The third research question is: What subject areas could Languages work with to produce projects? This question followed the previous question and was closely related. I hoped that by using the data collected from the previous question students would be able to relate the topics they wanted to study as part of any cross-curricular language project to other school curriculum areas, as well as provide examples of cross-curricular projects. The final subsidiary research question is: Are there differences in responses from higher, middle, and lower attaining groups of language learners? The word groups suggested that responses had to be analysed in terms of the group as well as the individual. 2.3 Ontology After establishing boundaries on the scale of the research project and formulating the research questions to be used, I felt it necessary to consider my own ontological stance surrounding the research. I believed that doing so would help solidify and justify the methods and methodology used in addressing the research questions. When considering ontological issues, issues surrounding epistemology and the status of knowledge usually arise simultaneously. Epistemology is addressed later in the thesis when discussing the methods used for data collection. Ontology is a difficult concept for researchers to grasp fully and I only aim to briefly describe the differences between ontological stances and how these stances affect the methods researchers employ for data collection. Crotty (1998) states that ontology is study of being, where the “the emphasis is on the theory of existence”. (p. 23). In terms of this research project I focused on a quote from Blaikie (1993) who states that ontology means claims or assumptions that a “the particular approach to social enquiry makes about the nature of social reality”. (p. 6). This definition, although initially difficult to understand, highlights the importance of having a philosophical perspective on a research methodology. Without having a perspective on how people interact and exist in the world it would be impossible to acknowledge what might count as relevant knowledge during the research process. To attempt to unravel this quote further, a simple example is needed: If an individual believes that students’ behaviour in school is brought about by their social interactions with other students in a variety of social situations, then this view of social reality differs greatly from one considering that behaviour comes from genetics. These two views contrast greatly regarding the theory of existence. The first approach relates to the influences of social conditions, the second is biological, commenting
The third research question is: What subject areas could Languages work with to produce projects? This question followed the previous question and was closely related. I hoped that by using the data collected from the previous question students would be able to relate the topics they wanted to study as part of any cross-curricular language project to other school curriculum areas, as well as provide examples of cross-curricular projects. The final subsidiary research question is: Are there differences in responses from higher, middle, and lower attaining groups of language learners? The word groups suggested that responses had to be analysed in terms of the group as well as the individual. 2.3 Ontology After establishing boundaries on the scale of the research project and formulating the research questions to be used, I felt it necessary to consider my own ontological stance surrounding the research. I believed that doing so would help solidify and justify the methods and methodology used in addressing the research questions. When considering ontological issues, issues surrounding epistemology and the status of knowledge usually arise simultaneously. Epistemology is addressed later in the thesis when discussing the methods used for data collection. Ontology is a difficult concept for researchers to grasp fully and I only aim to briefly describe the differences between ontological stances and how these stances affect the methods researchers employ for data collection. Crotty (1998) states that ontology is “the study of being, where the emphasis is on the theory of existence”. (p. 23). In terms of this research project I focused on a quote from Blaikie (1993) who states that ontology means “the claims or assumptions that a particular approach to social enquiry makes about the nature of social reality”. (p. 6). This definition, although initially difficult to understand, highlights the importance of having a philosophical perspective on a research methodology. Without having a perspective on how people interact and exist in the world it would be impossible to acknowledge what might count as relevant knowledge during the research process. To attempt to unravel this quote further, a simple example is needed: If an individual believes that students’ behaviour in school is brought about by their social interactions with other students in a variety of social situations, then this view of social reality differs greatly from one considering that behaviour comes from genetics. These two views contrast greatly regarding the theory of existence. The first approach relates to the influences of social conditions, the second is biological, commenting
Using_Pupil_Voice_to_Investigate_Students'_Thoughts_and_Opinions_on_Cross-Curriculum_Language_Teaching.docx