Action Research, Teacher

Research and Classroom

Research in Language Teaching

Warm up: Memory Game!

Action research is an actual

research method.

Teacher research is defi ned by

who conducts the research (a

teacher).

Classroom research is defi ned

by the setting or place in which

the data are collected.

What is Language

Classroom Research?

Classroom Research

Bridget Long defi ned

classroom research as all or part

of whose data are derived from the

observation or measurement of

the classroom performance of

teachers and students.

If students fi ll out a questionnaire

about their participation in language

lessons or classroom, would it fi t the

defi nition of classroom research

according to what Long said?

So, if the answer is NO. What can we do to add a classroom research in this activity?

Classroom Research according to Allwright

Classroom

research is just that research that

concentrates on the inputs to the

c lassroom ( the sy l labus , the teaching

mater ia ls ) or the outputs ( learners

achievement scores) . So , for Al lwr ight

“c lassroom research” is not just the

sett ing or p lace for invest igat ion but ,

more important ly, as the object o f the

invest igat ion.

What is teacher research?

According to Brindley

“teacher research” is often connected with the

concept of teacher development and

empowerment because by investigating

teaching and learning processes in classroom,

we (teachers) ourselves learn more about the

craft (ability) and the science of teaching so

that we may improve our work as teachers.

So, according to what Allwright says about Teacher Research, does it always take

place in classrooms?

So, if the answer is NO, Could you give an example of

Teacher Research out the classroom?

What is Action Research?

The term action research is an approach to

collecting and interpreting data that involves a

clear, repeated cycle of procedures.

The researcher follows the next steps to

achieve an action research:

1. The researcher begins by planning an

action to address a problem. Ex: Asking

questions to prove students' understanding

to the topic during three classes.

2. The next step is the systematic observation

of the outcomes (results) of the action. The

observation is done through a variety of

procedures (audio or video recordings,

teacher's diary entries, observer's notes, etc.)

for collecting data.

Ex: if students have problems to understand

the topic, the teacher may record his/her

students' answers in order to discover the

main reason of the problem.

3. After observing the apparent results of

the action, the researcher reflects on the

outcome and plans a subsequent action,

after which the cycle begins again.

Ex: After the teacher has observed which is

the main problem of their students'

understanding. He can try to bring more

integrated activities in order to help

students to understand the topic quicker.

Summery To summarize, we can say the following:

1. Classroom Research refers to the location

and the focus of the study.

2. Teacher Research refers to the agents who

conduct the study.

3. Action Research denotes a particular

approach, a codified but flexible set of

procedures.

Can classroom research, teacher

research, and action research fit

together?

The answer is Yes, and the following statement proves

it:

Classroom research conducted by teachers using the

action research approach.

Ex. Inside the classroom (classroom research) the

teacher (teacher research)wants to know why his/her

students have some problems with pronunciation, so

he/she decides to carry a tape recorder (action

research)in order to listen which are the most difficult

phonemes to his/her students.