ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author highlights some of the issues she experienced during fieldwork conducted for her doctoral thesis in applied linguistics. Her research project focused on the language needs of adult refugees in Ireland. The author encounters many grey areas during her fieldwork, which often led her back to her thesis supervisor and to the classroom teachers at the centre for advice on how to proceed. She focuses on a few aspects of the project that were particularly challenging to her as a junior researcher with little experience of longitudinal research in the field and no prior background in conducting research among adult refugees. Integrate Ireland Language and Training was, at the time, the government-designated body responsible for coordinating English for Speakers of Other Languages provision for adult refugees in Ireland. Adult refugees were entitled to attend free English classes for approximately one year.
