Research ethics awareness among practitioner-researchers of an intensive English as a foreign language program

The field of applied linguistics is currently undergoing a methodological shift, specifically in raising accountability towards ethical research practices ( Plonsky et al., 2024 , Yaw et al., 2023 ). The current study aimed to discern the perceptions of research ethics of intensive English practitioners affiliated with a university and are positioned to contribute to the scholarly record. A 40-item Q-sort was used to ascertain participants’ ( n = 51) perceptions of ethical, unethical and questionable research practices, which resulted in 6 distinct perceptions: ethically informed , unethically informed , uninformed , misinformed , ethically inclined , and QRP misinformed . Cross-referencing participants’ previous research experiences showed no correlation between educational attainment and perceptions of ethics but indicated a trend of theoretical and practical research as a coursework requirement at all degree levels. Overall, instruction of ethics can be supported in multiple ways to encourage and engage practitioner-researchers to contribute to the academic record.