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Looking for articles for a TESOL research assignment? The Library subscribes to databases that provide
articles in TESOL & TESOL-related journals.
To get to them, follow these steps:
s go to the Library's
homepage and click "FIND
DATABASES"
s at
the right, click on "TESOL"
s you
will then see a list of databases that are perfect for TESOL research
KEYWORD SEARCHING: Once you are in a database, search
for articles similar to searching on Google: type in keywords of what you
want (e.g. ESL and immigrants). A list of articles
will then come up. If you see "FULL TEXT" next to any on the list, great!
You can click and read the full-text immediately. If "FULL TEXT" is not
stated, then click on the yellow "Find it" button
SUBJECT SEARCHING: You don't have to only
search with random keywords. Random keywords can often bring up hundreds
of unrelated articles, simply because the keywords appeared somewhere in
the article. Instead, change your search box to a SUBJECT search,
and type a word. This will look for articles entirely ABOUT that word, not
just find that word randomly. For example, an article ABOUT
sociolinguistics, not just an article that has the word sociolinguistics in it.
DATABASE DESCRIPTIONS
The following chart describes the most commonly used databases for TESOL
research.
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ERIC
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ERIC (Educational
Resources Information Center) is the Education database,
maintained by the U.S. Dept. of Education, containing millions of
educational abstracts as far back as 1966. It is probably the
first and best place you might visit when doing TESOL research.
The library subscribes to a "deluxe" version of ERIC (compared to the
free, Web version of ERIC) which offers linking to the full-text of
articles. |
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LLBA
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LLBA (Linguistics & Language
Behavior Abstracts) is the Linguistics/Language database. Whereas
ERIC contains many practical, teaching-orientated articles, LLBA focuses
more on theory and research. It contains millions of abstracts on
scholarly research topics (pronunciation, SLA, dialects, phonetics,
etc.) Click to the left to link to LLBA.
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Ingenta
providing full-text
of:
TESOL QUARTERLY
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Ingenta is a database
that provides full-text of TESOL Quarterly. Due to a
subscription quirk, Ingenta is not listed on the list of databases.
Instead you get to it by typing in "TESOL Quarterly" in the library's
online catalog. |
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Academic Search Premier
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Academic Search Premier
database provides articles from publications on all subjects, not
just TESOL. This can be helpful when researching an
interdisciplinary topic (e.g., the psychology of SLA, or the business
aspects of running an ESL school). It includes both popular
(magazine) as well as scholarly (journal) articles. Many of the
articles are full-text, and can be printed out or emailed to yourself. |
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Education Full Text (Wilson)
Education:
Sage Full Text
(CSA)
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These two databases are not as
comprehensive as ERIC, and have much of the same as what ERIC has. So
then why even use them? Because they both claim to have "some"
articles/journals that are unique to them...meaning, not in ERIC. |
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Related databases:
- PsycInfo
- Kraus
Curriculum
- Sociological
Abstracts
- Oxford
English Dictionary
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PsycInfo, the
psychology database, is valuable in researching topics like the
psychological effects of SLA. Kraus Curriculum provides
access to hundreds of curriculum materials (lesson plans, state
frameworks, etc.). Sociological Abstracts, the sociology
database, may be helpful in researching topics like new immigrant
acculturation. And the Oxford English Dictionary is
full-text access to this definitive authority on the English language. |
Prepared by:
John Hickok, TESOL Librarian
A page of the Pollak Library, California State University, Fullerton.
©2009 All rights reserved.
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