Lecture 6

Conducting an action research project

Framework for research- The Interconnection of Worldviews, Design,
and Research Methods (Creswell & Creswell, 2018, p. 45)
- How to find a good research topic
- Developing good research questions
- The research process
- Writing and presenting AR report
 General research process
1. Identifying a research area
2. Developing a research question
3. Preparing a research proposal
4. Conducting a literature review
5. Determining data collection methods
6. Collecting data
7. Analysing data
8. Drawing conclusions
9. Writing up research
 Research Strategies
 Start out by reading a general study or two
on your subject
 Treat research like detective story

 Look at most recent books and journal first

 Make a copy of important materials

 Make a careful and complete notation of

the source of your material
 Three Ways to Motivate Chinese Students in EFL Listening Classes
 Using Literature to Promote Language Learning: Issues and Insights
for Implementation in Armenian Settings
 Factors Predicting Effective Oral Presentations in EFL Classrooms
 Using Cooperative Learning to Enhance Students’ Reading
Comprehension.
 Improving Teacher-Student Interaction in the EFL Classroom: An
Action Research Report
 Facilitating Second Language Acquisition Through Computer
Assisted Language Learning
 Three Ways to Motivate Chinese Students in EFL Listening Classes
 An Action Research Report on Promoting Learners‟ Motivation in
College English Intensive Reading Course in China
 An Action Research on Improvement of Reading Comprehension
of EFL Students in Kuangoeng, Korea
 Getting EFL students to speak: an action research approach
Selecting and developing the topic will be dealt with under the following headings:
1. Purpose: Why are you engaging in this action research?
2.. Topic: What area are you going to investigate?
3. 'Focus: What is the precise question you are going to ask yourself within that
area?
4. Product: What is the likely outcome of the research, as you intend
it?
5. Mode: How are you going to conduct the research?
6. Timing: How long have you got to do the research? Is there a deadline for its
completion?
7. Resources: What are the resources,. both human and material, that you can
call upon to help you complete the research?
8. Refocusing/fine-tuning: As you proceed with your research, do you suppose you
will have to rethink your original question?
(Burns, 2010)
Questions can help guide your thinking in the early stages

• What do you feel passionate about?

• What do you feel curious about?
• What new approaches to learning or teaching are you interested in trying?
• What will make you a more effective teacher?
• What gaps are there between your current teaching situation and what you
would like to see happening?
• What needs of your students are not being met?
• Why are some of your students not achieving in the same way as others?
Plan – planning the action 23
• Why are your students behaving the way they do?
• What do you want your students to know, understand, or do better than they
currently do?
• What language skills would you like your students to improve?

(Burns, 2010)
The possibilities for AR are endless and could be any of the following
broad areas:

• Increasing learner autonomy

• Integrating language skills
• Focusing on language form
• Understanding student motivation
• Developing writing skills
• Promoting group work
• Making classrooms more communicative
• Trying out new materials
• Finding new ways to do assessment
• Integrating technology into class activities
• Helping students to develop self-study techniques.
Fischer (2001): 4 broad areas of teachers’ interests that provide a focus for AR

a) your teaching and making changes in teaching;

b) your learners and how they learn;

c) your interaction with the current curriculum and with curriculum innovation;

d) your teaching beliefs and philosophies and their connections with daily practice
How would you categorise the following questions in relation to Fischer’s
four areas?

1. I’m interested in the concept of teacher expertise. What should be the balance
between learner-centredness and teacher-centredness in my classroom?

2. What can I do to make the syllabus required by my school more appealing to my

learners?

3. How do my learners respond to my teaching of pronunciation?

4. What kinds of activities are most effective in motivating my students in writing

class?
Guides for a research project

1. Focus
• Describe the context of the research and your research topic.
• What are the main issues embedded in your research topic?
• Where does your topic fit in the wider scheme of second language teaching in your context?
2. Questions
• Outline the main research questions.
• How are the questions logically related to your focus area?
(Remember that your questions are likely to change as you proceed, but should be clear
enough to provide a good starting point.)
• What is/are the focus question(s)
3. Rationale
• Describe your reasons for undertaking this project.
• What is its relevance to your context, your students, your own professional development?
• How will it benefit your teaching and your students’ learning?
• What outcomes do you expect from the research?
• How will the project contribute to the field of second language teaching and learning?
4. Review of literature
• Provide a brief summary of the key works on your topic and questions.
• Who are the main authors and what are their key ideas? How do they reflect your own classroom
experiences?
• How much research seems to have been conducted on this topic?
5. Research methods
• Outline the model and the main methods you will use.
• What actions and strategies will you use in the classroom?
• What involvement will your students have?
• What types of methods will be appropriate (e.g. case studies, narratives, course evaluations)?
6. Data collection
• Describe how you will document what happens.
• What data collection tools will you use (e.g. observations, surveys, class discussion, student
portfolios, videos)?
7. Data analysis
• Summarise how you will analyse the data.
• How will you identify themes and categories in open-ended comments?
• What tools lend themselves to quantitative analysis?
• How will you display the information?
8. Timeline
• Set out the timelines for the research.
• How long will you continue the research?
• What are the different phases of the research?
• How do the different steps break down in terms of months/weeks/days?
• What additional phases or steps do you anticipate might be needed?
9. Resources needed
• Identify the resources, equipment and materials you need.
• To what extent are they readily available?
• What limitations to doing your research can you foresee?
10. References
• List the references mentioned in your proposal.
• Use recognised conventions for referencing, advised by your tutor or ones
such as the American Psychological Association or Harvard systems.
• Present an additional bibliography of other references you intend consulting.

(Fischer, 2001, p. 45)

 Action Research Report
Introduction
 Problem Statement
 Purpose
 Description of the Community
 Description of Work Setting
 Writer's Role
Study of the Problem
 Problem Description
 Problem Documentation
 Literature Review
 Causative Analysis
Outcomes and Evaluations
 Goals and Expectations
 Expected Outcomes
 Measurement Outcomes
Analysis Results
 Solution Strategy
 Statement of Problem
Discussion
 Selected Solutions
 Calendar Plan
Results
 Results
 Discussion
 Recommendation

Plans for Dissemination

References

Appendices
Formulating a research question

A good research question:

• Defines the problem
• Provides action intervention

O’Leary, Z. (2004)
 IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEM AREA
Gets at explanations, reasons,
relationships

Provides a
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understanding Good your own
of the topic practice
and is research
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Is manageable 4 3 Provides you an

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Formulating a research question

Criteria for a good research question:

• Is the question right for me?
• Is the question right for the field?
• Is the question well articulated?
• Is the question doable?
• Does the question get the tick of approval from
those in the know?

O’Leary, Z. (2004)
 Preparing an annotated bibliography
An annotated bibliography:

• Contains a list of relevant studies relating to the

problem and research question

• Each entry contains a summary or abstract of the

particular work
 Annotated Bibliography
Topic: Milestones in ELT

Individualisation in Language Learning

This publication, from 1978, provides a useful introduction to pioneer approaches to
self-directed learning and individualisation in ELT at the time. Authors discuss
theory, terminology and particular methodologies and contexts. Also recorded are
ways in which UK practitioners were learning from US educationists and
psychologists, and from French counterparts in language teaching. The final
contributor raises more questions than he can answer about the role of the ESP and
EAP teacher in an effort to stimulate debate about what students need and want, and
about how and what teachers should teach.
Academic Writing: process and product

This volume, published in 1988, consists of papers from the eponymous

University of Reading Conference of 1985. The choice of Academic Writing as a
theme was designed to counteract the perception that it was the ‘Cinderella of
EAP’, and the Conference aimed to enable practitioners to benefit from recent
research in the teaching of writing from outside ELT as well as within the field.
The papers dealt
individually with different aspects of academic writing and its teaching,
including that of essay writing, project writing, scientific writing, writing for
examinations, and article writing.
Maximising Learning in Large Classes

This very practical and ‘teacher-friendly’ publication was produced

following a Hornby workshop on teaching large classes in Ethiopia
in 2006. The book was put together by the workshop tutors, drawing
on the materials and activities generated by the workshop trainers and
participants. Part 1 provides an introduction to the issues involved when
teaching in large classes; Part 2 looks at specific classroom activities;
and finally the book provides a useful bibliography for those wishing
to read more on the subject.
Language Improvement for English Teachers

This book was produced following the Hornby workshop on language

improvement for teachers in Senegal in 2009. The book was designed
to be suitable for teachers at various levels of language proficiency. It is
task-based, and can be used as a self-access or training course manual. The
10 chapters include ‘Using English effectively in the classroom’; ‘Managing
the classroom’; ‘Adapting materials’; and ‘Helping teachers with change’.
English as an International Language
This concise volume from 1978 is pre-‘World Englishes’ and before the acceptance of
Kachru’s model of the inner, outer and expanding circles of English language use.
Nevertheless, it is clear that the book’s authors were fully engaged with the diversity of
English language use and the practical needs of learners. Mark Lester and others debate
what might constitute International English and its value globally, while Peter Strevens and
John Norrish challenge attitudes to local forms of English, arguing for their integration into
ELT.
Developments in the Training of Teachers of English
This volume dates from 1979 and is a gem for anyone interested in the early days of
university level ELT qualifications, especially in the UK. Norman Whitney’s is the first
chapter, in which he asked, with empathy, how ‘foreign applicants’ could be helped to
choose the most appropriate course for them. There follow chapters on the development
of courses at Edinburgh, Lancaster, Bangor, Manchester and London. Ann Hayes offered a
portrait of the British Council’s own Teaching Institute in London at the time. Finally, Maria
Sticchi Damiani urged teachers to foster a sense of community and sponstaneity in the
classroom.
National Syllabuses
Dating from 1980, this book was written in response to a major study by the International
Evaluation Association of achievement by education syllabuses worldwide in six key school
subjects, including English. Among the contributors, Alex Inkeles criticises the IEA study
for its ‘insufficient analysis’, but commends the exercise for its challenges to popular
assumptions about educational achievement and the role of teachers. Douglas Pickett and
the other authors drew on the IEA data to make recommendations, including allowing the
mother tongue in the ELT classroom.
Humanistic Approaches: an empirical view
This is a delightful read, which attempts to provide an introduction to latest thinking in
1982 on a wide range of humanistic topics. These included defining humanistic values in
ELT; community language learning; computer simulations; ‘suggestopedy’; and the Silent
Way. The chapters are accessible, with references to the authors’ own teaching
experiences. There are occasional humorous or waspish comments, all of which increase
the enjoyment for the reader. The volume ends with profiles of the authors.
Language Teaching Projects for the Third World
This Document, from 1983, offers a selection of project case studies and commentaries
from various African contexts. Most of the projects were British Council-run. The authors
reflect the preoccupations of expatriate project workers of the day, and the lack of African
contributors strikes the modern reader immediately. Nevertheless, this is a valuable
resource for those interested in the history of English for development and the role of
donor agencies.
 Conducting a literature review

B. Resources
 Different sources: books, magazines, newspapers,
the Internet
 Primary vs. secondary sources
 Evaluate sources
• Book’s table of contents/ an article’s opening
paragraph
• Type of language
• Information about the author
 Preparing a research proposal
A general outline of a research proposal
1. Title (or the research question in one statement)
2. Identification of the problem
3. Purpose and significance of the study
4. Definition of terms (or key constructs)
5. Review of literature (or an annotated bibliography)
6. Method and procedure, including the research hypotheses,
research model, the subjects, data collection methods and
data analysis procedures etc.
7. Statement on how results will be presented
8. References
 Methodology and procedures
The methodology or procedures section is really the
heart of the research proposal. The activities should be
described in detail, and the continuity between them
should be apparent. It should include:
• Research model and procedural steps
• Measurement instruments to be used or developed.
• Individuals participating in the research (subjects).
• Data collection procedures and tools.
• Data analysis (specific analyses to be used).
 Analysing data
2 methods applying to analyse data
- analytical/interpretive process
- statistical process
Things to consider:
- making reliable and valid interpretation
- drawing conclusions from data
- being objective in analysing data
 Analysing data
Essential issues in analysing your data
• Managing data:
- Do be selective and checked in your analysis
- Code the data (date, who completed them,
number of returns)
- Categorise data (in relation to gender…)
- Code data in relation to kinds of answer,
theme or issues (for open-ended
questionnaires, open-ended interview,…)
 Drawing conclusions
Conclusions are drawn from analysing data
(through summarise and generalise)
You need to consider:
• The significance of your findings (it has come
meaning and importance in terms of your arguments,
in terms of life,…)
• Reliability
• Validity (appropriate methods,
well developed questionnaires,….)
 GUIDELINE TO WRITE A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
(Mertens, 2005)
1. Title:
Concise and descriptive
Make it catchy
Prick reader’s interest
Predispose
2.Abstract:
Brief summary (about 300 words)
Conclude research question
Rationale for the study
The hypothesis (if any)
Method (design, procedures, sample, or
instruments)
3. Introduction:
General statement
Background (historical and
contemporary scene)
Major theoretical models
Key independent and dependent
variables
Hypotheses, predictions
4. Literature Review:
General statement
Background (historical and
contemporary scene)
Major theoretical models
Key independent and dependent
variables
Hypotheses, predictions
5. Methods to describe
Design
Population, sampling procedure
Measuring instrument used
Procedure, time frame of data collection
How to analyze data
6. Discussion:
- Significance
- Limitations
 Writing up the research report

The structure of a research report

– Title
– Abstract
– Introduction
– Methods
– Results
– Discussion
– References
– Additional
• Formatting a research paper
• Revising and proofreading
 Reference
 There are mainly four types of sources:
• book
• chapter in an edited book
• article in a journal
• article from the Internet
 Reference List:

The APA Style website:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu
Anderson J. E. (1985), The Relative Ineffeciency of Quota, The
Cheese Case, American Economic Review, 75 (1), pp. 178- 90.
Borkakati R. P., Virmani S. S. (1997), Genetics of Thermosensitive genic
male sterility in Rice, Euphytica 88, pp. 1- 7.
Boulding K. E. (1955), Economics Analysis, Hamish Hamilton, London.
Burton G. W. (1988), “Cytoplasmic male- sterility in pearl millet
(pennysetum glaucum L.)”, Agronomic Journal 50, pp. 230- 231.
Central Statistical Oraganisation (1995), Statistical Year Book,
Beijing.
FAO (1971), Agricultural Commodity Projections (1970- 1980), Vol. II.
Rome.
Institute of Economics (1988), Analysis of Expenditure Pattern of Urban
Households in Vietnam, Department of Economics, Economic
Research Report, Hanoi.
 Preparation for the oral presentation
A good preparation of:
• The content: Structure of your presentation
• Materials: Handouts and note cards
• Visual aids: PowerPoint slides, audio-visual device such as Overhead projector,
Multimedia Projector, video, newsprint diagrams… (but you should not use
chalk or marker pen)
• Explanation of definitions and main terms of your presentation so that you can
lead your audience to the problems of your thesis
• Practise the presentation (with or without the audience) a
few times before the day of your presentation
• Learn to manage stress.
 Presenting the research report
• Describing the importance of research results: why you
research that problems and what this research contributes to
your awareness.

• Be sure that you master your research and combine the parts
of your report.

• Control your balance: To present successfully, you have to

be in a good emotion.

• Presenting in front of a large audience usually causes stress

and pressure for the agent.
 You should:
– Try not to be too nervous. Manage your breath
– Practise to relax.
– Practice to present beforehand
– Dress comfortably and politely
– Take along your full report so that you can look at it
again when necessary. Highlight the problems and
ideas that could be given out to discuss. Or you’ll waste
a lot of time to find them.
(Wisker, G.)
Some tips

1. Maintain sincere eye contact with your

audience.

2. Hand gesture: left free to gesture naturally.

3. Friendly facial expression

4. Don’t just read your slides.

5. Use colour to emphasize important

points.

6. Emphasize your strong points during

your presentation (sense of humor).

7. Speak slowly, loudly and clearly.

8. Show appropriate emotion and feeling relating to
your topic.

9. Use of linking words, time connectors.

10. Use humor, hedging strategies etc.

11. Maintaining a friendly, open relationship with the

audience.
Further readings:

Kemmis, S. & McTaggart, R. (eds) (1988). The Action Research

Planner. (2nd ed.). Geelong, Vic,: Deakin University Press.

Wisker, G. 2001, The Postgraduate Research Handbook, New

York: Palgrave