Encyclopedias & Handbooks

The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics by Carol A. Chapelle
ISBN: 9781119147374
Publication Date: 2020-01-09
Offers a wide-ranging overview of the issues and research approaches in the diverse field of applied linguistics.
Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning by Michael Byram (Editor); Adelheid Hu (Editor)
ISBN: 9781299715509
Publication Date: 2013-01-01
Covers the teaching of specific languages, communicative language teaching, early language learning, teacher education, syllabus and curriculum design, bilingualism, language laboratories, and study abroad.
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences by Patrick Colm Hogan (Editor)
ISBN: 9780521866897
Publication Date: 2010-11-15
A comprehensive and up-to-date reference resource for speech acquisition, reception, and production are arguably the most complex and distinctive operations of the human mind.
A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics by David Crystal
ISBN: 9781444302783
Publication Date: 2009-01-22
Includes over 5,100 terms, grouped into over 3,000 entries; coverage reflects recommendations by a team of experts in phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistic, making it exceptionally comprehensive.

Get Help from Your Librarian

she/her/ella

Starting Your Research

Step 1: Brainstorm Your Topic

Brainstorming your topic is the start of any research process. This is when you're trying to figure out what topic you're interested in and see what kind of information is out there about it.

Background information can help you prepare for further research by explaining all the issues related to your topic, especially when you're investigating a field that's unfamiliar to you. Getting more background information on a topic enables you to:

Brainstorm your topic
Collect keywords or important terms, concepts and author names to use when searching databases
Start thinking in broad terms, then narrow down your topic.
- Remember: Finding more specific aspects of your topic that you want to investigate is essential for getting a more manageable results list when searching. Less, but more relevant, information is key.
Develop a manageable research question—that is, a question that you would like answered about broad topic.

Find Background Information

The following resources are great places to get the background research necessary for later steps in the research process:

CREDO Reference This link opens in a new window
A collection of nearly 500 encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference books provides a good starting point for research.

Step 2: Develop Your Research Question

When starting your research, it is important to develop a research question to keep your searches structured and to keep the scope of the resources you find relevant. A research question is a question that you would like answered about broad topic.

Things to consider:

What questions do you want to answer? Are these questions new and innovative?
What audiences do you want to reach and how do you want them to be influenced?
What is the purpose of the research you want to use to test your hypothesis?

research question formation: broad topic is bilingualism, research-able issue is language learning, applied to population is children

Step 3: Define Your Search Strategy

Keywords are phrases or terms that search engines use to find resources by matching search terms entered to indexed terms in the record. Build your keywords by pulling out the main points of your research questions and by developing additional terms that describe the articles you are hoping to find.

Linguistics