An important lesson in behavioural research methodology is that generalization rests on randomly drawn samples from the target population. In practice, however, participants are drawn primarily from WEIRD samples, that is, Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic groups (Henrich, Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010). Convenience sampling and an overreliance on WEIRD samples is also prevalent in the field of SLA. Plonsky (2016) estimated that 67 percent of all samples consisted of college or university students. This is cause for concern as it may lead to biased or incomplete knowledge of second language learning and teaching (Tarone and Bigelow, 2010). Replication in non-WEIRD samples is desperately needed. Marsden et al. (2018) have shown research is seldom replicated, let alone in non-WEIRD contexts. This raises concerns about the generalizability and reproducibility of SLA findings. What do we really know about second language acquisition and teaching if we test WEIRD participants only and do not engage in replication? This is the central question in this colloquium, with Marsden and Plonsky as featured speakers. We are inviting submissions, replications or otherwise, that shed light on the possible consequences of this state of affairs for the quality of our knowledge of second language learning and teaching.
Room 1 AILA 2021 aila2021@gcb.nlAn important lesson in behavioural research methodology is that generalization rests on randomly drawn samples from the target population. In practice, however, participants are drawn primarily from WEIRD samples, that is, Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic groups (Henrich, Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010). Convenience sampling and an overreliance on WEIRD samples is also prevalent in the field of SLA. Plonsky (2016) estimated that 67 percent of all samples consisted of college or university students. This is cause for concern as it may lead to biased or incomplete knowledge of second language learning and teaching (Tarone and Bigelow, 2010). Replication in non-WEIRD samples is desperately needed. Marsden et al. (2018) have shown research is seldom replicated, let alone in non-WEIRD contexts. This raises concerns about the generalizability and reproducibility of SLA findings. What do we really know about second language acquisition and teaching if we test WEIRD participants only and do not engage in replication? This is the central question in this colloquium, with Marsden and Plonsky as featured speakers. We are inviting submissions, replications or otherwise, that shed light on the possible consequences of this state of affairs for the quality of our knowledge of second language learning and teaching.