Action Research

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Action Research

• Approaches to Teaching and Learning
• Session 1

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What is action research?

• Carried out by teacher(s).
• In his/her own class.
• With his/her own students.
• To improve some aspect of learning/teaching.

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Action Research

• What is Action Research?
• It is done by systematically collecting data on
  your everyday practice and analysing it in order
  to come to some decisions about what your future
  practice should be.
• (Wallace, 19984)

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Features of Action Research

• Contextualised, small-scale and local
• Evaluative and reflective
• Aims to bring about change
• Changes are based on the collection of data which
  provides impetus for change
• Cyclical.
• (Adapted from Burns, 199930)

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How to do Action Research

• Develop a plan of critically informed action to
  improve what is already happening
• Act to implement the plan
• Observe the effects of critically informed action
  on the context in which it occurs and
• Reflect on the effects as the basis for future
  planning.
• (Kemmis and McTaggart, 198810, cited in Burns,
  199932)

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Processes of Doing Action Research

1. Exploring
2. Identifying
3. Planning
4. Collecting data
5. Analysing/reflecting
6. Hypothesising/speculating
7. Intervening
8. Observing
9. Reporting
10. Writing
11. Presenting

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Action Research

• PAIR WORK
• What do you understand by the term Action
  Research?
• What stages can be involved in an Action Research
  project?
• Why is Action Research often represented as
  cyclical?

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An Action Research Project

1. The students arent using enough English in
   class.
2. Recording and observing several lessons.
3. Reading about TL use in books and journals.
4. I think I, the teacher, use too much L1 and this
   encourages students to use L1 too.
5. Decide to use TL at start of class, to organise
   activities and at the end of class for a week.
6. Record and observe the lessons.
7. Analyse the data.
8. Write up findings in an assignment.

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Another issue

• My students dont seem to understand what I ask
  them to do in class.
• How can I improve this aspect of my practice?

Group Task What steps would you need to take in
an Action Research project to address this issue?
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Problems with doing Action Research

• What disadvantages are there in being involved
  in an action research project? Time, time, time,
  time, time, time, timeWhat are the major
  problems in doing research and teaching? Time,
  time, time
• (Burns A. 199947)

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How can I manage my time?

• The early advice of other project members was
  invaluable namely, to narrow my area of
  inquiry.
• (Anne Fowler, cited in Burns (199945).

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Action Research Projects by MA students

• Improving elicitation moves.
• Developing multimedia in the classroom.
• Turning feedback into talking opportunities.
• Investigating the effect of different reading
  activities on the engagement of learners.

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Reference List

• Johnston, R.. 2002. Addressing the age factor
  some implications for language policy. Council
  of Europe. Available at http//www.coe.int/t/dg4/l
  inguistic/Source/JohnstoneEN.pdf
• Robinson, P..1997. State of the Art SLA
  Research and Second Language Teaching. The
  Language Teacher Online 21/7. Available at
  http//jalt-publications.org/tlt/files/97/jul/robi
  nson.html