06.11.

2019
Chapter 12 (book 2) – ACTION RESEARCH
Chapter 8 (book 1) – ACTION RESEARCH: IN-CLASS INVESTIGATION

1. Chapter 12 (book 2):

a) The nature:
 Require a time commitment
 Conducted during the process of regular classroom teaching
 Helps resolve problem
 Carried out by an individual teacher or in collaboration w other teachers
b) Purpose and benefits
 Better understanding
 Redefine the role of the teacher
c) Procedures used for conducting
 Planning, action, observation, reflection/exploring, identifying, planning, collecting data,
analyzing/reflecting, hypothesizing/speculating, intervening, observing, reporting,
writing, presenting
 Select an issue
 Emphasizing choosing issue, turn it into a more specific question

Problem: students are reluctant to speak English

 Question: what kinds of speaking activities that involve all of the class in speaking?

Problem: students keep making mistakes in writing no matter how many times I correct

 Question: how do teacher modify error correction strategies?

d) Data collection:

Ways of collecting: observational approaches: note, diary, recording, non-obeservational

interview, questionnaire, surveys

Share the finding with others

 e) The reflective cycle:
 Develop action plan and observe its effect
 Developing a strategy -> implement change -> observing effects
f) Example of an action research:
 Problem identification: students notice fluency, ignore accuracy
So teacher’s research focus on accuracy
 Plan: to make students focus more on accuracy
 Collecting data: use recording to note students’ mistake, make a list and give it to
students for them to become aware of mistakes, to prove that they did make mistakes
 Intervening: give them a form where learner could write down mistakes by themselves,
record and get students listen to recording and note down, correct the error, conduct
fluency activities, discuss the most suitable correction
 Develop questionnaire
 Observation: students was engaged in what they want to say that they ignore teacher’s
correction
 Teacher’s reflection: prepare her class to be more open and receptive to questions
 Teachers' action: get students to list out their mistakes, give feedback then conduct peer
correction
 Self-correction much better according to the philosophy “learning by doing” – raising
student’s awareness

2. Chapter 8 (book 1):

Group Presentation Description:

 Warm up game: revision

 Purpose of action research: conduct classroom research that seeks to clarify and resolve
problem, aim at solving problems inside classroom
 Action research procedure: Problem -> collect in data -> analyze
 Benefit:
 promote self-reflection
  improve practice and enhance understanding
 specific and immediate outcome
 relevant to teachers own context
 methods are free ranging
 foster teacher’s ownership
 enhance understanding of the nature of teaching: in the upper example
 Procedure: Goal -> plan ->act -> observe -> reflect
 Methods of collecting data: notes, journal, recording, interview, questionnaire

*Note:

Action research can be carried out not just when teacher encounters problems.

After finishing an action research, teachers should read it again for self-reflection.

An action research should be shared with colleague to discuss.

Action research is what teacher use to improve their teaching within the class they are in charge
of.

My thoughts after the lesson

I love the presentation of book 1 today. The presenter was so adorable and energetic. He woke
me up with a warm-up quiz which review all of the chapters we’d been through. That was I’ve
learnt from him, I mean, the quiz, and how he conducted it. He always said with a smile on his
face. His speed was easy to follow. However, I don’t think the content of the quiz had a good
connection with his presentation. Reviewing the course was interesting, but the plan needed a
picture or a situation to elicit the lesson.

Today we learnt about action research. Never in my experience did I encounter one, or come up
with it. Problem solving with the help of action research would be definitely more effective. I
love the stage of observation and reflection after the intervention is implemented to see if it
works. My lecturer announced that action research would become a vital part of teacher
development in Vietnam. By collaboratively looking for solution and reflecting on action,
Vietnamese teachers would enhance their teaching and classroom management. I have
downloaded the sample of some action researches on the Internet to have a look at their formats.
They are not different from an original research. Hopefully, they would help me a lot in the
future.