Linguistics Research
Contents
Annotated bibliographies and Literature reviews
There is excellent online help to find out how to write an annotated bibliography. The Academic Skills Office has Fact sheets about Referencing and one of these is Writing an annotated bibliography. The section on Writing essays, reviews and reports includes a fact sheet on Writing a literature review. There is also information about the referencing styles used here at UNE.
eSKILLS Plus is an online tutorial for post-graduate students. Mastering the literature has a detailed section on The Literature Review.
Reference books
UNE has hundreds of online reference books, such as encyclopedias and dictionaries, on a multitude of topics. To find out the best ones for Linguistics use the Linguistics Library Subject Guide.
Finding books
The following topic will be used as an example:
In the teaching of English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL), it is common to discourage students from using their first language/s in the class. Suggest reasons why this is the case, and outline the arguments both for and against the use of first language in the teaching of English.
The first place to look for books is the catalogue, because it tells you what is held here at UNE. To find out books about a topic it is best to use a Browse Subject search. However, university libraries use Library of Congress Subject Headings, not everyday Australian words.
How do you find out the right words to use? Try the Keyword search to look for tesol. Scan through the list of titles and when you see one that is of interest click on More.. at the top left of the record. This will show you the appropriate Subject headings to try. Click on one to go to a list of resources about that topic or use the Browse Subject search and type in the right words.
Some relevant Subject headings for the example topic include:
- English language study and teaching foreign speakers
- language acquisition
- second language acquisition
- applied linguistics
- language and languages study and teaching
- bilingual education and bilingualism
- language and education
eSKILLS UNE has good advice on how to search the catalogue.
Finding journal articles
If you want to find references to articles you need to use a journal index. These databases tell you what is being researched. The references detail the titles of articles, authors, and (most importantly) the source — journal title, year, volume number, issue number and pages. The databases provide either an abstract (a short summary of the topics covered) or subject descriptors so that you can judge if an article is going to be useful to you. Increasingly indexes are also providing the article itself, online in full-text.
If you use a database to find out about what articles have been published about your topic and the article itself is not available online in full-text, then try a Journal Title search in the catalogue to see if UNE holds the journal you want in print or online in another database. If you want more hints, see how to find journals in the catalogue.
Try the Library Subject Guide for Linguistics to see a list of the Key Databases and those Worth a Look.
Finding articles about the example topic
In the teaching of English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL), it is common to discourage students from using their first language/s in the class. Suggest reasons why this is the case, and outline the arguments both for and against the use of first language in the teaching of English.
The first thing to do is to spend some time jotting down the keywords and alternative expressions for the topic so you can develop an efficient strategy.
Keywords to consider are:
cross-lingual, first language, second language, TESOL, ESL, EFL, ELT, classroom language, English only, bilingual teaching, direct method, monolingual teaching, multilingual class.
The second step is to decide which databases to use. Here are some examples of how to search for references to articles about the topic in some of the Key Linguistics databases.
LLBA (Language and Linguistic Behavior Abstracts) and ERIC, using Proquest
Because this topic is talking about classrooms, ERIC (a major Education database) is a relevant one to try. ERIC and LLBA are available through the same platform, Proquest.
- Choose LLBA or ERIC from the list of Key databases.
You may have to enter your UNE username and password. - At the top left, use the pull-down menu where it says Searching: 1 database.
Make sure there are ticks in the boxes next to LLBA (1973-current) and ERIC (1996-current) and click the Use selected databases button. - Because the topic is likely to produce a large number of results, it's a good idea to first use a Subject heading (all) search instead of All fields (no full text) as the articles are more likely to be relevant. Do this for the first two lines of keywords.
- In the first box on the first line type teach*
* is for truncation and will find teach/es, teacher/s and teaching.
In the first box on the second line type tesol and in the second box next to OR try english second language
In the first box on the third line type classroom and leave it as All fields (no full text).
Click on Add a row and try "first language", again as All fields (no full text).
The quotes "....." will find the phrase. - Note that the default Search Option is to look in Scholarly journals. This is usually a good way to limit your results to quality journal articles. However, if you want to also find Eric Reports (practical teaching documents, in full-text after 1993) and other types of documents then remove the tick.
You can also limit your date range and the language to English if you wish, using the boxes further down the screen. - Click Search when you have made all your choices.
- Your results are listed by relevance.
If you have chosen to see Eric Reports (and other document types) then they will be linked as Reports underneath Source type on the right hand side. - If the article you want is not available online in full-text then use the UNE Find it button or look in the catalogue for the title of the journal (not the article).
If the journal is in print then you can request a copy of the article using the Document request forms.
If the journal is online in another database, use the URL (web address) provided in the catalogue to go to the right database and then search for the particular article you want.
JSTOR
This database contains hundreds of journals in full-text back to their first issue (but does not contain the most recent volumes). Your searches will produce a large number of results, so try the following strategies and limits to make your searches work better.
- Choose JSTOR from the list of Linguistics databases and click on the Advanced search link under the search box.
- In the first search box type english "first language" "second language". The quotes will find exact phrases.
In the second box type "language use" and in the third box type classroom. - You can also limit your search Item Type by ticking the box next to Article and the language of the article to English.
Limit the date range if you wish.
Further down the screen, Narrow by Discipline by ticking the boxes next to Education, Language & Literature and Linguistics. - When you click the Search button you will see the results of your search.
If you wish to have fewer results use the Modify Search button, click on Add a Field and add teach* in the fourth search box. - You can print or save each article by using the PDF link, or mark several citations and email the list.
Informit
Informit is the platform for Australian databases.
- Choose Informit from the list of Key Linguistics databases.
- Put a tick in the boxes next to Humanities & Social Sciences Collection, A+ Education and APA (Australian Public Affairs) Full-Text. If you don't mind older articles, scroll further down the screen and tick DELTAA (English language teaching for adults for the period 1985-2008). Then click any blue continue button.
- In the first search box type language us* or first language and in the second type classroom
Click on Add more terms, in the third type teach* and choose SUBJECT - All Subject fields instead of Any field.
Add another search box and try second language as a SUBJECT - All Subject fields search.
Click Search to see your list of results, newest ones first. - To see the full details of the references, click on Fields to Display on the bright green toolbar across the top, and then on Complete.
- To view/print/save an article, click on the Full Text link beneath the citation.
If it is not available in full-text in Informit, try the UNE Find It button or a catalogue search for the Journal Title. - Click on the Logout link at the top right when you have finished using Informit.