This paper aims to seek early influences of sociology and educational sciences on qualitative and quantitative research in SLA and FLT. Field work undertaken by psychologists, sociologists and teachers in the 1950s is presented as a basis for later quantitative research. An overview of studies in the field of social psychology and educational sociology in the 1960s and 1970s, anchored in symbolic interactionism, follows to help us identify early criticism of quantitative approaches and its influence on directions and methods of qualitative research on teacher–student and student–student interaction in learner-centred contexts, as well as on group dynamics in the language classroom. An overview of critical pedagogy and political sociology since the early 1970s is then attempted to seek beginnings of disciplined reflection on the role of languages in the functioning of educational systems and of triangulated research on language in the school curriculum. Implications are sought for present-day teacher research and its role in pre- and in-service language teacher education.