Qualitative language education research in the past quarter century: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

A central concern among qualitative researchers over the last two decades has been enhancing its visibility and credibility, particularly among quantitative researchers as well as general audiences. Addressing calls for top-down insights to help stakeholders of research take stock of an increasingly large and complex literature body, this bibliometric analysis provides quantitative insights into 3,758 qualitative studies in language education, published in 34 major academic journals from 1999 to 2021. It investigates patterns of research productivity across authors, their institutions and the countries these are located in, the journals authors publish in, the research approaches they use, the topics they address, and the sources they commonly cite. The study uncovered a sizeable increase in the literature body, particularly in 2019–21, driven by growing interest in staple topics relating to teaching and learning featuring predominantly case study, conversation analytic, and ethnographic methods. The literature body, starting off as largely Anglophone centric and individually authored has become more diversified. Implications largely in the form of gaps in the dataset and suggestions for future research are discussed.