Methods of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts

Book excerpt: This text makes available in a concise format the chapters comprising the research methodology section of the Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts, Second Edition. An introduction, designed to give K-12 teachers an understanding of the basic categories and functions of research in teaching, is followed by chapters addressing teacher professionalism and the rise of "multiple literacies"; empirical research; longitudinal studies; case studies; ethnography; teacher research; teacher inquiry into literacy, social justice, and power; synthesis research; fictive representation; and contemporary methodological issues and future direction in research on the teaching of English. Methods of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts is well-suited for use in upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level literacy research methods courses.