Running Head: ACTION RESEARCH 1

Jose G Montalvo

Action Research: Purpose, Problem Statement, Research Questions, and Literature Review

RES5153 – Research Methods – Module 3 Analysis

January 27th, 2019

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Introduction

Pertaining to language instruction, an Action Research places the instructor in an

investigative role to explore personal teaching situations by collecting data to establish rational,

deliberate, and systematic inquiries as a means to identify and intervene complex problems

within the confines of their classroom and learning institution. Reflective practices allow for an

instructor to design solutions within their own teaching contexts either individually or

collaboratively. Though an Action Research may be deemed as informal, qualitative, and

subjective, this plan is centered on creating future platforms for positive educational changes

where these changes can have significant impact on how an instructor teaches. The school’s

culture may also be affected. Even though an Action Research is personal in nature and a critical

reflection of one’s teaching practices, as an investigative process an Action Research promotes

collaboration between other teachers, administration, and parents. Action Research may not be

exactly Scientific Based Research (SBR) but it does incorporate action with research to

emphasize school improvement by creating a research design, collecting and analyzing data,

identifying problems, conducting a literature review, rationalizing various approaches through

inductive reasoning, and solidifying a future action plan and force field analysis. Documenting

the Action Research is imperative as one will revisit and alter decisions as the process is in effect

for new data can appear once a strategy is implemented.

Purpose

San Pancho, Mexico is a small, poor beach community and most of the children who

graduate La Escuela Secondario Junior High School never make it past the first year of high

school (10th grade). San Pancho’s main economic source is tourism, but some learners have

voiced that they do not see the value of learning English. When the students see that their
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parents do not speak English yet they still are able to work and support their families, the attitude

of learning English is deemed as unimportant when compared to Spanish and Math. Those who

chose not to graduate have already become part of the workforce and an economic source for

their families. Most parents here make the equivalent of $8.00 U.S. dollars a day and since most

learners at La Escuela Secundario live in poverty, losing a day’s wage can add to the stress of

living and meeting monthly expenses. For families coming from Mexico, the number-one

priority is family; education appears as number five on the list (Smutny & Danley, 2012;

Smutny, Haydon, Bolaños, & Danley, 2012).

Once an instructor sees socioeconomic positions as a factor, the cultural view of where

education lay in terms of priority within the family unit, and how the lack of opportunities after

graduation shapes the mentality towards education, one can empathize that it is not about the

learners being insensible, but about the learners experiencing no positive effects from the

educational system here in San Pancho. Moreover, parents are not called to engage in positive,

collaborative learning activities with their children. They are only called when there are extreme

learner-behavior problems or poor academic performance. However, “teachers who learn about

how their students live, what their aspirations are, and how they are motivated to achieve in

school are embracing sound pedagogical strategies that yield high outcomes, both academically

and socially as a bond of caring and respect is forged” (Borjian & Padilla, 2009, p. 4). The

purpose of this research is to find ways to utilize best practices to motivate students to degree

completion.

Problem Statement

The following is the problem that this research is addressing: Student motivation for

learning is minimal in all content areas, especially English. The English department,

unfortunately, has the highest absentee rate. Learners are not disciplined for skipping classes,
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disrupting lessons, or failing grades. Keeping learners in detention means they would be unable

to work after school, and this would lead to parental complaint, which is a situation the

administration does not want to face. Teachers are quickly blamed for low attendance and high

failure rates. Therefore, finding a way to motivate learners to not only attend classes but also

take an avid interest in learning English is a challenge that needs an immediate solution.

Unsafe and abhorrent environment conditions, poor government funding, ineffective

teaching pedagogies, an unobtrusive administration, and a lack of parental support are at the crux

of poor academic performance, low morale, and overall motivation for learning. The average

dropout rate for 9th graders before graduation at La Escuela Secundario is around 5% even

though administrative policy dictates that grade retention has a 0% rate, meaning every student

passes the grade level or graduates. Teachers are forced to revise summative examinations or

create projects so students can easily pass and move up grade levels. Special projects for failing

9th graders who do not graduate on time have a week after graduation to complete an assigned

project or they can opt for an easier, revised final exam. Learners know that they will be given

every chance to move up grade levels and no one student gets left back a grade. Through the use

of cooperative learning pedagogy to encourage oral fluency may influence student motivation so

they can see that learning targets are achievable when learning English as a second language.

Furthermore, this research may influence a restructuring of the school culture through all

stakeholders involved (administration, teachers, students, parents) to ensure learner academic

success in all content areas and validate English language education as a valuable asset for the

future.

Research Questions

Research questions narrow the scope of observed discrepancies within the educational

environment. These questions will help decipher uncertainties, problems, and bring forth the
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rationale for an investigation. Research questions need to be deliberate and specific for

improving the learning situation at La Escuela Secundario. It is imperative these questions

remain consistently relevant throughout the study and set the foundation by which all findings,

data, observation, analysis and so on are attached. The following research questions for La

Escuela Secundario are as follows:

1. What are the students’ personal reasons at La Escuela Secundario for

having little desire to learn English as a second language?

2. How can changing the current pedagogy of teacher-centered lecturing to a

full-time cooperative learning environment increase learner motivation to

attend classes on a consistent basis and see the intrinsic value of learning

English as a second language?

3. What types of pedagogy can the instructors implement to build confidence

and develop oral fluency to move beyond choral drilling and rote learning

in order to prepare the students for future speech projects?

Literature Review

Literature review for an action research is important as it provides historical support and

an avenue for the researcher to progress and gain new knowledge in specific subject matters.

“Traditional reviews are often based on a personal selection of materials because the writer

believes the original authors have some important contribution to make to current knowledge”

(Jesson, Matheson, & Lacey, 2011, p. 15) and they provide a synopsis of an existing framework

in which one’s research can refer to examine problems, questions, and answers in a particular

field of study. Literature reviews reemphasize one’s specific research, but more importantly

introduces relevant terminology and provides definitions to clarify how terms are being used in

the context of your own work as well as provides supporting evidence for a practical problem or
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issue which your research is addressing, thereby underlining its significance (Ridley, 2008, pp.

16-17). Articles that have been peer reviewed have been through rigorous evaluation to

determine validity and ensure no biases are present in the research conducted. When one is

implementing an Action Research it is imperative that all literature reviews parallel the same

scrutiny given by peer reviews. Arguing for or against a literature review for the sake of

legitimacy or progression in a field of study is acceptable so long as the nature of the research

attempts to remain as authentic as possible and eliminate an inherent biases that may discredit

the Action Research process.

Sitwat Saeed and David Zyngier’s (2012) descriptive research involved 5th and 6th

graders by using “Ryan and Deci’s (2000) Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to better understand

how student motivation and engagement are linked combined with Schlechty’s (2002) Student

Engagement Continuum to analyse the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on students’

different engagement types” (p. 252). Saeed and Zyngier (2012) conducted the research using

relativist ontology and social constructivist epistemology to answer the question: What

determines the impact of student’s perceptions of their preferred motivation type on the students’

engagement levels? (p. 253). In other words, if given the chance, will students reveal what

motivates them to learn and how their view on education entices them towards academic

achievement and engagement? Young adolescents have a difficult time concentrating and

dealing with the social and emotional development they are going through at the moment, and

academics can be seen as an interference with that growth. Therefore, the instructor’s job is to

find various ways to lower anxiety and affective filters by providing a balance between intrinsic

and extrinsic motivation. Understanding how to apply extrinsic motivation to encourage

students to become intrinsic learners is the key for academic success.

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Saeed and Zyngier (2012) administered the The Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales

(PALS) survey (Midgley, et al., 2000) in a revised form to “identify the students’ perception

about their own motivation type and were asked questions about their motivation; engagement

and use of various intrinsic and extrinsic methods used by their teacher” (p. 258). Survey

responses proved difficult to say whether the students were more inclined towards intrinsic or

extrinsic motivation as a preferred way of learning (Saeed & Zyngier, 2012). Results showed

showed that the students exhibited elements of introjection, integrated regulation and intrinsic

motivation (Saeed & Zyngier, 2012, p. 258; Ryan & Deci, 2000). It is clear from this study that

what motivates students cannot be clearly defined and that “different levels of engagement as

proposed by Schlechty (2002) could vary from student to student and sometimes in the responses

of same student” (Saeed & Zyngier, 2012, pp. 258-259). This will present a challenge to the

instructor and teacher-mentor when the survey is conducted at La Escuela Secundario to truly

find out what are the learners’ motivation or lack thereof in learning English.

Cooperative learning is not merely about separating learners into levels or placing

students in groups for the sake of group work but utilizing the many advantages cooperative

learning encompasses for language acquisition. Placing learners in groups according to their

strengths rather than their weaknesses (putting lower-level learners with advanced students, for

example) will increase a motivation for learning. Conducting an experimental research study

using eight teachers and approximately 520 Form-3 male and female students from three local

secondary schools, Sachs, Candlin, Rose, and Shum’s (2003) basic premise studies “the

acquisition and development of pupils' communication strategies, exploring in particular the

relationships between learner behaviors (interpretive and accommodating strategies), language

data and learning outcomes, in a view of language learning and teaching as social action, and

where classrooms are seen as sites of particular texts, social practices and discursive practices”
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(p. 179). Traditional teacher-centered instruction with students sitting in rows facing the

instructor may be the norm at La Escuela Secundario, but it is not conducive for second language

acquisition for these particular learners. Though the teacher-mentor has been more lenient in

setting up classes in cooperative settings particularly for this study, this pedagogy needs to be

implemented on a consistent basis. Language learning is about communication, not about busy

work, constant drilling, and only explicit instruction. Students need to feel as if they have a

choice in how they learn, and cooperative learning opens the door for academic ownership.

This Cooperative Learning study included “120 students (approximately 20%) who were

randomly selected from a total of 15 classes (eight experimental classes and seven control

classes) in the three project schools as subjects of the students' assessment” (Sachs, Candlin,

Rose, & Shum, 2003, p. 198). Results from Sachs, Candlin, Rose, and Shum’s (2003) research

“indicated that while learners in both groups made statistically significant gains on the posttest

(that is, there were clear within-subjects effects), between-subjects comparisons did not yield

proficiency over the course of the project, but it was not the case that the group which received

exposure to cooperative learning outperformed the group which did not” (p. 203). In other

words, the results of the study cannot take a definitive stance that exposure to cooperative

environments has a greater effect than those students who were not placed in cooperative

learning environments. However, student feedback from the experiment was positive as the

learners felt relaxed, freer, and genuinely more interested in learning English in the cooperative

learning format.

Herrmann’s (2013) quasi-experimental research mirrors the results found in Sachs,

Candlin, Rose, and Shum’s (2003) experimental research. Herrman’s (2013) ten-week study

placed learners in cooperative groups to answer the questions of to “what extent does cooperative

learning increase student engagement in tutorials and how do undergraduates perceive

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cooperative learning” (p. 178). The results showed that while students “increased their in-class

participation” and “cooperative learning groups can offer potentially valuable learning

opportunities, teachers need to be aware that simply adopting one of the cooperative learning

structures does not necessarily promote deep engagement” (Herrmann, 2013, pp. 182, 184).

Even though these two studies reflect the same prognosis, the teacher-mentor and instructor

believe that cooperative learning environments will still be most beneficial for the learners at La

Escuela Secundario.

Learning a new language can be stressful and depending on the type of lesson or activity

instituted by an instructor, a learner may be quick to refuse an interaction which requires them to

speak in an open forum. This is the case for many of the students at La Escuela Secundario.

Though the learners have an avid interest in American movies, television shows, comic books,

and culture, almost all view these mediums in Spanish. Therefore, no mimicking or

pronunciation is practiced outside the classroom arena. The unusual fear of speaking English as

a second language is quite surprising and presents a significant challenge for the instructors.

Mas Darul Ihsan’s (2016) study sets to exam how “motivation is the extent to which a

communicator is drawn towards or pushed away from communicating competently in a given

context then performed” (p. 31). Motivating students to speak who do not want to during class

exercises and activities is the sign of a master teacher. One can be an excellent grammar,

reading, writing, and listening teacher, but if the learner does not orally produce what is learned,

language learning become fruitless at that point. After all, the entire rationale behind learning

English, or any language for that matter, is communication.

Ihasan’s (2016) descriptive quantitative research aimed to answer “1) the students’

motivation in practicing speaking English through this local based content, Easy-Speaking; and

2) The students’ behavior or effort, attitudes, interest and values or desire in practicing speaking
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English through this local based content, Easy-Speaking” (p. 38). Data was obtained through a

four questionnaires and answers from 35 students in the tenth (X-1 grade students) in

Muhammadiyah 1 Senior High School of Gresik (Ihsan, 2016, p. 38). Overall results concluded

that 74% of the learners were motivated to speak English when (1) media was incorporated in

lessons, (2) varying teaching pedagogies such as cooperative environments were utilized, (3)

rewarding students when they spoke correctly, and (4) when there was a safe, comfortable

atmosphere created in the classroom (Ihsan, 2016). This study brings forth the interesting

concept of rewarding learners for speaking correctly. Learners at La Escuela Secundario are

used to constantly being reprimanded, but never rewarded. Perhaps, if the teacher-mentor and

instructor were to implement a reward-based system and do away with the penalizing classroom

system currently in place, then the learners would lower affective filters and be motivated to

speak more during lessons. More importantly, however, is finding out the true reasons why

learners are not motivate to speak in class, and this information can only be obtained from the

learners themselves.

Mahdi’s (2015) analytical research paper concurs with Ihasan’s (2016) descriptive

quantitative research that students who are willing to invest in a classroom want to do so to gain

something in return (Mahdi, 2015; Jackson, 2011). Moreover, “mastering the art of teaching and

learning is always dependent on the progress of students and the way students are influenced by

the effectiveness of every positive attitude regarding their education” (Mahdi, 2015, p. 1703), but

some major reasons for learners not speaking in class are due to “lack of confidence in speaking

and the fear of making errors in language while speaking” (Mahdi, 2015, p. 1704). Ensuring that

learners will not be punished for making errors, creating a reward-based system for participating,

and creating cooperative environments in which the learners will feel safe amongst their peers
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may help the learners at La Escuela Secundario lower affective filters overcome their fears of

speaking English.

Instituting this research has revealed an amalgamation of findings centered on the

evidence shown. Saeed and Zyngier (2012), Sachs, Candlin, Rose, and Shum (2003), and

Ihasan’s (2016) articles reveal related ideas when compiled together:

• Different types of motivation incorporated by instructors is crucial to the learners’

incentive for taking ownership of their academia

• Motivation and action are essential for comprehensive student education

• Learners need constant encouragement and positive reinforcement in a supportive safe

classroom environment

• Placing learners in cooperative settings does not necessarily equate to higher test scores

but it does keep the learners engaged in lessons

The articles also suggested a few approaches and concepts to build learner motivation through

cooperative settings to build oral proficiency skills and lower affective filters. These approaches

incorporate:

• Varying instructional techniques to maintain student engagement through cooperative

environments, activities, and student to student interaction

• Students slowly become intrinsic learners and will eventually take ownership over their

academia when learning with peers, teacher guidance is readily available, and praise is

often given

• Both intrinsic and extrinsic students’ motivation for speaking or overall learning

decreases dramatically when they find activities unauthentic, unconvincing, or

insignificant
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• Rewarding students for speaking during activities with extra points that the students can

choose to disseminate to either weekly quizzes, monthly tests, or projects raises

participation and engagement

There are two major common themes among the articles: Praise and reward. Setting up learners

in cooperative environments and incorporating engaging activities are not enough. The

instructor must never remain unobtrusive during cooperative activities, never use punishment or

threats as a motivating tool, and never leave the learner feeling denigrated for incorrect answers

when speaking. One can surmise that praising and rewarding learners for their efforts will lead

to greater academic outcomes and increase motivation for learning English as second language.

Another important aspect is building social skills. Encouraging student-to-student relationships

rather than establishing a culture of competition in the classroom establishes a safe learning

environment where all learners aid each other in reaching overall learning target goals. The

connection of rewards and praises along with stimulating peer to peer interaction will provide the

learners at La Escuela Secundario with a greater chance to academically succeed as well as see

value in developing their English skills for the future.

To reiterate, this Action Plan for La Escuela Secundario focuses on the concepts of why

there is an extreme lack of student motivation for learning English, how can changing the current

pedagogy to cooperative learning guide learners to take ownership over their academia, and

through cooperative learning what types of activities can build confidence and oral fluency.

From these articles one can gather that lack of student motivation may occur because they see

nothing pertinent about learning English that is relatable to their lives, see English as a forced

and unnecessary skill, or see English as a skill that is too difficult to learn when compared to

other subject areas such as math, science, Spanish, and so on. Constant praising and rewarding

as well as teachers assuming the role as facilitator rather than lecturer will help learners see the
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value in learning English as second language, especially when they are doing so with friends in

cooperative environments. Cooperative settings alone do not equate to academic achievement

but providing teacher and peer-to-peer support may help so long as learners feel safe as well as

being rewarded when they show higher levels of participation and engagement. Support and

cooperative settings are also not enough as activities must be relatable in an authentic manner

and interesting. Students will be more confident and inclined to engage in lessons if they can

relate activities to their lives and see how what is being learned can be utilized outside school

boundaries.

Addressing the lack of student motivation for learning English as second language is the

first major step in the process of this research. Attributing poor school conditions, detached

administration, or insufficient parental support do not entirely justify the true rationale behind the

learners’ intent in having little desire to learn English. If one observes deeply enough, one can

see that these traits are only surface-level features. This research needs to find the root cause for

this lack of motivation of learning English, especially for a school that is in the middle of a small

town whose economy immensely depends on tourists from English-speaking countries. To find

out the answer to this problem, the teacher-mentor and instructor must go directly to the source:

The students. Conducting a school-wide survey, pulling random students from each grade level

to conduct interviews, and using the 9th graders as a control group to observe the efficiency of

cooperative learning may provide a clearer picture as to the main problem noted in this Action

Research. However, more research will be needed later in the future and conducted on an SBR

level and school-wide scale to truly find the underlying problems and provide solutions for those

motivational issues. Teachers from other content areas should be included in future

investigations so administration can begin to restructure school culture according to the learners’

needs, ways of acquiring knowledge, and their desire for learning.

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Research Methodology

For this study, the descriptive research method will be employed, not to make any kind of

accurate prediction or conclude any solid factual cause and effect, but to collect information

about the learners at La Escuela Secundario Junior High School through school-wide surveys

and interviews, and also through observation of the 9th graders as a control group to see how they

respond to cooperative learning. This research is not SBR in nature nor will it try to pass off as

such. The numbers and data will be used to describe the situations rather than attempt any

accurate calculations or predictions. Conducting surveys, interviews, and making observations

in the learners’ natural school environment may help in maintaining validity to the Action

Research. However, Mexican society is very much about ‘saving face’, so the teacher-mentor

and instructor need to tread very cautiously so the learners feel safe knowing answers will be

anonymous and they will not be scrutinized by administration, parents, or the English department

when filling out the surveys or during interviews. To answer the research questions posed in

this paper, data collection will derive from surveys that will contain a combination of frequency

and opinion questions for all grade levels, interviews with random learners selected from each

grade level, and a one-week observational study of the 9th graders in cooperative settings who

will also take a survey after the week is concluded.

This research addresses one of the main issues as to what are the students’ personal

reasons at La Escuela Secundario for having little desire to learn English as a second language.

Although the literature review examines what motivates students for learning with a focus on the

acquisition of the English language, there may be aspects that are unique to the situation for the

learners at La Escuela Secundario not mentioned in the above research. English language

acquisition may not be the only academic content area where students are not succeeding or

motivated to learn. There may also be other reasons why the learners are not scholastically
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achieving standards set by Nayarit Board of Education or doing poorly on standardized tests.

These reasons can include poor studying habits, lack of parental encouragement in the home,

observed patterns of behavior and attitude regarding education from family members,

socioeconomic factors, personal issues, and so on. Therefore, finding the root cause must come

from the learners and the first step in this research must be done through the school-wide survey

to give the teacher-mentor and instructor a picture of what the mitigating factors and attitudes

towards English language education may be. Data collected from the survey will be

quantitatively grouped in pie graphs though in no way are these graphs representative of

scientific, predictive, or direct cause and effect. The pie graphs may contain quantitative data,

but overall data is only for recorded observations to be categorized and interpreted by the

teacher-mentor and instructor to be given to the administration who may eventually decide

whether or not another qualitative study should be done, or a true SBR study must be conducted

in the future.

Though administrative approval has been granted, they have expressed that no additional

resources be allocated for this Action Research such as man power (secretaries, colleagues,

school volunteers, and so on), keeping students after school hours, or use of office supplies such

as printers, computers, or paper. The teacher-mentor and instructor must supply all and any

materials as well as use personal laptops for this process. Moreover, the teacher-mentor and

instructor must split duties between teaching and conducting this research to maintain curriculum

schedules as well as make sure there is no interference with student course objectives.

Administration, however, has granted approval to set aside one hour and a half for each grade

level to fill out the surveys. The interviews must be done during the two recess periods

throughout the day. Interviews are not be conducted during class time. Incentives such as giving

extra points or allowing students to be class leaders for the day will be granted. Class leaders are
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able to leave class five minutes before the 2nd recess period begins and manage other students

during ‘cleaning time’ in the last period of the day. Finally, administration has guaranteed that

all students will be told that filling out the survey and doing the interview is mandatory. The

teacher-mentor and instructor have asked the administration that no disciplinary action should be

taken if a learner does not want to participate in the survey or interview process. Though

learners will not be told directly, any unanswered questions from the survey or interview will be

part of the collected data.

The teacher-mentor and instructor will collect the data and hand it over to administration

as well as list of ideas, suggestions, potential solutions, and varying approaches to teaching

English as second language for possible future studies. Problems or conflicting circumstances

not first proposed but discovered as a result of this Action Research will be made known in its

conclusion. Though not scientific in nature, the surveys, interviews, and observational control-

study will provide insight throughout the Action Research process and bring to light other factors

or issues that are overlooked or have become the cultural norm at La Escuela Secundario.

Data Collection

A pre-study was conducted prior to the implementation of the Action Research. This pre-

study (see Figures 1 & 2) consisted of only gathering statistics to provide the teacher-mentor and

instructor an organized overview of summative examination results for the Fall semester of 2018

for speaking scores and overall scores for discipline areas such as reading, writing, and listening.

The Fall semester and current student population is included as well and broken down by gender.

Gender-specific answers for the surveys and interview as well as academic performance during

the control study will not be recorded. The breaking down of gender is merely to show

administration that all students were involved in this study. The aim for this research is not to

calculate whether girls are more motivated to learn English than the boys, and vice-versa.
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Figure 1. Demographic portrait for La Escuela Secondario Junior High School.

Figure 2. La Escuela Secondario examination results.

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The following is a summation from the school-wide surveys and interviews as well as

teacher observations of the 9th grade control group. For the surveys and interviews, pie graphs

were created to the show student answers by grade levels as well as an overview of population

responses. Survey questions were written in both English and Spanish as well as having

emoticons to lower affective filters and be geared towards the maturity level of the learners,

respectively. Learners had the choice of answering questions during the interview in Spanish or

English—again, to lower affective filters. The surveys, interviews, and teacher observations of

the 9th grade control group presented data aimed at answering the Action Research questions.

Survey

The survey (see Figures 3 & 4) consisted of 10 questions in two sections. Collected data

from the survey was broken down into pie graphs to show the percentages of the total student

population answers and show a simple visualization of student answers. Questions 1 thru five

asked the learners to determine frequency and questions 6 thru 10 asked the learners to measure

their opinion. This survey is in no way an SBR in nature. The survey was broken down by:

• Questions 1-5:

o Simplicity of language

o Questions do not require deep thought and self-reflection

o Questions are mostly focused on the individual student

• Questions 6-10

o Language is more complex

o Questions require more self-reflection and deep thought

o Questions are mostly focused on the class, instructor, and specific sentiment about

learning English
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Figure 3. Survey questions 1-5.

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Figure 4. Survey questions 6-10.

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Pie Chart 1: Student Survey Question 1 (total student population)

Pie Chart 2: Student Survey Question 2 (total student population)

Pie Chart 3: Student Survey Question 3 (total student population)

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Pie Chart 4: Student Survey Question 4 (total student population)

Pie Chart 5: Student Survey Question 5 (total student population)

Pie Chart 6: Student Survey Question 6 (total student population)

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Pie Chart 7: Student Survey Question 7 (total student population)

Pie Chart 8: Student Survey Question 8 (total student population)

Pie Chart 9: Student Survey Question 9 (total student population)

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Pie Chart 10: Student Survey Question 10 (total student population)

Interview

The classes at La Escuela Secundario comprise of two classes each for every level of 7th,

8th, and 9th grades. Learners were randomly selected from each class and grade level.

Conducting a true SBR research would require a sample size of interviewing 137 students with a

confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 4%. However, because of the nature of the

Action Research and time constraints, a total of twelve learners, 6 boys and 6 girls, or two from

each class, were interviewed. In regard to education surveys, “if you’re planning on just

receiving feedback from students for the sake of seeing what they think—and not necessarily

making a change in the system—a statistically significant sample size might not be as important”

(SurveyMonkey, 2019).

Individually, students were asked four open-ended questions in English first, and if

requested by the student, the questions were then repeated in Spanish. Learners could either

answer the interview questions in Spanish or English. These statistics of answers spoken in

Spanish or English were not recorded. Answers recorded below show blue for the 7th graders,

white for the 8th graders, and green for the 9th graders. Time constraint regulated the interviews

to only four questions which were conducted during the recesses over a five-day period. The
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teacher-mentor and instructor interviewed split interviewing duties, taking two learners from

each class. To maintain authenticity, the translations reflected student responses.

Open-Ended Question #1: What area of English (grammar, reading, writing, listening,

speaking) do you feel is the most important to learn and why?

7th Grade
I need grammar to speak English.
Speaking is important. I don’t need to read or write in English.
I don’t like English. It’s not important to me.
Grammar is important for me. I need to learn English grammar for the final test and high
school.
8th Grade
I like speaking because I like repeating after the teacher.
I like and need to learn grammar to speak English.
I don’t like speaking, reading, or writing English. Grammar is important for high school.
Grammar is important to speak English.
9th Grade
All areas are important when I go to the university because I want to be a doctor.
I don’t like English, and I don’t need English for my future.
I think grammar is the most important because we need it for speaking.
I like listening because I like to watch American movies. Listening is important.

Open-Ended Question #2: What would make you feel more comfortable learning English: In

groups or on your own? Why?

7th Grade
I like the games we play in our groups.
Groups because games are good for me and help me to learn.
I don’t care. I like learning alone.
I like working with my friends. They help me.
8th Grade
The activities are nice, but I like when the teacher explains.
Sometimes, people talk too much in groups. I like working alone more.
Groups are better. Teachers are sometimes boring.
I like groups. Games are fun. English is sometimes boring.
9th Grade
I don’t like working in groups very much. The other students always ask me for the answers.
I like my friends. English is boring. I don’t need English.
I like groups, but my friends aren’t in my group. Can I be with my friends to learn English?
I like teacher explanation more. I like the games we play in groups, though.
ACTION RESEARCH 26

Open-Ended Question #3: What kinds of activities do you want to see in class that will help

you speak more during lessons?

7th Grade
I like the English games we play in class. I don’t like speaking alone.
I like the speaking games. I don’t like reading even in my groups. Writing is too hard.
I like the games. I don’t like the book. I don’t like filling out the exercises.
I like the grammar games. I don’t like writing and reading in groups. It’s too boring.
8th Grade
I like the speaking games. They are fun.
I like to make the grammar maps in my groups. We talk about them in our groups.
I think the games are good. Grammar games help me practice my speaking.
More games for speaking. It’s more interesting than teacher explanations.
9th Grade
I like the role play games we do in class. This helps our speaking.
I don’t like speaking English. It’s too difficult and I don’t need it.
I like the grammar games. They help me to speak better.
I like the speaking games when I can interview my friends.

Open-Ended Question #4: How do you feel about your overall English learning experience

here at La Escuela Secundario Junior High School?

7th Grade
It’s good. I like it more than math class.
It’s good. Teachers are nice.
The teachers are good, but English is too hard. Very difficult to learn. I don’t like English.
It’s good because I need English for high school. I like American movies and TV shows.
8th Grade
It’s good. I like the teachers. I like the games.
The teachers are good. English is still too difficult to understand.
The teachers are nice to me. I need to pass the final test.
It’s more fun than economics or science class.
9th Grade
Most of the students don’t care about learning at this school. English is not important to
them. The teachers are very good but spend too much time discipling and not enough
teaching.
It’s okay. English is boring. I don’t care if I learn English. Spanish and math are more
important. There is too much work in this class.
I like English but it’s very difficult to learn. The teachers are good.
I like the classes, but the students aren’t very nice to the teachers. I need English for high
school.
ACTION RESEARCH 27

This data provides the teacher-mentor and instructor a better impression of what is the students’

motivation or lack thereof for learning English as well as observe whether “speaking” is a

priority for learning the language. Moreover, this information gives an idea of how the leaners

see value in learning English or if its pertinent to their lives in any way. Answers gathered from

the survey and interview as well as the observations from the 9th grade control group will garner

enough information to formulate suggestions. The data analysis show any discrepancies or

consistencies from the information gathered. A valid attempt will be taken to generate answers

to the Action Research questions and lay a potential foundation for conducting future English

classes after this Action Research has been fully implemented and surmised.

Control Study

For this one-week control study 9th grade classes A and B were placed in cooperative

learning environments to analyze a text and break down those features that contribute to the

development of theme, setting, and characterization. Students created graphic organizers in their

groups using concept maps, timelines, and tree diagrams all to be placed on a poster board. The

students then had to create their own characters, change the ending of the story, and then role-

play the newly created storyline in their groups to present to the instructors. They did not have

to present the role-play in front of the class. This helped lower affective filters and the learners

felt safe knowing their other peers would not be observing their role-playing.

Observations of student behavior were recorded to understand not only learner

motivation but how teacher instruction parallels student behavior. After the control study was

finished, learners filled out a questionnaire (see Figure 5) asking if the learners felt their English

improved, if they wanted to see more cooperative learning for future classes, and if they felt

more comfortable speaking in groups. The instructor took notes during the five days, and as

requested by the teacher-mentor wrote a brief summary of what was observed (see Figure 6).
ACTION RESEARCH 28

This control study was initiated to answer the Action Research question if cooperative learning

environments increases learner motivation to see the intrinsic value of learning English as a

second language as well as increase student engagement for speaking.

Figure 5. 9th grade class A & B questionnaire.

ACTION RESEARCH 29

Figure 6. Instructor group study observation summary.

Students could answer the questionnaire in English or Spanish. The teacher-mentor and

instructor asked the learners for complete honesty as the learners were given 15 minutes to

complete the questionnaire at the end of the last day. Both instructors were not present when the

learners were filling out their questionnaire to ensure that no inadvertent manipulation was

conducted on the teachers’ part, and learners were assured all answers would remain anonymous.
ACTION RESEARCH 30

Data Analysis

The data analysis of the Action Research findings brings to light any discrepancies,

consistencies, or clarifications to answer the questions first proposed at the beginning of the

research process. Analyzing the data will help bring further to light current issues within one’s

instructional techniques and lay the foundation for the development of a Future Action Plan to

possibly transform or enhance present pedagogy to benefit all stakeholders involved. In the data

analysis, “the teacher researcher engages in a systematic effort to search for patterns or trends in

the data” (Sagor, 2000, p. 20). These patterns or trends in the data enable the researcher to

critically assess their situation to make suggestions for improvement and best teaching practices.

This data analysis breaks down the surveys, interviews, and the observations and feedback from

the control group at La Escuela Secundario Junior High School.

School-Wide Survey

Analyzing the data from the school-wide survey brought to the forefront expected and

unexpected results (see Table 1). The teacher-mentor questioned the responses of the final

survey question, “My teacher does a great job motivating me to learn English”. His issue with

the overwhelming response of 72% agreeing that the instructors do an excellent job motivating

the students to learn English is more about ‘saving face’ than a valid and reliable response.

Mexicans are always taught to never openly critique their elders, bosses, or teachers. However,

he did approve of the survey beforehand. After sifting through all the data, he has decided that

the data analysis will focus on the first nine questions from the survey to assess the situation

found in the Problem Statement and to answer the Research Questions. The subsequent results

are valuable points that will have a bearing on the Future Action Plan:
ACTION RESEARCH
Table 1
La Escuela student survey results and expressed instructor concerns.
Research Question Topic Responses
Questions #1, 2, 6, & 7:
• A combined 86% of the
school fall between
sometimes being
comfortable learning
English and never
comfortable.
Motivation for learning • 57% are satisfied with
English their classes but 71% do
not like studying English
because it is deemed too
difficult to learn.
• A combined 70% of the
learners believe English
will not be an asset for
their future.
Questions # 3, 5, & 9:
• A combined 71% of the
learners like the idea of
studying in groups or
Changing the current friends.
pedagogy of teacher-centered • However, 70% of the
lecturing to a full-time school is split between
cooperative learning wanting teacher-lectured
environment and cooperative learning
environments.
• A combined 78% like the
classroom activities,
which have been
cooperative in nature, that
the instructors have
implemented.
31
Expressed Instructor
Concerns/Findings
• Instructors are not
creating lessons that
institute a safe, learning
environment for the
learners.
• Instructors are spending
too much time discipling
rather than awarding and
praising learners for their
efforts.
• The textbook is too far
above the learner skill
level for them to grasp
learning concepts and
targets.
• Instructors are not
implementing strategies
that show English as a
viable asset for their
future.
• Cooperative learning
environments prove to be
popular with the learners.
• Learners also express a
desire to keep explicit
and teacher-centered
instruction as part of the
learning process.
• Completely doing away
teacher-centered
instruction may not be
beneficial in the long
term.
• The most positive
response from the survey
have been the use of
classroom activities.
ACTION RESEARCH 32

Questions #4, 8, & 9: • Instructors must find a

Building confidence and
developing oral fluency to
move beyond choral drilling
and rote learning
• An overwhelmingly
combined 93% never
speak English outside
school boundaries.
• A combined 72% of
students do not like
speaking in class because
they are afraid of making
mistakes.
• A combined 78% like the
classroom activities
way to promote speaking
English outside of the
classroom.
• Instructors are not
providing enough
feedback that encourages
confidence and learning.
• Students have a fixed-
mindset and fear of being
chastised or punished for
making errors while
speaking.
• Classroom activities,
though popular, are not
enough to lower affective
filters to encourage
learners to speak more in
class.

Student Interviews

The only concern the administration and teacher-mentor had prior to conducting the

interviews was that the answers would not be a true representation of the overall student body

due to the low number of students being interviewed. The instructor made the case that the

sample size was not as important, and that receiving some type of face to face feedback from

some of the learners was (see Table 2). Moreover, the argument was made that feedback had to

be given from some students from all the classes. Interviewing learners from only one class and

grade level would not provide any reliable information that would add to this Action Research.

Furthermore, due to time constraints, no more than four students from each grade level could be

interviewed. It was stressed to the administration and teacher-mentor that the importance of the

interviews was to gain insight directly from the learners about the issues being dealt with at the

school since “the best aspect of interviews and surveys is that they provide you, as a teacher

researcher, with the actual voices and the precise words of your respondents” (Sagor, 2000).
ACTION RESEARCH 33

Table 2

Interview: Summary of answers and teacher concerns and findings.

Summary of Answers [std. = student(s)]

Questions 7th Graders 8th Graders 9th Graders Teacher

Concerns/Findings
What area of • 2 std. see • 3 std. see • 1 std. • Stds. see
English grammar as grammar as believes all grammar as the
(grammar, the most the main areas are most important
reading, important component to important. skill because of
writing, aspect of learning • 1 std. standardized
listening, learning English. believes state exams.
speaking) do English. • 1 std. likes the grammar is • Instructors
you feel is • 1 std. sees pronunciation / important. spend too much
the most Speaking as speaking • 1 std. sees time teaching to
important to important. exercise listening as the test and not
learn and • 1 std. does (choral important. placing enough
why? not care for drilling). • 1 std. does emphasis on the
English. not care for core English
English. skills of
reading, writing,
listening, and
speaking.
• Some stds. also
see Speaking as
an important
skill.
What would • 3 std. like • 1 std. prefers • 1 std. • Stds. see games
make you group lectures over prefers an important
feel more learning groups. working aspect to the
comfortable with an • 1 std. prefers alone. learning
learning emphasis on working alone. • 1 std. is process.
English: In games in the • 2 std. prefer indifferent / • Teachers have
groups or on activities. working in does not gotten the stds.
your own? • 1 std. groups with an like accustomed to
Why? prefers emphasis on English but viewing group
working games / wants to learning as a
alone. activities. learn with gaming
friends. experience.
• 1 std. • Teachers need
prefers to continue
both group utilizing
work and lectures in some
lecture. capacity.
ACTION RESEARCH 34

• 1 std. likes • Teachers need

groups but to find activities
with their or different
friends. approaches that
appeal to
learners who
prefer working
alone.

What kinds • 4 std. like • 3 std. like • 3 std. like • Various

of activities games for games for games for activities such
do you want activities. activities. No activities as role play,
to see in class No activities activities were such as interviews, and
that will help were specified. role- creating graphic
you speak specified. • 1 std. likes playing and organizers are
more during grammar student to more enjoyable
lessons? mapping / student for the learners
Concept Maps. interviews. than initially
• 1 std. does suspected.
not have an • Teachers need
opinion and to find /
does not incorporate
care for more activities
English. to encourage
speaking.
How do you • All std. • All std. rated • 1 std. • Teachers need
feel about rated their their voiced their to start
your overall experience experience as concern teaching the
English as “good”, “good”, but about the learners rather
learning but one one found other than content
experience found learning learners and curriculum
here at La learning English too being a objectives.
Escuela English too hard. distraction. • Teachers need
Secundario hard. • 1 std. to find a way to
Junior High expressed make learning
School? they do not materials more
care about accessible,
learning relatable, and
English. within their
• 1 std. rated cognitive level
their for the
experience learners.
as “good”
but found
learning
ACTION RESEARCH 35

English too
hard.
• 1 std.
learning
English is
more fun
compared to
other
classes.

A major concern / finding is how to connect with those learners who “do not care” to learn

English. Constant teacher discipline for these students may be a factor as well as not giving

enough praise. The instructors also need to set aside some time to discuss and connect with

individual learners on a personal level to find out why their motivation for learning English is so

low. Trying to keep up with the Nayarit Board of Education and Programa Nacional de Inglés

en Educación Básica (PNIEB) standards has only alienated those students who have a negative

disposition towards learning English. Instructors are in the habit of teaching content rather than

the learner. Teaching to standardized tests has also distanced learners from seeing education as

an important commodity and English as a valuable asset for the future.

Control Study Group

The control study group for the 9th graders yielded some good results. Teacher-lecturing

only occurred during a very short grammar lesson on adjectives that pertained to the story that

was central to the lesson. Teachers assigned each group a student team-leader. At first, the

students did not like the idea of being put into groups without their friends, but eventually they

came to see the benefit of having a group leader as their peer tutoring and guidance was

instrumental in helping everyone in the group accomplish learning tasks in a timely manner.

Students were allowed to use the L1 to lower affective when finding vocabulary words in their

Spanish-English dictionaries and discussing characterization, setting, and plot. The students had
ACTION RESEARCH 36

to fill out Concept Maps, Timelines, and Tree Diagrams together to paste on a poster board to

hand on the wall at the end of the week as part of a collective graphic organizer. After this,

students participated in a role-playing story they created from the text.

The learners who usually had shown no interest in learning English before during class

lessons were eventually motivated by their own peers. The instructors conducted formative

assessments throughout the lesson and moved from group to group to help guide the learners and

provide encouragement as the activities moved along. All assignments by all groups in both

classes were completed to fruition. Learner responses (all written in Spanish except for four

students who wrote in English) from the questionnaire were mostly positive (see Figure 7), and

for the first time since the first week of school in August 2018 both A & B classes had perfect

attendance and only three disciplinary warnings were given over a five-day period. The teacher-

mentor translated the questions and all students filled out the questionnaire. Below are some

samples of consistent answers seen in the questionnaire, and teacher concerns and findings (see

Table 3).

Figure 7. A few sample learner responses taken from the questionnaire.

Has your English improved learning in groups? Why / Why not?
It’s okay. I learned more than before. I like working with my friends. I like the pictures.
They helped me with the vocabulary. I like reading with my group.
My classmates helped me. This way is best. The teacher talking all the time makes me bored
and sleepy. My English is still very bad.
How would you like to learn English for the rest of the semester: In groups or teacher-
centered instruction? Why / Why not?
I like both because I need grammar for high school and the test. I like the groups and working
with my friends. We had fun with the role-play game. Reading in groups is better.
I think we need both. Sometimes, my group leader doesn’t know the answer. Teachers can
take more time to explain first, and then groups.
Did you feel more comfortable speaking English in groups? Why / Why not?
I like the role-play game, but my English is bad. I would like the teacher to pronounce the
vocabulary words first and then practice in our groups. No pronunciation for this week. Why?
Speaking English is very difficult for me. This project helped me with the vocabulary. I like
the role-play game and I liked reading in my group.
ACTION RESEARCH 37

Table 3

Teacher concerns / findings with the 9th grade control group.

Role-playing games presented in groups only for the instructor worked well. However,
instructors need to find a way to motivate learners to do their presentations in front of the
whole class in the near future.
Though speaking was the target of the observations, students actually had positive reactions to
reading in groups rather than doing so individually in whole-class reading lessons. This
yielded a surprising residual effect for the teacher-mentor.
Most students recorded that they felt their English-speaking abilities had not really improved
in cooperative learning environments. However, this control study was only conducted for
one week. Instructors need further observations of lessons conducted in this manner to see if
cooperative learning improves speaking abilities over time.
Though most students felt they had not improved their speaking abilities in cooperative
learning environments, the learners were engaged in the lesson and poor student attendance
not was an issue.
Most students still want teacher-lecturing to be part of the lesson, especially for pronunciation
of vocabulary words and grammar explanations. Instructors must find a healthy balance
between the two methods of instruction. Moreover, implicit instruction of grammar alone may
not work for the learners.

The data analysis conducted through this Action Research brought forth obvious as well

as surprising results such as the learners enjoying the readings in their groups. The teacher-

mentor and instructor now have outlined a Future Action Plan to suggest solutions for the issues

seen in the Problem Statement and properly answer the Research Questions.

“Whether confronting a problem with an individual student or an issue affecting a broad

range of students, “inquiring” teachers use all of their knowledge about each individual

and the instructional context, as well as what they can discern from the professional

literature, to design appropriate instructional interventions. By collecting data on the

effectiveness of each teaching decision, inquiring teachers expand their knowledge base

as well as their profession’s understanding on how to address similar cases in the future”

(Sagor, 2000, p. 41).

ACTION RESEARCH 38

The Future Action Plan in Action Research determine the actions based on the teacher-mentor

and instructor’s conclusions from the data analysis to provide suggestions, create strategies, and

share these conclusions with administration. Improving on issues by making changes in teaching

practices is a commitment that needs to be carried out to fruition. One also needs to be aware

that conducting more than one Action Research may be required if the Future Action Plan does

not produce expected results. The Future Action Plan, thus, is the action itself in the research

and this too must continually be examined, assessed, and adjusted accordingly.

Future Action Plan

After analyzing the data, the teacher-mentor and instructor felt more positive about the

future state of the learners at La Escuela Secundario Junior High School. Indeed, there are

problems that exist, but these problems can be overcome with a clear approach and dedication

towards changing teaching practices. The teacher-mentor and instructor have outlined

recommended actions to increase student motivation for learning English, combine or mix-up

varying pedagogies, and build confidence to raise oral fluency. It is imperative that the teacher-

mentor and instructor remain consistent in their newly formed teaching practices once the Future

Action Plan is implemented and administration approval is granted.

“If we are to meet the needs of a diverse population and help public education meet its

moral goal of providing equal opportunity, then we need to break the tyranny of central

tendency and discover an array of instructional techniques appropriate for even the

smallest subpopulation of learners. To accomplish this, we need a teaching force armed

with data that they can use to make the pursuit of continuous improvement a normal part

of school life.” (Sagor, 2000, p. 43).

ACTION RESEARCH 39

Future actions are going to be instrumental in forming a strategy that takes measures for

increasing motivation for learning English. These are the concerns and findings and the possible

solutions for what was collected and analyzed:

1) Motivation: What are the students’ personal reasons at La Escuela Secundario for having

little desire to learn English as a second language?

i) English is seen as too difficult by the learners. Borjian’s (2015) study interviewed

Mexican English teachers who found “that their students’ lack of interest as well as

their views on the difficulty of English limited their progress in acquiring this

language” (p. 167).

(a) Possible Solutions:

1. Simplify readings from the textbook as well as provide Spanish

translations.

2. Reinforce grammar points through individual and cooperative learning

exercises.

3. Provide more explicit instruction and constant review of grammar

learning targets.

4. Do not inundate learners with too much vocabulary, grammar points,

and reading texts simply to stay on target with curriculum objectives.

5. Do not move on until all learners understand and reach the learning

targets.

ii) Students do not see the value of learning English: “Teachers discussed the views of

their students regarding the utility of English and said that some younger students

who are not interested in learning English are not aware of the potential benefits of

learning this language” (Borjian, 2015, p. 168).

ACTION RESEARCH 40

(a) Possible solutions:

1. Bring in a guest speaker from a large Mexican company to explain the

importance of English in the Mexican workforce and how being

bilingual leads to higher salaries.

2. Bring in a local Mexican business owner from San Pancho who can

explain how speaking English brings in more profit.

3. Bring in a parent who uses English daily at their job.

iii) Students may have personal reasons for not wanting to learn English.

(a) Possible solution:

1. Interview learners one on one and allow them to freely express their

concerns and rationale for not wanting to learn English, and then work

together (student-teacher) to find possible solutions and avenues that

will help the learner recognize English an important subject area.

2. Give constant praise and set up a consistent reward system in class.

3. Create a culture in the classroom of responsibility and accountability

for one’s academia.

2) Varying Pedagogy: How can changing the current pedagogy of teacher-centered lecturing to

a full-time cooperative learning environment increase learner motivation to attend classes on

a consistent basis and see the intrinsic value of learning English as a second language?

i) Students still desire a teacher-centered pedagogy especially for grammar explanation

and pronunciation drills.

(a) Possible solutions:

1. Mix-up teacher-centered pedagogy with cooperative learning.

ACTION RESEARCH 41

2. Keep teacher-centered pedagogy to a minimum and reinforce learning

targets with cooperative learning activities. Explicit instruction will be

given when situations arise that call for it (re-explanation of the

grammar, vocabulary instruction, and so on).

3. Constantly change and mix-up groups and provide chances for lower-

level learners to become group leaders.

ii) Students saw no real improvement in their English skills when in cooperative

settings.

(a) Possible solutions:

1. Continue with implementing cooperative learning environments in the

months to come and then reassess the situation and see if there is an

improvement in motivation, grades, and fluency.

2. Vary activities in cooperative settings that are not merely deemed as

game-learning activities.

3. Conduct continual formative assessments throughout cooperative

learning activities.

3) Building Oral Fluency: What types of pedagogy can the instructors implement to build

confidence and develop oral fluency to move beyond choral drilling and rote learning in

order to prepare the students for future speech projects?

i) “The teaching of grammar skills rather than emphasis on communicative competence

continues to be the focus of the Mexican educational system”, and the another

problem with building oral fluency is the “limited access to English outside of the

classroom as the biggest obstacle for Mexican students’ English-language

development” (Borjian, 2015, p. 168). Getting learners to simply speak or realize the
ACTION RESEARCH 42

importance of incorporating the grammar learned in speaking skills is a challenge for

the teacher-mentor and instructor.

(a) Possible solutions:

1. Use of cooperative environments helps the learners feel safe speaking

in small groups rather than be the focus during whole-class instruction.

2. Providing constant praise and rewarding learners for making legitimate

attempts at speaking.

3. Continue activities such as role-play, varying speaking games, student-

to-student interviews, and read alouds (yes, this is reading, but still

hearing the learner’s voice is something the teacher-mentor sees as

speaking—his suggestion) will lower affective filters and encourage

more student engagement for speaking.

4. Setting aside time for one on one (student and instructor) to practice

speaking and reinforce vocabulary and grammar points. Small group

instruction can also be implemented here with the learners choosing

their friends to work with to lower affective filters and promote

speaking in a safe environment.

5. Set up projects for learners to interview tourists, family members, or

business owners as after school assignments. This will encourage

learning outside of school boundaries and keep learners engaged in

English after school hours.

6. The teacher-mentor and instructor must consistently have speaking as

part of the material being learned. Presently, grammar is the focus

with vocabulary being a secondary characteristic of the learning

ACTION RESEARCH 43

process. All aspects of English skills must be incorporated, but

sometimes speaking can be the focus of a unit with the other skills

being an underlying reinforcement of the overall lesson target goals,

for example.

7. With parental approval, the teacher mentor and instructor can make

activities outside of school boundaries during school hours as field

projects to interview locals and tourists.

8. Ask administration to set up class schedules where classes from two

different or the same grade level have English at the same time for

these classes to work together in speaking activities created by the

teacher-mentor and instructor to interweave lesson objectives, no

matter the grade level. This can be done in the school courtyard under

the supervision of the teacher-mentor and instructor.

The Action Plan objectives addresses how to motivate learners to engage in lessons

through varying pedagogy so learners can see English as an essential component to their current

academic situation as well as a skill that will be used in higher tertiary educational levels and

possibly when they enter the workforce. “Estimates of the number of Mexicans who speak or

understand English run between 2% and 5%, a situation that represents a great cost to the

country’s competitiveness internationally. Workers who can speak English can earn 28% to 50%

more than those who do not” (Mexico Daily News, 2015). This information needs to be

presented to the director and administration as well as the possible solutions to enhance the

English program at La Escuela Secundario. Without administration approval, the hopes of

restructuring the English program will be futile and a blocking force to this or any other future

Action Plans. Instructors from other content areas such as science, math, history, Spanish, and
ACTION RESEARCH 44

so on may refrain from conducting their own Action Plans if this one is rejected. The teacher-

mentor and instructor will have to see if approval is given when the problems, data analysis, and

solutions are presented to administration next week.

Conclusion

Administration approval must be given for the teacher-mentor and instructor to continue

with the procedure of restructuring the English methodology currently in place. Prior to meeting

with administration, the teacher-mentor and instructor must also evaluate what would be the

driving forces to actualize the Action Plan as well as the restraining forces that would halt the

restructuring process. Moreover, deciding on what data is most important to this Action

Research has yet to be decided. It is the hope of the teacher-mentor and instructor that the

administration will become an integral part of the decision-making process whereas before they

have been almost unobtrusive and nonexistent to the Action Research. However, the teacher-

mentor and instructor are confident that once all the data is presented, administration will be

more inclined to become an important collaborator to this process.

ACTION RESEARCH 45

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ACTION RESEARCH 46

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