Action Research for English Teachers

Abstract:As a reflective approach to teacher development, Action Research (AR) is gaining significance in education and is especially credited as providing an opportunity for professionals including both teachers and teacher educators to investigate their own classroom practice and improve it, and hopefully bring favorable changes to their classrooms. It emphasizes the role of critical reflection and always involves a problem→hypothesis→resolution cycle or spiral during which teacher researchers exert efforts to explore teaching and learning. By doing action research，language teachers can not only apply theories into practice but also be more reflective，more critical and more open to change in teaching approaches and methods. Despite the difficulties that teachers may have in doing action research in their busy life，it is beneficial for teachers to be researchers in the long run.

Key words:Action Research;for English Teachers中图分类号：G648文献标识码：B文章编号：1672-1578（2014）20-0013-011. Introduction

As teachers we know much about teaching, but many of us are waiting to be invited to participate in research studies in which we can examine our own classroom practice and take actions to make improvement with an effort to put theory into practice. It is believed that classroom teachers should be encouraged to examine our own teaching in the light of the experience and the theoretical knowledge we have accumulated through professional reading and teacher education programs. We should be encouraged to apply new methods and techniques in their teaching practice and make ourselves adaptable to the new situations through learners' feedback, or we can ask other fellow teachers to make observations in our own classrooms, and give suggestions so that we can reflect on the teaching and make some adjustment. "What is needed is research for people whose prime concerns are practical. The major argument for educational research is that teaching is a complex activity, and no one else will produce the kind of research needed"(Brumfit, 1995: 36).

In this paper, the theoretical foundation on which the following parts bears is made first including reviewing several books on which the conceptual bearings of this paper are based and looking in general terms at some of the issues raised by the arguments against action research and at some of its manifestations.

2. Theoretical foundation of the present study

2.1A brief review of educational research.

In the field of education, traditional research is done by university professors and scholars on experimental and control groups to "explain, predict and/or control educational phenomenon"(Gay, 1996:6, in Mills, 2000).

Over the previous decades, action research, also known as collaborative research or teacher research (Lee, 1993, Hollingworth & Sockett, 1994, in Keating, et al. 1997) has been increasingly significant in education. Compared with traditional research, action research is conducted in naturally occurring settings, primarily using methods common to qualitative research (Nunan, 1992).

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Kemmis and McTaggart (1988) propose that the three defining characteristics of action research are: it is carried out by practitioners (classroom teachers) rather than outside researchers; it is collaborative; it is aimed at implementing change.

2.2Classification of some terms about AS.

The term 'teacher research' is deliberately coined aiming at differentiating from the formal academic research done by professional researchers, which is regarded as more rigorous and general. Some experts (such as Woodward, 1991;McDonough, 1997) have discussed the distinction between action research and traditional educational research. McDonough (1997) examines and compares various actual research traditions, including the participatory research by teachers in their own context and points out: "Each kind of research has its own advantages; no one tradition or situation can claim supremacy over the others in all circumstances"(p57). He argues that teacher research, in particular, has its strengths and weaknesses: "Research by participant teachers and action research may be very strong on interest, originality, context-specificity, validity and utility, but weaker on publication, reliability and replicability" (p 69).

The most attractive credit favored by classroom teachers who would like to invest time and energy in teacher research is that of utility. This point is particularly well made by Ellis(1994: 689, quoted in McDonough, 1997): "Some educationalists might feel that research undertaken by professional researchers will always be of limited value to language teachers and that a more worthwhile and exciting approach is action research, where teachers become researchers by identifying research questions important to them and seeking answers in their own classes"(p. 67). It is in the sense of utility that new perspectives can be put on to old situations, which is exactly why it can contribute powerfully to teacher development and the maintenance of development in context.

2.3 Purpose of action research.

Action research is small-scale classroom-focused inquiry built around teachers' normal classroom practices. It is not real research in the strictest sense, but can help develop teachers' interest in research and their understanding of the nature of classroom research. It involves teachers constantly in activities such as decision-making, hypothesis testing and self-reflection. Through processes of teacher inquiry in terms of classroom observation, self-analysis and critical reflections on their own teaching, teachers are expected to take responsibility for their own professional development.

Second language teacher education (Jack C. Richards and D. Nunan eds. 1990), a seminal work in the field, has great impact on the teacher education arena in China. It puts emphasis on the notion of 'teacher development' and the important role teacher research plays in teacher professional development. Teacher development emphasizes the notion of reflection through observation and evaluation on one's own classroom teaching practice, and the role of action research in particular, that is, in Richards' words, "to engage teachers not merely in the mastery of rules of practice but in an exploration of the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and thinking that inform the practice" (1998, p. xiv).

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2.4Procedures for action research.

There has been much discussion ofdefinitions and models of action research and differences in the number of stages as well.

In the view of Richards (1998: 28), action research takes its name from two processes that are central to it: a data-gathering component (the research element) and a focus on bringing about change (the action component). Action research typically involves a four-part sequence of activities:

(1)Identify a problem. Through observation of their own classrooms,teachers identify some aspects of their teaching that they would like to change.

(2)Develop a strategy for change. The next step, developed in consultation with peers or with the instructor, is to work out an action plan that will address the problem.

(3) Implement the strategy. The teacher decides to put his or her plan intooperation for a fixed period of time, say, two weeks.

(4)Evaluate the results. The teacher decides if the action plan has brought about the intended changes in style of teaching, and reflects on the goals, procedures, and outcomes of the project.

He also advocates the need for teachers and student teachers to adopt a research orientation to their own classroom and their own teaching.

3. Conclusion

On the whole, teacher conducting action research benefits most teachers. It can accelerate and enhance teacher development, contribute to applying theory and research into practice, empower EFL, teacher. It is also feasible for teachers to do action research in their schools and classrooms. These are the reasons why teachers should and wish to do action research, also the reasons why action research is gaining significance in education.

Reference

［1］Brumfit, C. 1995. "Teacher professionalism and research" in Cook, G. and Seidlhofer, B. Principles & Practice in Applied Linguistics Oxford: Oxford University Press.

［2］Kemmis, S. &R. McTaggartb1988. (ed.) The Action Research Planner.Waurn Ponds, Vic: Deakin University.

［3］McDonough, J. and McDonough, S. 1997. Research Methods for English Language Teachers. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

［4］ Nunan, D. 1992. Research Methods in Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

作者简介：韩秋实 (1986.10- ) 女, 汉, 硕士研究生, 现任教于滨州医学院外国语与国际交流学院，助教, 研究方向: 二语习得 英语教学。

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