The Delphi Method in Applied Linguistics in the Light of a Theoretical and Critical Analysis

ABSTRACT

The Delphi method has gained ground in research whose objective is to reach an agreement between specialists in a given subject and to solve complex problems. Several studies endorse its reliability and confirm the success of accomplishing a deferred dialogue in order to find answers to research questions. Although in the beginning it had a limited impact in Social Sciences, its presence is spreading to other fields such as Linguistics and, specifically, Applied Linguistics. It is precisely the object of this study to know to what extent studies related to this field use this method and with what objectives. This study also intends to investigate the potentialities and limitations of the method in these studies. For this, a systematic review of the scientific articles of the last five years has been carried out to answer the research questions posed. The results show an emerging number of works in which this method has been used, although there is no single trend around the design of data collection. The analysis of the benefits in its application and the results obtained in the works confirm the validity of the Delphi method as a methodological tool in Applied Linguistics.

KEYWORDS:
Delphi method; language teaching; prospective studies; research methodology; systematic review