Introduction
Overview of the Ethical Guidelines for Researchers
The ethical guidelines for researchers are principles that guide research design, implementation, and dissemination. These guidelines ensure that research is conducted ethically and responsibly and that the rights and welfare of participants are protected. In applied linguistics research, ethical considerations are particularly important as the research often involves human subjects, and the findings may have implications for language learning and education. Early childhood education is a critical area of research in applied linguistics, as language acquisition and development play a significant role in a child’s overall development. In Singapore, early childhood education is a key focus of the Ministry of Education, and there is a growing interest in research that investigates language learning and development in this context (Tay, Pei, & Tsai, 2020).
Importance of Adhering to Ethical Guidelines in Applied Linguistics Research
Ethical guidelines are essential in applied linguistics research to ensure easy evaluation of all the risks that may harm the participants due to research activities. During applied linguistics research, participants should give the researchers informed consent before using them as research participants (Hashemi et al., 2012). Adhering to the ethical guidelines also helps in applied linguistics research by providing oversight on the researcher procedures in maintaining participant anonymity.
Brief Background on Early Childhood Education in Singapore
Singapore is a developing country, and the early childhood education system in Singapore comprises kindergarten and preschool. Preschools and pre-kindergartens in Singapore focus on the significance of play, hands-on learning, and preparation of children for school. Activities such as dance, art, music, dramatic play, and physical exercise are found in both pre-kindergartens and preschools in Singapore (Nassaji & Fotos, 2004). In Singapore, most children join preschools at four or five years old. Parents consider factors such as maturity, sociability, temperament, and age before enrolling their children in preschool.
Responsibilities of a Researcher in a Research Study
A researcher’s responsibilities in a research study entail defining the research problem, carefully selecting the appropriate research methodology, selecting pertinent data collection instruments, minimizing risks to participants, and analyzing and reporting the data obtained from the research study. A researcher must design a relevant and informed research question. A researcher should choose a methodology that is appropriate to the research question. A researcher is primarily obligated to minimize any risks that may arise during a research study. For example, conducting a research on early childhood education children, a researcher should strive to safeguard the welfare of the children. On the issue of data collection instruments, a researcher must ensure that they select an appropriate method that will provide valid and reliable data. A researcher may minimize risks to participants by obtaining informed consent from parents and teachers of the children in order to protect their privacy and confidentiality. A researcher needs to analyze data by employing appropriate reliable, unbiased, and accurate methods. Data reporting is the last step in a research study and entails, and a researcher should always ensure data reporting is transparent ad honest with clear procedures for conducting data. Data reporting gives a good description of the research study’s methodology, results, and limitations.
Minimizing Risks to Participants in a Research Study
Importance of Minimising Risks
Minimizing risks in a research study is essential because it ensures the smooth running of the research. Completing a research study with minimal risks to the participants is more accessible. When there are risks during the research, it will be easy for the participants to withdraw, bringing a lot of severe problems and making completing the research complex.
Specific Procedures to Minimize Risks
The following are the specific procedures to minimize risks in a research study;
- Informed Consent
Informed consent is one way to minimize risks to participants and one of the essential founding principles of research ethics. This shows that human participants during my research in applied linguistics in Singapore should enter research voluntarily with every necessary detail of how the study will be conducted, giving consent before joining the research. For example, in a study conducted by Wong (2019), the researcher issued a consent form to the preschool teachers, informing them about the purpose of the research.
- Anonymity and Confidentiality
Anonymity and confidentiality are used to minimize risks by protecting human subjects’ privacy during different research study processes, such as collecting, analyzing, and reporting data. It is a way of reducing risks and ensuring a successful research study. For example, in a study conducted by Yang (2020), the researchers used special numbers to protect the identities and anonymity of the participants.
- Debriefing
Debriefing is an essential way of providing the participants in research in Singapore. With a full explanation of the research question, the hypothesis being tested, and the reasons for deceiving the participants. For example, in a study conducted by Chen et al. (2018), the researcher briefed about everything about the study before they were accepted to be participants.
- Risk Assessment and Management
The primary purpose of risk assessment and management in a research study is to identify any potential threats and hazards during research and implement the best measures needed to deal with the threats and hazards during a research study. For example a study by Tay and Azman (2018) on the integration of culture in early childhood education in Singapore, the researchers took the initiative of implementing safety controls during the research.
These specific procedures may minimize early childhood education research risks and how they can lead to a thriving research study.
Current Trends and Issues in Applied Linguistics Research in Early Childhood Education
Overview of Current Research Trends in Applied Linguistics in a Singapore
The current research trends in applied linguistics in Singapore aim at meeting the challenges of the rapidly growing and changing field of applied linguistics in Singapore. The trends in applied linguistics in Singapore include psychology, education, anthropology, community research, and sociology (Silva & Brice, 2004). Singapore Early Childhood Education is essential as it is the basis of the student’s learning career. Technology plays a significant role in early childhood education in Singapore.
Discussion of Relevant Issues, Such as the Impact of Technology on Language Learning, Multiculturalism and Language Education, and Language Policies and Planning
Technology has always helped students with opportunities to learn different languages in early education in Singapore. Technology helps students learn different languages within or outside a classroom (Grabe, 2004). Technology helps students learn more language since it is currently used as the most effective complementary tool for teachers in the classroom (Silva & Brice, 2004). Technology motivates students by helping them with everything they request via the internet.
According to Wong (2019), Singapore has a bilingual policy that helps legitimize English as the only language of interethnic and governmental administration. The bilingual policy postulates that English is the language that is used as the medium of instruction in all schools and across all subjects. However, it is a trend that the government of Singapore focuses on developing bilingualism and raising bilingual children starting from preschools and kindergartens (Yang, 2020). This shows that Singapore is committed to ensuring their children at the early education level possess bilingual skills.
Discussion of how These Trends and Issues Relate to Ethical Considerations in Research.
When researching early childhood education, one should consider technology as one of the key trends in learning different languages (Read., 2004). Technology can be used to manipulate participants, and researchers need to ensure that the use of technology does not affect the confidentiality of the participants. Researchers should also respect the different cultures of the participants and use a common language during the research to ensure everyone involved understands what will happen. These trends should be monitored effectively to ensure that they do not interfere with the ethical considerations of research.
Critique of Irresponsible Acts of a Researcher
Brief Overview of the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct
The following are the general principles of psychologists and the code of conduct in research.
Principle 1: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence
Every psychologist, during research, aims to benefit the people working with them and take care of them, not harm them. Beneficence refers to charity and kindness and respecting and ensuring that there is harm, and securing the participant’s well-being. Therefore, psychologists strive to protect the rights and welfare of the people they interact with during research (Nestor & Schutt., 2018). This principle can be violated when researcher exploits their participants during the research in Singapore in an early education context, like doing something without their consent and correctly understanding their role in the research. For example, when there are conflicts, psychology should handle the situation effectively to ensure no harm. For example, a study conducted by Hou (2020) on early childhood English immersion education in Singapore focused on ensuring that the research study does not exploit children in pursuit of data collection.
Principle 2: Fidelity and Responsibility
Psychologists always establish relationships around trust with the people they work with during research. Psychologists play a crucial role in upholding high levels of professional standards of conduct and seek to manage all the conflicts that may arise and lead to harm or exploitation (Ehrlich & Romaniuk., 2013). This principle can be violated when a psychologist exploits or causes harm or exploits participants to obtain the required information without their consent. Exploiting people during research may affect the results of the fundamental research. For example, a research study conducted by Kaur (2019) on pedagogical practices in Singapore preschools focused on ensuring they obtained consent from the participants before commencing the research study.
Principle 3: Integrity
During any form of research, psychologists strive to promote truthfulness, honesty, and accuracy in any psychology practice. This can be violated by the psychologist stealing or engaging in fraud during research. It is a principle that can also be violated through intentional misrepresentation of facts, affecting the credibility and reliability of the research. For example, a study conducted by Gupta (2019) focused on embracing integrity during their research and promised the participants they would be truthful, honest, and accurate in their research study.
Principle 4: Justice
Psychologists believe and recognize that justice and fairness are fundamental in research studies. It is a principle that shows that there should always be equal treatment. This principle can be violated by one person benefiting from the other unfairly. It is because justice postulates that there should always be fair and equal distribution of risks and benefits of participating in a research study. A principle that can also be violated when selecting participants should always be fair and equal. For example, a research study conducted by the Ministry of Education (2019) on nurturing early learners informed the participants that the research benefited from improving the curriculum framework for kindergartens in Singapore.
Principle 5: Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity
Psychologists always respect people’s dignity, confidentiality rights, self-determination, and privacy. There should be respect for people, especially the research participants, during a research study. This principle can be violated when a psychological researcher disrespects participants based on sexual orientation, race, culture, ethnicity, and social and economic status. When a researcher disrespects participants, they may decide to quit the research in the middle of the process, causing severe problems to the credibility and reliability of the research study. For example, a study conducted by Tan (2021) emphasized that respecting people’s rights and dignity helps in getting the desired results in early childhood education.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a researcher’s responsibilities in a research study include formulating and defining a research question, which is the roadmap of the whole process, selecting an appropriate research methodology, and selecting an appropriate instrument for data collection, analysis, and reporting data. Minimizing the risks to participants is significant to ensure a successful research study. Violating the basic principles of ethics through irresponsible acts may negatively affect research. Studying the ethical considerations in applied linguistics in early childhood education in Singapore is critical to educating people on the impacts of technology in learning languages. The study will help policymakers and the Singapore administration to understand and decide on the areas in their curriculum that require improvements.
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