action research in foreign language teacher education rita collins & sv ě tlana hanušová...

Action Research in Foreign Language Teacher Education

Rita Collins & Světlana HanušováEnglish Department Faculty of Education Masaryk University

Brno, Czech Republic

Looking for a balance in teacher education between

practice and theory….

….a possible solution is

Action Research

What is Action Research?

“…inquiry done by a teacher with the intent that the research will inform and change his or her practice in the future. The research is carried out within the context of the teacher’s environment - that is, with the students and at the school at which the teacher works - on questions that deal with educational matters at hand.”

Ferrance (2000)

The Cycle of Action Research

Two action research projects

at a Czech university

• Meeting the needs of a large class of students studying English

• Developing communicative competence in learners with Specific Learning Disabilities

Facing a large class

Dilemma: 24 Czech university students who met weekly for 90 minutes for practical

English

Research: background readings on large classesclass evaluations by studentsclass discussionsteacher’s previous experience in a different setting

Plan: Explained concept of learning centers

Students signed up to facilitateWe tried it for three weeks.Re-evaluated

Reflect and Evaluate:Students were enthusiasticMore material was coveredMore learner-independenceAn example of action research for

future teachers

Developing communicative competence in learners with SLD

• Participatory action research• Empowering research WITH teachers

not ON teachers• Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)

Moodle• 5 participating teachers + researcher

as coordinator and facilitator• 8 learners with SLD integrated in

mainstream primary classes

Dual aims

• Teachers: Improving their practice• Teacher educator: Monitoring the cycle of

pedagogical reasoning and action (Shulman, 2007): - teacher's understanding of the given content- transformation of the content in order to mediate it to particular learners- teaching and evaluation- reflection and new understanding

Research Stages

• Mapping stage• Studying resources• Selecting innovations and introducing

them to the teaching practice• Ongoing reports about the progress online

(main source of data)• Reflection and evaluation

VLE Moodle

Research Results

• Pupils with SLD moderately improved their performance in most domains of the communicative competence

• No negative influence of the innovations on intact pupils in the study groups reported

• The teachers appreciated:- “the theory” - online discussions with other teachers

- the facilitator's comments on their particular problems

• The teachers did not appreciate: – time demands

Action research benefits

has the potential of directly influencing practice

shows the relevance of theory to practice

allows learners and teachers an opportunity to create a better educational environment

possible to use in classrooms and in a virtual environment

References

• FERRANCE, E. Action Research. Rhode Island: The Educational Alliance, 2000.

• HIGHER EDUCATION ACADEMY, Subject Center for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies. Retrieved 1 February 2009. www.llas.ac.uk/.../projects/action_research.gif

• KUMARAVADIVELU, B. Understanding Language Teaching. From Method to Postmethod. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 2005. ISBN 0805851763.

• SHULMAN, L. S. (1987) Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform. Harvard Educational Review. Volume 57. Number 1, pp. 1 – 21.

Thanks for your participation!

svetlana.hanusova@gmail.com

collinsrita@yahoo.com