Individuals in Context: Using Narrative Analysis to Amplify the Voices of Participants

Speaker: Niamh Mullen, Associate Professor in English for Academic Purposes

In this session, I will share the methodological approach that I took in collecting data for my PhD research into L2 listeners’ transitions to listening to English in the UK (more specifics on the day). While the majority of research on listening focuses on the cognitive aspects of the skill, my study moves beyond purely cognitive understandings and seeks to understand the social, psychological and emotional factors that may also influence students as they listen. To this end, a narrative approach was taken to data collection in this longitudinal study, and participants kept listening diaries and discussed the stories they had shared in their diaries in more detail in narrative discussions with the researcher.

As well as discussing the choice of methodology, I will venture into my experiences of the methodology and the challenges that I faced. While a narrative approach affords the opportunity to investigate experiences over time and give more voice to participants, there are potential emotional and ethical issues that can impact the researcher, in my experience, and these will be discussed.

We will also take some time during this session to discuss the complexities of data analysis where a more grounded/rhizomatic approach has been taken, and there will be a practical activity so that we can delve into this complexity in more detail.

No registration needed, just turn up and feel free to bring your own lunch. The workshop will be recorded.