POINT TO POINT: DIARY STUDIES IN CLASSROOM SLA RESEARCH PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

This short article is an appraisal of Diary Studies (DS) as
a research method. OS have a contribution to make to research
into second language acquisition (SLA)l but advocates
of OS occasionally omit discussion of problems in
deriving generalisable conclusions from them. In what follows
therefore the author identifies three claims made for
OS and then goes on to discussJ in relation to these c1aimsJ
the problems of (a) gathering valid data; (b) interpreting the
data; and (c) deciding whether or not OS are a type of
non-in terven tiolUll research. He ends by explaining two
ways in which OS can be beneficial despite their shortcomings
and one way (action research as distinct from mainstream
research) in which the shortcomings become positive
advantages.