Theorizing Qualitative Research Interviews in Applied Linguistics

Interviews have long been used as a method in applied linguistics for the investigation of an extraordinary array of phenomena. In quantitative research, interviews have been used to generate insights into matters as varied as cognitive processes in language learning, lexical inferencing, motivation, language attitudes, program evaluation, language classroom pedagogy, language proficiency, and learner autonomy (see e.g. Brown 1988; Dornyei 2007; Gass and Mackey 2007). In qualitative research, interviews have featured in ethnographies, case studies, and action research concerning an equally diverse array of topics, as well as narrative inquiries, (auto)biographical research, and, of course, interview studies, which investigate participants’ identities, experiences, beliefs, life histories, and more (see e.g. Burnaby and Sun 1989; Simon-Maeda 2004; Barkuizen 2009). In fact, given the recent shift away from paradigm wars to mixed methods research (Bryman 2006; Creswell 2009; Denzin 2010), we can in the future expect to see interviews feature across an even broader range of studies.