Action research is an approach to collecting and interpreting data that involves repeated cycles of planning, action, observation, and reflection. It is collaborative, aimed at improving practice, and involves practitioners carrying out research in their own contexts. Kurt Lewin described the process of action research as a cycle of planning, action, observing, and reflecting. Classroom research refers to research conducted in language classrooms, often focusing on teacher and student interactions, to induce teacher learning.

1. RESEARCHING TEACHERS AND
LEARNERS

2. WHAT IS ACTION RESEARCH?

3. ACTION RESEARCH IS…
an approach to collecting and
interpreting data that involves a
clear, repeated cycle of procedures.

4. It has three major characteristics:
 It is carried out by practitioners,
 It is collaborative,
 It is aimed at changing things.

5.  Action reserach is contextual, small-scale and
localized,
 It is evaluative and reflective,
 It is participatory ,
 Changes in practice are based on collection on
information or data which provides the impetus
for change.

6. KURT LEWIN DESCRIBES ACTION RESEARCH AS…
A process of:
 Planning
 Action
 Observing
 Reflecting
(Lewin, 1946)

7. Kemmis and McTaggard (1992) contend that there are
several reasons why action research is far more than
teachers reflecting on their own problems.
 It is not the usual thinking teachers do when think about
their teaching.
 It is not simply problem-solving.
 It is not research done on other people.
 Action research is not „ the scientific method „ applied to
teaching.

8. ACTION RESEARCH PROCEDURES
Researchers:
 Stage 1: Identify, evaluate and formulate a problem
 Stage 2: Consult with other interested parlies
 Stage 3: Review research literature
 Stage 4: Modify or redefine the initial statament of
the problem

9.  Stage 5: Specify the research design
 Stage6: Clarify how the project will be
evaluated
 Stage 7: Implement the project
 Stage8: Analyze the data, draw inferences
and evaluate the project

10. CLASSROOM RESEARCH
 Long defined classroom research as „
research on second language learning
and teaching, all or part of whose data
are derived from the observation or
measurement of the classroom
performance of teachers and
students‟(Long 1980, p.3).

11.  The purpose for doing classroom-based research is
to induce teacher learning.
 The process can be revolutionary to our practice.
 The process is rarely linear and usually ambiguous.
 The process of teacher research systematizes and
legitimizes the process of teacher learning.

12. THE CLASSROOM RESEARCH CYCLE
 Begins with questions from our
practice
 Development of a plan (research
design) that is manageable.
 Review of current research literature
(“Distant Teachers”)

13. Making decisions about data
(student work, etc.)
Gathering and analyzing data
Analysisusually generates more
questions

14. TEACHERS RESEARCH
 Teacherresearch is often connected with
the concept of teacher development and
empowerment.
A systematic look at one‟s classroom
practice.
 Teacherresearch usually does take place in
classrooms, and it typically focuses on
some elements of classroom interaction.

15. TEACHER RESEARCH PROVIDES
 Anopportunity to ask questions about your
practice.
A way to make decisions about what to do
based on “facts” rather than hunches.
A way to share your work with colleagues.

16. WHAT ARE CHALLENGES TO DOING TEACHER
RESEARCH?
 Knowing how to “build it in.”
 Knowing what the steps are.
 Committing oneself to the process.
 Finding the time and support.

17. HOW DO THESE CONCEPTS FIT
TOGETHER?
 Classroom research refers to the location and the
focus of the study.
 Teacher research refers to the agents who conduct
the study.
 Action research denotes a particular approach, a
codified but flexible set of reiterated procedures, for
participants to conduct research in their own
settings.

18. CLASSROOM RESEARCH ON TEACHER
COGNıTıON
Teacher cognition research:
 Investigates how teachers think about their
work,
 What skilled decision making goes into
effective teaching,
 Hownovice teachers‟ thinking and teaching
expertise develop over time.

19. STIMULATED RECALL
„Stimulated recall (SR) as a research
approach falls into the group of research
methods that are often referred to as
introspective method.‟

20. In stimulated recall:
 A researcher uses some record of an event to
prompt the recollections of that event by someone
who participated in it.
 The records or data can include audio or video
recordings of the class, observers‟ fieldsnotes or
transcripts of classroom interaction.
 The participants verbalize their recollections and
the researchers record those collections while the
participants review the data.

21. WASHBACK STUDIES IN LANGUAGE
CLASSROOM
 Washback refers to the influence of language
testing on teaching and learning.
 Inthe field of language testing, researchers'
major interest has traditionally been focused on
issues and solving problems inherent in tests in
order to increase their reliability and validity.

22.  Baseline data refers to „information
that documents the normal state of
affairs and provides the basis against
which we make comparative claims
about how different or unusual the
phenomena we have seen may be‟

23. In the case of the washback studies:
 Baseline data are usually collected before
the implementation of a new test, so that the
effects of that test on teaching and learning
can be studied subsequently by collecting
parallel data after the test has been used for
some specific period of time

24. TEACHER‟S ROLE ıN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
RESEARCH
 There is much more inclusive view of teachers,as
partners in the research enterprise,working in
collaboration with researchers.
 Teacher discover interesting new puzzles and answers
both of which can energize their teaching.
 They can get new ideas for teaching and for their
investigations
 They can get feedback from other teachers and learn
from their experiences.