In facilitating the investigation of the issues and concerns raised in relation to the learning of the English language among children on the United States and the Mexico border, the adopted research design will involve an exploratory sequential mixed method study. The research design will focus on investigating and evaluating the cultural elements that hinder the acquisition of English language among middle school students living along that border (Huensch & Thompson, 2017). Furthermore, the researcher will carry out classroom observation as well as performing interviews with the participants to acquire the necessary quantitative data. The research design approach to be adopted in the study will also entail the researcher carrying out frequent visits to the classrooms to interact with the participants and know them on a personal level.
The rationale for Mixed Methods Research (MMR)
The rationale for using an exploratory mixed method instead of the conventional qualitative or quantitative method is to provide statistical data with qualitative stories that supplement or augment the quantitative data. The mixed approach combines the two conventional methods to answer “why” (qualitative) and “how much” (quantitative) questions ( Creswell & Creswell, 2017) . Actually, mixed method approach is an emerging research technique in statistical and health science that combines qualitative and quantitative methods to give a comprehensive understanding of the research problem. For instance, a true understanding of living in close proximity to Mexico and how it affects English comprehension among middle school students would be incomplete without integrating both traditional methods (Huensch & Thompson, 2017). The qualitative methods of interviews and observations will try to explain the anomalies throughout the study while the quantitative methods of surveys and statistics will provide data for filling in any gaps in the research problem or the findings obtained from the qualitative study ( Creswell & Creswell, 2017) . Qualitative findings also help in confirming the quantitative results.
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Qualitative Phase
Purpose
The purpose of conducting the qualitative phase of the MMR study is to get a broader view of the research problem and its causes. It provides findings that will help in confirming the quantitative information, especially where the collected data has some gaps or does not fit the set hypothesis ( Guest, 2013) . The qualitative findings provide information for filling in the gaps of the research study.
Research Questions
Qualitative Research Question: What are factors that inhibit the acquisition of English as a second language in students living along the United States/Mexico border? How is English acquisition taking place? ( Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). Therefore, research questions for the study include asking people from the community where the students come from the language they prefer speaking, the language they first learned to speak, and why they are reluctant to learn the English language. To the middle school students, the researcher will ask chosen participants questions such as, "What was the first language you learned? Do you like English lessons? Are you intimidated by other students when you struggle speaking in English?" (Huensch & Thompson, 2017).
Research Design
The qualitative study will involve collecting subjective information through participants’ observations, researcher’s observation, unstructured in-depth interviews, literature review, group discussions, and historical narratives ( Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015) . The researcher will visit the areas near the border of America and Mexico for one week to find out the most spoken language in the communities living in the areas. The researcher will then randomly approach individuals to find out the language they speak and ask questions pertaining their mother tongue ( Punch & Oancea, 2014) . The researcher will also go to the classes and interact with the participants during English language lessons for one month. The researcher will then request teachers to pick students from the areas near the border to read English passages for the class. The information collected will be compared with previous literature and studies conducted by other researchers which will provide the researcher with robust information to base on analyzing the qualitative findings.
Participants & Sampling
The participants for the study will be middle school students and members of the communities living in the regions near the border of Mexico and the United States. 20 female and 20 male students coming from the areas under study will be picked randomly from the selected school. Then 10 male and 10 female students living away from the border will also be selected from three different middle-level classes. From the community, participants will be randomly selected regardless of the language they speak.
Measures
During the study, students will be assured that the information they give have no consequences because the information they provide will be treated with uttermost confidentiality ( Punch & Oancea, 2014) . The researcher will ensure all the participants are present during the study and any absenteeism will be accounted for to ensure accuracy and precision of the qualitative findings. Also, he or she will ensure the students act normally like any other days by ensuring they are adequately familiar with him or her.
Data Collection Procedures
To collect information from the community participants, the researcher will interview them in person ( Punch & Oancea, 2014) . For participants far from reach, the researcher will call them and use computer-assisted interviewing methods to collect information. To collect information from the students participating, the interviewer will conduct one-on-one program and collect information on their written and spoken ability in the English language.
Quantitative Phase
Purpose
The purpose of conducting the quantitative phase of the MMR study is to provide data for quantifying the research problem and to measure the various incidences that contribute to the main research objective. It provides measurable data statistical models, and figures that can be used to explain the qualitative findings.
Research Questions
Quantitative Research Question: How do STAAR scores from the school located along the United States/Mexico border compare to schools around the State of Texas? The research questions will be structured in a paper-pencil-questionnaire with a checklist of questions pertaining English as a language and a discipline for academic purposes. They will be close-ended questions with a “YES” or “NO” answer and some questions meant to evaluate the participants will be designed based on a rating scale (Likert scale) ( Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015) . The questions will be, “Is English your first language? If not, is English an easy language to study? How can you rate your performance in English compared to your classmates? On a scale of one to five, how is English language challenging compared to other subjects?”
Research Design
The quantitative study will involve surveys, measurements, and structured interviews such as questionnaires ( Guest, 2013) . The questionnaires will be given to students selected for the study at the end of every English lesson. The researcher will conduct a survey of the records of the schools selected and compare the previous results in English subject for all the participants selected to get the trend. At the end of the survey, a common English test will be conducted for all the participants to determine their abilities in spoken and written language (Huensch & Thompson, 2017).
Participants & Sampling
Since the research is focusing on students from an area where people predominantly speak the Spanish language, the sampling will be carried out in a comparative manner (Spradley, 2014). 30 students, 15 male and 15 female from schools located along the United States/Mexico border and a similar number of middle school students from schools around the State of Texas will be selected.
Measures
The researcher will ensure that the questionnaires are fully answered and returned as per the time scheduled. Also, he or she will ensure the questionnaires are individually answered by the chosen participants only. Also, the researcher will assure participants of their confidentiality by telling them their identity will not be revealed because they are not supposed to write their names on the questionnaires.
Data Collection Procedures
Since this is a quantitative study, data will be collected using structured techniques like questionnaires, measurements, and surveys ( Punch & Oancea, 2014) . The paper-pencil-questionnaires used will be provided after each lesson to the chose participants and the information collected for analysis. The questionnaire will be provided to the participants and the data provided will be analyzed and tabulated. The researcher will use the information gathered from his or her survey to compare with the information provided in the questionnaires.
References
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach . Sage Publications. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Research-Design-Qualitative-Quantitative-Approaches/dp/1506386709
Guest, G. (2013). Describing mixed methods research: An alternative to typologies. Journal of Mixed Methods Research , 7 (2), 141-151. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1558689812461179
Huensch, A., & Thompson, A. (2017). Contextualizing Attitudes toward Pronunciation: Foreign Language Learners in the United States. Foreign Language Annals, 50(2), 410-432. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/flan.12259
Punch, K. F., & Oancea, A. (2014). Introduction to research methods in education . Sage Publications. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sPSICwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=INTRODUCTIO+TO+quaNTItative+research+method&ots=9w-m54lnhg&sig=GrReChHiElxsTq_HsaG1rpe1xvk&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=INTRODUCTIO%20TO%20quaNTItative%20research%20method&f=false
Spradley, M. (2014). Toward estimating the geographic origin of migrant remains along the United States-Mexico border. Annals of Anthropological Practice, 38(1), 101-110. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/napa.12045
Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., & DeVault, M. (2015). Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource . John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=pONoCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=qualitative+research+method&ots=Qhug9v2E2Q&sig=s8OWw
