Trustworthiness in L2 writing research: A review and analysis of qualitative articles in the Journal of Second Language Writing

Researchers in applied linguistics have long been concerned with issues of quality and rigor. Because of various paradigmatic tensions, many qualitative researchers have sought to move away from the entrenched concepts of reliability, validity, and objectivity traditionally associated with quantitative research methodologies. Given the significance of quality in research methodology and the wide variation in evaluative nomenclature, we set out to investigate how “trustworthiness” is addressed by L2 writing researchers in their published articles in the Journal of Second Language Writing. We first identified all empirical articles in the JSLW since its inception (June 1992) up to volume 56 (June 2022), assigning them to one of three research approaches: quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. We found 389 articles that used primary data for analysis. From this pool, 152 (39%) were coded as qualitative in terms of their data and methods. Using AntConc (Anthony, 2014), 43 articles were found to have used quality-related terms or techniques. We then developed a coding and annotation scheme to code and annotate all 43 articles. Findings show that although researchers addressed research quality in different ways, there is a widespread lack of systematic attention to quality criteria in L2 writing qualitative studies. We hope the study findings and discussion of this review advance Applied Linguistics qualitative research and understandings of trustworthiness. In particular, we hope both early career and experienced researchers will find the insights generated by this study useful when designing, conducting, and publishing qualitative research.