Research In The Primary English Classroom

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this is my new blog about "Research In The Primary English Classroom"

There is “Research” (capital “R”), and then there’s “research” (lowercase “r”). “Research” as concerned with scientists and applied linguists involves a very meticulous and rigorous set of procedures aimed at presenting a study’s findings (that are deemed reliable and valid) to an academic audience. This is highly specialized and requires a great degree of training. It tends to be very theoretical but can also have some practical implications/applications in the language classroom. Then there’s “research”, inquiries that originate from a teacher based on his/her observations and that he/she investigates further in order to draw some logical conclusions. These findings may not necessarily be presented to an academic audience (though they very well may; it’s really up to the teacher how far he/she pursues public dissemination of the results), but are rather intended to help the teacher make informed, evidence-based decisions about how to more effectively run his/her classes. 

It'll more concerned with “research” for this short post and we will regard it broadly as involving: “1) question(s) to be answered, 2) systematic collection of data, 3) analysis of data [and] 4) answer(s) to the question(s)” (Smith & Rebodello, 2018, p.16). One common research method utilized in language teaching that you might have heard of is “action research”, defined as “systematically collecting data on your everyday practice and analyzing it in order to come to some decisions about what your future practice should be” (Wallace, 1998, pg. 4). In essence, both research definitions explain that you as a teacher reflect on and observe what’s happening in your classroom, record information to serve as evidence, analyze it with the goal of answering questions that you have come up with and finally think about how those results might help you modify your current teaching practices. Because we don’t have a lot of space to go into the procedural details of action research, I highly suggest you read 1) “A Handbook for Exploratory Action Research” by Richard Smith and Paula Rebolledo (courtesy of our very own here at Teaching English!), and 2) Action Research for Language Teachers by Michael Wallace. They are really fantastic books which give teachers a strong foundation in basic research and provide practical examples of how teachers go about effectively investigating language matters in their classrooms. 

As teachers, you have the same research tools at your disposal. If you notice a particular activity isn’t working, or there’s a common linguistic problem shared by your learners, or you’re interested in the efficacy of a new teaching idea, do some research! Get permission to conduct your research from a senior administrator and he/she will probably be very interested in your teaching/learning inquiry and your willingness to improve your teaching. After all, performing research and sharing it with others is an excellent way to professionally develop. Once you’ve gotten the approval, conduct the project in a systematic way making sure you gather documented evidence. After collecting the data, analyze it and look for answers. When you have completed this stage, it’s important to share your new knowledge, and there are many ways to do so.

reference

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/sulaiman-jenkins/basic-research-english-language-teaching