Essay Question

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Michael Hylton

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I've been given a question to answer for an essay but can't seem to find any relevent information in the books or on the net, so if there is any one there that can help me with this question or direct me to books or sites that can help that would be great.

Question:


‘In some fields, the scientist is able to generate observations that will provide evidence for or against
any hypothesis that he [sic] wishes to test. Experimental sciences, such as chemistry and some
branches of psychology, have an advantage because for it is possible for them to produce relevant
evidence through controlled laboratory experiments. Other sciences, such as astronomy and
economics cannot do this. They must wait for time to throw up observations that may be used to test
hypotheses.’

Where do you think TEFL stands in relation to this statement? Is it possible to conduct controlled experiments in language
teaching/learning? How can we test statements or answer questions related to our field of interest?

All answers are more than welcome.
 

Tdol

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Which experiments have you looked at- there are plenty in Google Scholar that you should be access that might be worth looking at to see the limits of applying the scientific method to ESL.
 

mayita1usa

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Where do you think TEFL stands in relation to this statement? Is it possible to conduct controlled experiments in language
teaching/learning? How can we test statements or answer questions related to our field of interest?
I think the support for your answer might be found by researching the topic 'language acquisition research'
 
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