Narrative Inquiry in Language Teaching and Learning Research (Second Edition)

Within the diverse range of methodological choices available to researchers, especially those who find their research orientation leaning towards the qualitative research paradigm, narrative inquiry has emerged as a significant yet understated focus for 21st-century applied linguists, undergraduate students, and postgraduate scholars working on their investigations into language teaching and learning experience. This seemingly new methodological development in applied linguistics has drawn its inspiration primarily from sociological and psychological literature (Barkhuizen, Benson, & Chik, 2014) and thanks to the inspiring work of Connelly and Clandinin (1990) and has eventually transitioned into many other domains, including social sciences and humanities (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990; Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, and Zilber, 1998; Pinnegar & Daynes, 2007; Riessman & Speedy, 2007; Webster & Mertova, 2007), even though narrative inquiry has been practiced before (Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007). With the increasing scholarly contributions and published empirical research, narrative inquiry has evolved into a vital and multifaceted methodology that, while rooted in sociological and psychological foundations, has gained widespread recognition across various disciplines, particularly in applied linguistics, as an optimal investigative route for exploring lived experience of language teaching and learning.