1.10 Limitations of the Study

This study is limited to profiling the beliefs of teachers and to understanding their nature in relation to the conceptual and historical framework outlined in Chapter 2 of this study. The study is very broad and does not focus specifically on one area. This broad scope was necessary in order to provide an initial foray into an area which has, until now, not been studied. For this reason, the study did not focus specifically on one grade area such as primary or secondary or on one aspect of language learning such as writing or speaking. It did not focus on one program such as French Immersion or Core French or on one area such as Newfoundland. Nor did it focus on one aspect of online learning such as MUDs or MOOs. Thus the study is limited to a very general synopsis or overview of a broad topic.

The study aims to capture or profile a wide range of different beliefs, and in so doing, it has needed to include a large sample of teachers. The large selection does not, however, indicate an aim to provide data which might be generalized to a wider population. Instead, the onus is on the readers of this study to generalize the beliefs to their situation. The choice of participants is motivated, not by a concern for representativeness, but by a conceptual question. In order to understand teachers' beliefs on this issue, we must see different instances of these beliefs, in different places and with different individuals.

The beliefs profiled in this study are those that teachers were able and/or willing to articulate or those which the researcher gleaned in collecting data. There are, no doubt, many beliefs that teachers did not articulate either because they did not have the vocabulary to do so, because the beliefs were not at a level of consciousness where teachers could recognize them, or because, simply, the teachers chose not to reveal them. There are other beliefs which teachers may hold in relation to teaching FSFL in online learning environments which they may not have had the opportunity to articulate in the context of this study. Although every effort was made in the data analysis to ensure the integrity of the beliefs which were expressed or uncovered, it was not possible to categorically verify that these beliefs were indeed truly held by the teacher. No attempt was made in the study to determine whether or not the beliefs were strongly or not strongly held. Not all experiences could be accounted for in the context of the investigation, nor could all topics be touched on. Thus, the beliefs profiled in the study are not inclusive of all the beliefs on teaching and learning FSFL in online learning environments held by the teachers in the study.