RESEARCH METHOD COHEN ok

466 APPROACHES TO QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
to be representative of the wider population.
However, the sample of experienced teachers
was deliberately selected to provide an informed
overview of the key issues to be faced. It must
be remembered that, though the unanimity is
useful, the main purpose of the interview data
was to identify key issues, regardless of unanimity,
convergence or frequency of mention. That the
respondents articulated similar issues, however,
signals that these may be important elements.
Further, the issues themselves are seen to lie in a
huge diversity of fields, such that there is no single
or simplistic set of problems or solutions. Hence, to
complement the considerable unanimity of voice
is a similar consensus in identifying the scope of the
problem, yet the range of the problems is vast. Both
singly and together, the issues of English language
teaching, learning and achievement in Macau are
complex. The messages are clear in respect of
Form Five students and their English teaching
and learning. First, English performance is weak
in all its aspects – reading, writing, speaking and
listening – but it is particularly weak in speaking
and writing. Second, local cultural factors exert an
influence on learning English:
Students do not wish to lose face in public
(and the Chinese emphasis on gaining and
maintaining face is powerful).
Students are shy and afraid of making mistakes.
The pressure of examination success is
universal and severe.
The local culture is not English; it is Chinese
and, if anything else, is Portuguese rather than
English, although this latter is very limited;
there is little need for people to speak or use
English at present;
In some quarters, knowledge of English culture
is seen to be an important element in learning
English; this was refuted by the teachers in this
sample. The third main message is that English
is seen instrumentally, but this message has to be
qualified, as many students gain employment and
university entrance even though their English is
weak. The fact of English being an international
language has limited effect on student motivation
or achievement.
Finally, poor teaching and learning are
significant contributors to poor performance, in
several areas:
There is great emphasis on drill, rote learning
and memorization.
There is a predominance of passive rather than
active learning, with teaching as the delivery
of facts rather than the promotion of learning
and understanding.
Traditional didactic methods are used.
There is reliance on a very limited range of
teaching and learning styles.
The limited subject and pedagogical knowledge
of English teachers are compounded by the
lack of adequate initial and post-initial teacher
education.
Frequently the careful laying of foundations of
English teaching and learning is absent.
Students use so much Chinese during English
lessons that they have little chance to think in
English – they translate rather than think in
English.
From the interview data it can be seen that
the size of the problems and issues to be faced in
English language teaching and learning is vast. In
this example, tables are carefully laid out to draw
together similar sets of responses. The tables enable
the reader to see, at a glance, where similarities
and differences lie between the two groups of
respondents. Note also that after each table there
is a summary of the main points to which the
researcher wishes to draw the reader’s attention,
and that these comprise both substantive and
overall comments (e.g. on the topic in hand
and on the similarities and differences between
the groups of respondents respectively). Finally,
note that an overall summary of ‘key messages’
has been provided at the end of all the tables
and their commentaries. This is a very abridged
and selective example, and justice has not been
done to the whole of the data that the original
researcher used. Nevertheless the point is clearly
illustrated here that summarizing and presenting
data in tabular form can address the twin issues
of qualitative research: data reduction through
careful data display and commentary.