The Teacher as a Researcher: a Dream or a Nightmare?

By Flor de María Vila

In the process of trying to diversify my lessons, I found myself trying different formulae to teach. Even though many changes went quite well, I felt that something was missing. I mean, sometimes I felt that what worked very well with a group didn´t turn out equally satisfactory with another.  Then a new journey began and after many trials I came to the conclusion that if we pursue a real transformation, we need to go deeper to find the real reason why something works or why it does not.  In order to do that we need to start one of the most amazing trips: research.

Can any teacher do research in his classes?

          Absolutely! In fact, we may say that it should be considered as part of any teacher´s development.

Is it difficult to do?

          I wouldn´t say it is the easiest exercise, because nothing worthwhile ever is. However, I can promise it is manageable.

          In the following lines, I will share some secrets to begin. After that, you will need to ponder what you have done and what you will eventually do.

#1. Select a minor hindrance in your lessons or anything that prevents you from feeling absolutely satisfied with your classes.

          It is more probable that you will be motivated to get under way if what you are planning to do is likely to help you with your lessons and not that just become another “load.” We teachers are already pretty busy, aren´t we? But it is really important to begin, no matter how. So, on the first day, select that issue that bugs you or something you feel could be improved.

#2. Make a diagnose of the current situation. You cannot “cure the illness” unless you identify the symptoms, can you?

          It´s necessary to try to pinpoint what the problem is, why a lesson went wrong or why it didn´t work with a certain group of students.

Make a list of the activities you organized and recollect the objective you had for each one. Were they achieved? Why or why not? Share this situation and ask your colleagues what they think or if they have ever been in a similar situation.

Next time you carry out a similar exercise, for instance, a listening practice, record yourself using your mobile phone. You can either only tape your voice or have a video made. Sometimes, we do not become aware of the problem until we listen to or watch ourselves in action.

You can even ask your students why they have difficulty with a certain exercise, for example. They may give you important information.

Last but not least, surf the web and type for instance “problems with listening skills.” You will find thousands of articles that could give you a better idea of what could be happening.

          It is crucial to gather information from different sources before attempting another way of teaching. You may also like to read this article: https://languageteachingblogger.blogspot.com/2018/07/listening-skill-difficult-to-teach.html

#3. Do not panic! Now you have a lot of information, so you are ready to prepare a plan of action.

          Believe it or not, this is manageable. You can start with the simplest plan you can think up. I would suggest connecting one of the ideas your students gave you, one of the teaching experiences your partners shared with you and one of the solutions described by the authors you read.

          Prepare a simple plan which should have the following characteristics: Activity, its objective, and a sample of evidence that will show that your venture is working. Make sure this evidence is visible so that you can monitor and keep a record.

#4. Evaluate and plan again.

          Assessing yourself is not that difficult if you have a clear objective. It is simple: If the goal was achieved, then your plan worked well. If it wasn’t, you need to reflect and plan considering another solution. Go back to #3 or #2 if you feel you need to gather more information to propose something new.

From my experience, I could say that the hardest thing is to commence. When I began, I felt I didn´t need more work (probably you don´t either). Nevertheless, when I realized that my job started to flow and that my students could improve their skills faster, I just let myself be carried away by each issue I needed to fix or improve.  

So today begin with the easiest step: #1

Do not try to do more today, or you will be feel overloaded.

Tomorrow, you can hack # 2 and then go on from there.

Feel free to share your experience or ideas.

References:

Action Research for Language teachers by Michael J Wallace

https://es.scribd.com/doc/172811222/139627763-Action-Research-for-Language-Teacher-Michael-j-Wallace

Action Research in Language Learning by Mohammad Ali Nasrollahia, Pamela Krish , Noorizah MohdNoorc

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042812026523

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA

M.A. in Cognition, Learning and Development from PUCP, B.A. in Education with a major in English Teaching. Ms. Vila is currently Teacher trainer, Pedagogic Consultant and Member of the Research Team at Centro de Idiomas de la Universidad del Pacífico. She is Academic Director of International Contacts (test training & foreign applications advisory) and relationship manager for American universities´ MBA admissions officers with International Contacts. She is official Examiner for several University of Cambridge tests, freelance consultant with Universidad ESAN, experienced speaker on diverse English teaching issues for prestigious institutions, and senior international examinations trainer (GMAT, GRE, TOEFL, IELTS).

Why not becoming a Language Teaching Researcher?

By: María de la Lama E.

It’s very interesting to see the many images that the term “research” can evoke in many English teachers: from boring theories to a group of scientists conducting  incomprehensible experiments, the fact is that for many language teachers  the term “research “ is everything but motivating.

The reason for the unpopularity of research among language teachers may be that the term evokes something difficult and very distant from what really happens in a classroom. This teachers’ perception of research may impact negatively on their professional development, especially now that we live in an era in which knowledge is produced and interchanged faster than ever. Thus, language teachers need to give a newer look to research becoming good classroom researchers. Easier said than done? Not at all! Consider the following easy approach to doing research.

Some previous considerations:

·   Our classrooms are perfect labs. Pay attention not only to the effectiveness of your lesson plan, but to what students do and how they are doing it. Go beyond your own lesson design and consider, for example, internal and external factors that encourage or impede students’ participation in the activity.

·         Keep a research notebook. Something just for yourself where you can register all your simple but highly valuable observations.  Then choose one of your notes and get information about the topic.

·         Get Information?? Does it mean I have to go to libraries???

Not at all. Get used to reading language teaching journals as your main source of information.  These Journals, some of them written by teachers for teachers, always provide readers  with state-of-the art information based on the latest research.  Two of my very favorite journals are: English Teaching Forum and Teaching English Professional. Just Google them!

How can I do research? Follow these easy steps

Imagine that you are conducting a pair work activity with a group of teenagers. Even though the activity is going fine you notice that some students are not that engaged in the activity.  

1.    Write down your observations in your notebook. Pay attention to what students do and how they are doing it. Don’t concentrate only on their language production, but on how they are doing the activity: e.g.: what prevents them from fully participating in the activity? Are they enjoying it? How is the classroom atmosphere? etc.

2.   Then, after class give yourself time for accessing an English teaching journal. For this purpose we’ll access English Teaching Forum and enter the key words Pair Work to look for articles related to the topic. You’ll get a list of very interesting articles such as the following:

Getting Teens to Really Work in Class

In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 4Format(s): Text

"This article explains the brain development and behavior of teenagers as well as their special needs. The authors offer English language learning activities that meet the need for physical movement, social interaction, and reduced stress."

3.   In this very easy-to-read article you’ll find important information about teenagers´ behavior needs such as: their need to play and for social interaction, their need for rest; their need for physical activity and their need to learn in a stress-reduced environment. With this information prepare a short checklist for yourself so as to evaluate the extent to which the way you conducted the pair work activity catered to your students’ needs.

4.      In a couple of days, conduct another pair work activity again, but this time put into practice what you’ve learned from the article. Make sure that the needs mentioned in the article are taken care of. Some practical suggestions for fulfilling the mentioned needs would be: asking your students to stand up and change places for the activity; see how tired they are (maybe you are teaching at the end of the day); see if they are really interacting with their classmates, etc.

5. Write your observations and register whether there was any improvement or not. The more detailed your notes, the better they are for your research.

6.    Share your notes with another colleague. By sharing your observations you’ll get an even better understanding of your findings.

7. Continue searching about the topic and incorporate findings and suggested activities. By the end of the academic year, you’ll have become an expert on the topic.

References
Focus on the Language Classroom, Dick Allwright and Katleen M. Bailey, Cambridge University Press

English Teaching Forum

https://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/english-teaching-forum-volume-54-number-1

BIODATA:

DE LA LAMA, MARIA, holds a Master´s Degree in Applied Linguistics and Bachelor´s Degree in Theoretical Linguistics from the University of California; MBA Universidad del Pacífico. Current Director at Centro de Idiomas de la Universidad del Pacifico.