The purpose of this research was to investigate the major patterns in content-based instruction (CBI) lesson plans among practicum teachers at the final stage of an MA TESOL program. One hundred and seven lesson plans were coded according to a typology developed to evaluate clarity and identify areas of potential difficulty in the design of content and language objectives by TESOL teacher candidates for use in PreK–12 ESL classrooms. Participants in our study tended to have more difficulty in designing language objectives than content objectives. There was also a tendency to write language objectives that focused heavily on the four language skills and on vocabulary, and considerably less often on grammatical structures, functions, or language learning strategies.

This article reports the results of a survey of 121 professionals in applied linguistics about their knowledge of and attitudes toward statistics and empirical research. Respondents were asked to rate their knowledge of statistical concepts and procedures, to react to statements about the role of statistics and the importance of quantitative methods, and to respond to research situations where statistics are often used. The survey results indicate a range of knowledge of the concepts and procedures associated with empirical research. Respondents also showed differing attitudes about the usefulness of statistics and techniques in research methodology and the need to be informed about such procedures. The results of this study are useful as a “gauge” of literacy in research methodology and statistics in our field and as evidence that a need for such literacy exists.

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This survey was conducted by a committee of the CALICO IAV SIG, chaired by Joan Rubin. We owe special thanks to Ed Schwartz for providing us with hard to find references.