DOI 10.4010/2016.

1036
ISSN 2321 3361 © 2016 IJESC

Research Article Volume 6 Issue No. 4

Action Research- Focusing on English Language Teaching Practices

for Professional Development
Indumati Nelluru1, Prakasam Kanta2
Assistant Professor of English
Aditya Institute of Technology and Management, Tekkali, India
Indunelluru@gmail.com1, nandaprakash2014@gmail.com2

Abstract:
English- the easiest language to those who understand, analyze, speak and enjoy. English- the most difficult language to those
who can’t understand, analyze, speak and enjoy. English has become the hard nut to crack to those who come from rural
background but have a strong passion to be fashioned in English, with English and who sit to learn in a mixed group of class.
Hence, it is a challenging task to the Teachers who teach English (as a Second Language) to that mixed group. But, if the teacher
goes in a proper planning, finding out the ways and methods in making the students feel convenient in the process of second
language acquisition, the class room teaching as well as learning will be a cakewalk. Here, in this paper, it is presented how one
could get win in the above mentioned challenging task.

Key words: Action research, Acting- Planning, English language acquisition, Observing, Reflecting

Introduction language teaching. As the teachers are the valuable sources of

knowledge to their own classrooms and classroom situations
Action research is an inquiry into one's own practices and they only have the opportunity and right to do the action
through a process of self- monitoring on an issue or a problem research and as a result change can be implemented and will
in order to improve professional practice that generally find the result more valid for their needs. However, Action
includes: research totally differs from general research conducted by
academicians. The Action research of language teaching
Planning Acting Observing Reflecting recommends:

Wallace (1991: 56-7) mentions that action research can have
'specific and immediate outcome which can be directly related
to practice in the teacher's own context' and is 'an extension of
the normal reflective practice of many teachers, but it is
slightly more rigorous and might conceivably lead to more
effective outcomes'. Collecting data about their teaching by the
language teachers to make more knowledgeable decisions
shows Systematic reflection whereas reflective teaching can
result in non-observable behavioural changes in the classroom
such as increased levels of awareness of a teacher's
assumptions, beliefs and practices. Conducting an action
research project usually results in some kind of actual and
observable actions. This paper mentions and discusses how
reflective language teaching can refine the progress through
conducting action research.
What is Action Research
 Collecting information about classroom events (in the
classroom), through observation or in other ways like
asking questions, interviewing, recording.
 Collecting information systematically.
 Different approaches in practice.
 Observing the changes.
 Owning the results.
 Reporting the results in oral or written way.
 Developing research skills.
 Bringing about changes in classroom teaching and
learning.
 Developing a deeper understanding of teaching and
learning process.
 Empowering teachers by giving them the tools which
can be used to further impact changes within the
profession in which they are working.

In the process of the acquisition of the second
language, English, the role of teachers is important to the
learners than themselves. It has usually been with the practice
of the teachers of second language what we call Action
Research. It is the study of classroom actions rather than
correlating and addressing the social issues related with
Planning: Doing a project requires some key aspects like:
Planning – What does one need to think about? (An
issue to be investigated)
Designing – How is one going to do one’s project?
(Involvement to do the project)
Doing – How does one implement one’s plans?
(Monitoring the action)

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Acting: Acting on the project needs some questions to be
asked for oneself depending on the action plan for carrying out
the project like:
Preparing – How does a student be developed and
what are the preparations to assess the student’s
performance?
Collecting – What information will one need to
collect to answer the research question and assess the
project?
Time lining – How much time will be allotted for
action plan?
Observing: It requires certain aspects like:
Analyzing - After collecting the information, how will
one analyze it? That is, how will one organize and
review the information that has been collected to
understand it better and help in answering the
research question.
Sharing – After analyzing, how will be the
information displayed so that it can be shared with
others?
Reflecting: The final step of the action research project is to
reflect or reevaluate the teaching practice based on the research
data.
Rethinking – How does one rethink the assessment
practices based on what they learnt through data
analysis?
Changes – What changes will one make to the
lessons the next time?
Practical Approach
When the teachers want to do an action research
project they need to perform the following:
 Identify an issue
 Review literature on issue and ask questions to
narrow focus of issue
 Choose method of data collection
 Collect, analyze and interpret information
 Develop and implement and monitor action plan
Identify an issue
Selecting an issue is the most important and the most
difficult part of the action research which involves considering
a number of practical considerations which will show its
positive impact on class or on teaching. Wallace (1998:21)
suggests that when selecting a topic for action research the
following points should be considered:
1. Purpose: Why is one engaging in this action research?
2. Topic: What area is one going to investigate?
3. Focus: What is the precise question we are going to ask
ourselves within that area?
4. Product: What is the likely outcome of the research, as one
intends it?
5. Mode: How is one going to conduct the research?
6. Timing: How long has one got to do the research? Is there a
deadline for its completion?
International Journal of Engineering Science and Computing, April 2016
7. Resources: What are the resources, both human and
material, that one can call upon to help in the completion of
one’s research?
To do the action research, we can find a huge number of issues
which can be found interesting. It is very much interesting to
the language teachers to conduct the action research by
including the following:
 Teaching the four skills (LSRWs) - issues relating to
changes in the way aspects of LSRWs (listening,
speaking, reading and writing) which are taught in the
class.
 Classroom dynamics- issues related to the various
ways of interaction which occur in the language
classroom.
 Learner language- issues relating to the kind of
language the students use in various specific
activities, classroom discussions and individual, pair
or group work.
 Grouping arrangements- issues relating to the
arrangement of groups in order to promote learner
motivation, language use and cooperation.
 Use of materials- issues relating to various ways of
preparing and using the materials effectively which
effect the outcomes of lessons.
 Grammar and vocabulary- issues relating to the
teaching of grammar and vocabulary using different
teaching and learning strategies.
 Assessment policies and techniques- issues relating
to the forms of assessment which is done in the
classes and their outcomes.
Review literature and ask questions
Once the issue is identified, the teacher must start
studying some background information in order to get some
ideas of others which can be implemented for their effective
action research. At this stage, the teachers can think whether
reviewing is done alone or with the help of other teachers who
are also interested to do the action research. It also shows its
positive impact as sharing ideas is happened effectively. Burns
(1995) mentions that in action research projects, the data
collection methods most commonly used and most interesting
to second language teachers draw on qualitative and
ethnographic methods and techniques and these usually
include some combination of the following: careful and
systematic collection of information about classroom events
through interviews, observation, field notes, questionnaires,
recordings (audio and video) and transcriptions of lessons.
Burns (1995: 8) suggests the following approaches too to
collect classroom data.
Journals/diaries: regular dated accounts of teaching/learning
plans, activities and classroom occurrences, including personal
philosophies, feelings, reactions, reflections, explanations.
Teaching logs: more objective notes on teaching events, their
objectives, participants, resources used, procedures, processes,
outcomes (anticipated and unanticipated).
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 Document collection: sets of documents relevant to the
research context, e.g., course overviews, lesson plans, students'
writings, classroom materials/texts, assessment tasks/texts,
student profiles, student records.
Observation: closely watching and noting classroom events,
happenings or interactions, either as a participant in the
classroom (participant observer) or as an observer of another
teacher's classroom (non-participant observation). Observation
can be combined with field notes, recordings and logs or
journals.
Field notes: descriptions and accounts of observed events,
including non-verbal information, physical settings, group
structures, interactions between participants. Notes can be
time-based (e.g., every 5 minutes) or unstructured according to
the researchers’ purpose.
Recording: audio or video recordings, providing objective
records of what occurred, which can be re-examined?
Photographs or slides can be included.
Transcription: written representations of verbal recordings,
using conventions for identifying speakers and indicating
pauses, hesitation, overlaps and any necessary non-verbal
information.
Collect, analyze and interpret information
Once the data has been collected, the teacher then analyses and
reflects on it and makes a data-driven decision to take some
action. Wallace (1998: 21) states that teachers can also think
about altering or refocusing their original research question at
this stage: 'As you proceed with your research, do you suppose
that you will have to rethink your original question?' As a
general guide the objectives at this stage of action research are:
 To identify patterns in the data.
 To compare findings from different sources of data.
 To build an interpretation from the information
collected.
Develop, implement and monitor action plan
The final step in the process of action research is reflecting of
some type of action, monitoring the effects of that action and
problem redefinition, if necessary. Teachers must pose a
question for themselves at this stage is that what it all means
for them and the result of this reflection usually involves some
change in teaching practice which is monitored.
The best and the simplest way to decide whether one
is qualified to do the action research or not, then one has to ask
three simple questions about the proposed study and if the
answer to all the three is 'yes', then it fits under an action
research, but if the answer to any is 'no', then action research
may not be an appropriate approach:
 Is your focus on your teaching action?
International Journal of Engineering Science and Computing, April 2016
 Are you in a position to be able to change your future
actions (teaching and otherwise) based on the results
of your action research project?
 Is improvement possible?
Reflection
 What is your understanding of action research and
have you ever conducted an action research project?
Explain.
 Why do you think academic research generally has
little impact on practicing teachers? Do you think
there is a gap between academic research findings and
practice in the classroom? Why or why not?
 How can conducting action research empower a
second language teacher?
 How can conducting action research develop a
collaborative relationship with other teachers?
 Do you support reporting the results of the action
research project at a staff meeting or through a written
report to a journal, etc.? Explain.
 Wallace (1998) discusses how interested it is to be
thought to find a more specific focus for class room
investigation such as group work, collaborative
discussions etc. Can you add any more to the list
developed by Wallace?
 how to set up groups
 how to form groups
 how to resolve personality clashes within
groups
 how to deal with the use of the mother
tongue during group work
 how to select materials for group work
 how to assess the effectiveness of group
work
Conclusion
Action research serves up the requisites of the reflective
professional because it is the mixture of the skill of the
professional knowledge that a teacher builds up every day and
the wisdom of everyday practice. Though there is no common
phenomenon that constitutes conducting action research, it is
generally agreed that it focuses on researching an issue /
problem of a teacher’s interest and usually takes place inside
the classroom. Action research involves the process of
collecting the information in a systematic way about an issue/
problem and then acting on the information to make further
improvements to that. In order to do it effectively, the teachers
can use the reflective tools like teaching journals, classroom
observations, narrative analysis, group discussions and so on
that are all covered in this paper. Through the process of
planning, observing, analyzing, acting and reviewing, language
teachers can learn a vast treaty about the scenery of classroom
teaching and learning as well as acquiring useful classroom
analysis skills.
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 Thus, Action research can be a reward to the teachers
if it is done in a cycle of activities rather than a one-step
response to an issue/ a problem.

References:

1. Thomas S.C. Farrel (2007) “Action Research” in Reflective

Language Teaching: From Research to Practice.

2. Wallace, M (1998) “Action Research for language

teachers”, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

3. Burns, A (1995), Collaborative action research for English

language teachers”, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

4. Dickey, R (2001), “Perspectives on Action Research”, The

PAC Journal, 1(1).

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