. 20) writes that this is central to most ethnographic work and states ―the insider‘s perception of reality is instrumental

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to understand and accurately describe situations and behaviours.‖ Basically each situation must be understood from the perspective of all the participants. In the end, it was decided to employ methods that extracted both the teachers‘ and students‘ views. This also provided an important triangulation of data resources on the phenomenon under study to add credibility to the findings.

an open and cyclical process to data collection. Emergent hypotheses or what is commonly known as grounded theories, are extracted and based entirely on the data collected. Researchers go back and forth between analysis and data collection testing and working on theories. Senior (2006, p. 17) states that theories gradually emerge from the data in an organic way and are not imposed from outside. As well, using these types of guidelines can focus ethnographic methods and so help deal with the complexities of such a study (Charmaz & Mitchell, 2001). The study was from the start a wide-ranging one. This concept helped focus the research, to test and specifically look in more detail at theories that were raised in the data collection process.