Quasi-Experimental Research in Second Language Acquisition

How can second language researchers make credible causal claims from an experimental study conducted in classrooms and other authentic learning environments where random assignment is often impractical or impossible?Quasi-Experimental Research in Second Language Acquisition: A Practical Guide is the first volume devoted to this question.

Bringing together an impressive range of leading scholars in second language acquisition, this volume walks readers through how quasi-experimental designs can be conceptualized, implemented, reported, evaluated, and replicated with both methodological rigor and sensitivity to real-world teaching and learning contexts.

The chapters guide readers through the key decision points that help shape high-quality quasi-experimental research. Topics in this volume include sampling and randomization, mixed methods, instructional materials, learning processes, corrective feedback, young learners, individual differences, replication, ethics, and digital language learning. Each chapter includes essential background discussion to the topic, framed with exemplary studies, step-by-step guidance to address a key challenge in quasi-experimental research, hands-on activities, discussion questions, and suggestions for further reading.

This book is an essential resource for graduate students, advanced undergraduate students, early-career researchers, and experienced scholars seeking to design, conduct, review, or interpret classroom-based and intervention-oriented research in second language acquisition.