After the summer course of Research Methodology for Linguistic Research，I began to have some knowledge of the aspect. The course answered the following questions: What is research？What is research for? So I know something about research and the purpose of research from it. There are two kinds of research. One is quantitative research, the other is qualitative research. There are their respective advantages and disadvantages. Then a question emerged. How do we normally start a research? At the very beginning, we are supposed to choose a topic. For example, if I need to do a research about language teaching and learning, what topic I choose need to be in the domain of language teaching and learning. The topic may be what I am curious about or interested in recently. It may be a question bothering me a lot and I urge to make it clear. For instance, there is a problem about how to improve the students’ writing ability. I will choose a topic like this as what I research for. In a word, we need to find out a focus to research. Or we will end up in a complete failure. The second step is to review the Literature. To do so is to help the researcher become familiar with the work that has already been done. At this point, we have to search for much information, and we need to read many journals and books, surf on the Internet to see if anybody has done the same research. If someone does, then is there any necessity for us to research much deeper? If the answer is yes, we can continue. The next step is formulating a question to explore. Make sure the question is clear enough. Then it is time to articulate hypotheses. Sampling is essential to a research. About the size of sampling, some famous people proposed their different views. Perhaps I will study 60 people in my study, because there is just the same number of students in my class. It is convenient and appropriate. What is the method of collecting the statistics? The following are some of them: Questionnaire, Test Method, Interview method, and Observation method. When we ask questions, we should avoid mentioning the true names. It will make the answer more authentic. There are still other things we should be careful about it. In my opinion, what we collect should be as true as possible, or it will lead to a false conclusion. If the data is not true enough, can the research result be authentic and credible?
　　Actually, such a short time of learning on research methodology makes me confused. Most of my classmates think so. Till now, I have not found anything suitable for me to research. I know it is helpless to be nervous and worried like this, even it will make things worse. What I need to do is to read more and think more. Try to put what we learned in the course into practice. Of course, we should arrange our time appropriately. As a newer in the process of research, there are so many questions in my mind. They are in need to be solved. How can the theory fit the practice of teaching? In fact, the theory is far away from the English teaching in Chinese rural areas. We even think that the theory seems to do nothing to do with the practice. Is it true？If not, what is the most appropriate theory in a particular teaching practice? 　　I still remember someone once said that in order to finish a research paper, lots of work need to be done. What made me confused is that what the correct research methodology is. Is it the only way to do the scientific research? Recently, I just read and read. In a limited time, I just finish several lines a day. It seems to be very difficult for me to have enough time to read the famous, useful, thick books. Because I have to work during weekdays, I just try my best to read after work. Sometimes, I felt upset about the study. But I realized that a strong will is a very important and essential factor during our long-time learning process. Then where can I search for information? Though I have a computer which is accessible to the Internet, I still feel hard to find the appropriate information or data. Also, the books on the list are so expensive. There is a post office near our workplace. Maybe I will book some foreign language journals. We just have a period of a mouth learning time in the Sichuan Normal University. After leaving there, learning has been become much more unrealistic. Sometimes, I decide to get touch with Ms. Xiang, my tutor, and then I can hardly find what I can say to her. So I choose to give it up. When I think of my thin salary, I even begin to doubt the way I chose is wrong. How can I afford to the education successfully? As an adult student, there are many aspects which influence the learning. This is the economic problem. We have so many things to pay for, such as books, learning tools, and travel fees and so on. Under the pressure of the time and money, I just want to think in a quiet environment. During a period of three years or more, I must give up many interests or hobbies or duties, like cross-stitching, movie-watching, baby-sitting, etc. Just as one of our teachers said, we must deal well with our time so as to finish the study. As we all know, research is a hard work. As a newer in the language teaching research, I just like a child who lost its way home, and I felt helpless and confused. I just keep on learning, and I am still not willing to give up so early. I believe that one day I will find what interest me, and it just what is worthy to research. I will gradually know the correct way to foreign language research.
　　In a word, research is a belief. Without it, nothing moves on.