Navigating numbers: BAELS researchers gear up with guest Prof Rahmawati

By Heather Intong

To prepare for upcoming research projects, the students of 2nd Year Bachelor of Arts in English Language Studies (BAELS) English Language Teaching (ELT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) track sharpen their skills in quantitative methods with visiting professor Fitria Rahmawati at the College of Arts and Sciences (CASS) last tuesday, March 5, 2024, 1:30-3 PM.

This lecture, entitled ‘Quantitative Research in ELT-ELS & Introduction to Statistics’ is part of the visiting lecturers from the Faculty of Language Education, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta's itinerary during their 10-day visit to MSU-IIT. According to Professor Sittie Pasandalan, Assistant Dean of CASS, the guest lecturer Professor Fitria Rahmawati is the second most cited faculty in their department. 

Upon commencement of the learning session, Professor Rahmawati enthused about making the students ‘fall in love with numbers’ as they navigate the different research approaches used in undergraduate English Language Studies (ELS). However, the professor-lecturer also acknowledged that the listeners were already familiar with the process, and her lecture would be a ‘refresher’ to the course. 

When asked about the significance of quantitative research on social sciences, especially on ELS, Professor Rahmawati emphasized the flexibility of numerical data to justify the findings of a study. “Quantitative research in English Language Education is verystatistical data [available for citation and reference], policy interventions or regulations can be made for the benefit of [the majority], and for the betterment of education,“ She added. 

Additionally, Professor Rahmawati revealed that the key to enjoying quantitative research as social sciences students is to simply “do what you like, like what you do”. 

After a review of research methods, designs, data-gathering techniques, and data analysis, Professor Rahmawati dedicated a portion of the lecture to a brief consultation on the students’ tentative research topics, wherein she gave recommendations and tips in terms of selecting the best approach to use for their study of interest.