TOPIC SELECTION & REFERENCES Dr. Pham Vu Phi Ho

Finding a Research Problem The decisions you made about selecting and developing a topic is crucial. Some students might come up with a topic easily. Others find hard to select a topic, and it takes them months to make a final decisions. Besides, broad reading is an essential requirement for selecting and developing your topic. Reading helps increase your knowledge so that you are able to make a final decision about the research topic.

In order to have a clear objective of your research, you need to ask yourself following questions. 1. Why are you engaging in this research? 2. What area or aspect you are going to investigate? 3. What questions are you going to look for the answers? 4. How are you going to conduct the research? 5. How long have you got to do the research? Is there a deadline for its completion? 6. What are the sources that you can call upon to help you complete the research? Finding a Research Problem

Problem-solving 7 1. Work in group of four, think of following problems. Put an X next to the problem that is a better choice for your topic. ______ Problems of classroom management ______ Problems of appropriate materials used in each subject ______ Problems related to particular teaching skills (Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing) ______ Problems relating to students’ attitudes or motivation toward learning ______ Problems relating to students’ performance in the classroom ______ Effectiveness of pair-work and group-work ______ Effectiveness of peer feedback on writing quality ______ Interaction in group work ______ Effectiveness of Technology in Language Learning ______ ……………………………………………………………………………. 2. Write some reasons why you have chosen such an area. …………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………

Problem-solving 8 Take an area that you have selected on problem-solving 7, write several questions or aspects that you want to investigate. 1. …………………………………………………………… 2. …………………………………………………………… 3. ……………………………………………………………

Read to Inquire Your research focus (topic) can also be developed when you conduct broad reading. At this stage, your chief purpose in reading is to make a final decision about the topic and research question. If you do not have a solid topic in mind yet, reading research articles will help you out with some specific topic.

As you conduct your broad reading, check the library catalog to see if the library has any books, journals, or other materials related to your topic or aspect. Searching information from the Internet is one of the good ways to look for most recent article journals to review for your topic. As you read, organize your work and do following things. 1. Keep a research journal. 2. Keep up the references or bibliographies as you read. 3. Use paraphrasing techniques. Read to Inquire

References In-text citation and references play important parts in writing up a research report. The OWL (Online Writing Lab) resources will help you learn how to use the American Psychological Association (APA) citation and format style. Visit this website at to learn more. The software Endnotes is another good tool for doing references when you write your research. However, in this book, I will help you know how to take advantages of the application of Word Processor (Microsoft Office 2010, or 2007) in order to keep track during your reading and writing up your research.

Manage Sources

Style Under the “Manage Sources” of the “References” menu is the “Style”. There are different styles for your references as you see in the drop-down menu of style. Select “APA Fifth Edition” (Fig. 2).

Bibliography

Insert Citation

In this menu “Reference” of Microsoft Word 2010, other features should also be noticed when you write up a research report such as “Table of Contents”, “Insert Table of Figures”, “Insert Caption”, or “Insert Footnote”, etc.