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Research and Practice in Applied Linguistics
Series Editors: Christopher N. Candlin and Jonathan Crichton
Exploratory Practice in
Language Teaching
Puzzling about Principles and Practices
Judith Hanks
Research and Practice in Applied Linguistics
Series Editors
Christopher N. Candlin
Macquarie University
Church Point, Australia
Jonathan Crichton
Communication, Int Studies and Languages
University of South Australia
Magill, Australia
“Hanks makes an original, detailed, and compelling case for the fundamental dis-
tinctiveness and practical importance of Exploratory Practice (EP), a radical form
of practitioner research bringing teachers and learners (and others) together as co-
researchers seeking deeper understandings of what it means to be engaged in lan-
guage teaching and learning.”
—Dick Allwright, Lancaster University, UK
This flagship series was created and overseen by Professor Christopher
N. Candlin, and continues his work by providing the essential cross-over
between research in applied linguistics and its practical applications in
the professions. Books in the series address the growing need for profes-
sionals concerned with language and communication issues to keep up
to date with applied linguistic research relevant to their practice. Central
to this agenda, the series offers students and practising professionals rapid
and authoritative access to current scholarship and research on key top-
ics in language education and professional communication more broadly,
emphasising the integration and interdependence of research and practice
in a useable way. The series provides books with a common structure, each
book offering a clear, up-to-date and authoritative overview of key con-
cepts, research issues and developments in the particular topic, identifying:
research evidence for the main ideas and concepts competing issues and
unsolved questions the range of practical applications available for profes-
sional and organisational practice that draw on such concepts and ideas a
synopsis of important issues open for action and practice-based research
by practitioners/students. These state-of-the-art overviews are supported by
selected cases studies of the practical applications of research and ‘how to’
research guides and resources, all designed to extend and localise knowl-
edge of the topic and its relevance for the reader. Throughout the books,
readers are encouraged to take up issues of enquiry and research that relate
to their own contexts of practice, guided by reflective and exploratory ques-
tions and examples that invite practical connections to their work. Written
by leading scholars and practitioners, the books will be essential reading
for MA or PhD student in Applied Linguistics, TESOL, Communication
Studies and related fields and for professionals concerned with language
and communication who are keen to extend their research experience.
Exploratory Practice
in Language
Teaching
Puzzling About Principles and Practices
Judith Hanks
University of Leeds
Leeds, United Kingdom
research to practice? Can research questions that arise and are examined
in very specific circumstances be informed by, and inform, the global
body of research and practice? What different kinds of information can
be obtained from different research methodologies? How should we
make a selection between the options available, and how far are different
methods compatible with each other? How can the results of research be
turned into practical action?
The books in this series identify key researchable areas in the field and
provide workable examples of research projects, backed up by details of
appropriate research tools and resources. Case studies and exemplars of
research and practice are drawn on throughout the books. References to
key institutions, individual research lists, journals and professional orga-
nizations provide starting points for gathering information and embark-
ing on research. The books also include annotated lists of key works in
the field for further study.
The overall objective of the series is to illustrate the message that in
Applied Linguistics there can be no good professional practice that isn’t
based on good research, and there can be no good research that isn’t
informed by practice.
Christopher N. Candlin and Jonathan Crichton
Acknowledgements
1 General Introduction 1
Introduction 1
What Is Exploratory Practice? 2
Why this Book? 8
Who Is this Book for? 9
Who Am ‘I’? 11
Where Is Exploratory Practice in the World? 12
What’s the Impact of Exploratory Practice? 13
Before Beginning 15
And Finally… 17
xi
xii Contents
9 Collegial Working 167
Introduction 167
Is Exploratory Practice Transplantable to/in Other
Contexts? 168
What Do Learners Think About It? 171
How Does All this Relate to the Exploratory Practice
Principles? 177
Case Study 9.1: ‘Why Do I Ask My Students to
Reflect on Their Learning?’: A Story of Mutual
Development. 177
Case Study 9.2: ‘Why Don’t We Bring EP and Learner
Autonomy Together?’: A Story of Integration 181
Case Study 9.3: ‘Why Don’t We Use EP in Our
‘Zemi’ Classes?’: A Story of Sustainability 184
Summary 188
14 Conclusions 291
Introduction 291
From Research-as-Practice to Practice-as-Research 292
Language, Culture, and Identity in Exploratory Practice 295
Problematising Problem-Solving 297
Looking Ahead: What Next for Exploratory Practice? 301
Exploratory Practice as a Form of Research 301
Case Study 14.1: ‘What Happens When Exploratory
Practice Moves Beyond the Classroom?’: A Story
of Explorations in Research 301
Exploratory Practice as a Form of Scholarship 305
Redefining Notions of Pedagogy, Scholarship,
and Research 307
Implications and Impact 310
Suggestions for Future Research 311
Conclusion 314
References 353
Index 373
List of Figures and Table
xix
1
General Introduction
Introduction
It has become axiomatic that research into classroom language learning
and teaching should be participatory, egalitarian, and empowering. Just
how these three aims might be achieved, however, has been the subject of
much debate. Over the decades, practitioner research has been increas-
ingly recognised as a force for developing understandings of educational
processes and practices (see Cochran-Smith and Lytle 2009; Tudor 2001;
Zeichner and Noffke 2001), and is now a well-established field, with
a plethora of different approaches to educational investigations. These
approaches fall roughly into the following areas: Action Research (Burns
2005, 2010, 2015; Nunan 1993; Wallace 1998), Reflective Practice (Edge
2011; Farrell 2007), and, most recently, Exploratory Practice (Allwright
2003; Allwright and Hanks 2009).
Exploratory Practice (EP) has come to the fore as an original form
of practitioner research which integrates research and pedagogy. EP
foregrounds the importance of ‘why’; of puzzling, being puzzled, and
puzzlement; and acknowledges that exploring such puzzles (as learners,
But we must first question the drive for change. The current obsession
in our society with increased ‘efficiency’ or ‘effectiveness’ fails to recog-
nise that superficial/mechanical measures for improving efficiency or
effectiveness do not necessarily lead to better teaching or learning. The
system is predicated on a deficit model which, as Breen, in a searing cri-
tique, puts it, ‘[assumes] that whatever teachers [and learners] achieved
before is no longer adequate’ (2006: 206–7). The field is awash with
attempts to measure performance, to identify and control ‘competen-
cies’. But these fail, for the simple reason that ‘Nobody ever grew any
taller by being measured’. Even the most practitioner-friendly forms of
education and research tend to position learners as recipients, teach-
ers as problem-setters and problem-solvers, and academic researchers as
experts who help with, or more often guide, the problem-setting and
solving.
Partly in reaction to these issues, EP rejects the more common approach
of starting with ‘problems’ and trying to solve them. Instead, it advocates
the notion of ‘puzzling’ about language learning and teaching.
6 Exploratory Practice in Language Teaching
What Martin Heidegger is after in Being and Time is nothing less than
deepening our understanding of what it means for something (things, peo-
ple, abstractions, language, etc.) to be. Heidegger wants to distinguish sev-
eral different ways of being and then show how they are all related to
human being and ultimately to temporality. (Dreyfus 1991: 1)
…through taking the time to observe their work and talk about it, practitioners
develop a shared ability to question the taken-as-given, and a shared sense of
what are the main opportunities and challenges. (Iedema et al. 2013: 8)
Teachers […] are also necessarily all lifelong learners. (Wedell and Malderez
2013: 166)
Since its inception in 1990, EP has grown quickly, with many more
practitioners becoming involved, writing, but more importantly “doing-
being” (The Rio EP Group, in Allwright and Hanks 2009) EP. In the
2000s, EP flourished, with a number of publications (eg Allwright 2001,
1 General Introduction 9
2003, 2005a, b; Gieve and Miller 2006a; Hanks 2013a, 2015a, b; Miller
2003, 2010, 2012; Slimani-Rolls 2003, 2005; Yoshida et al. 2009) dis-
seminating research into, and ideas about, the framework. However,
some publications are difficult to access, some have been misinterpreted
by ‘outsiders’, and others need further explication.
In this book I intend to go beyond the ‘introduction to Exploratory
Practice’ of Allwright and Hanks (2009), by bringing together key
research, papers, texts, ideas, and arguments to examine the experiences
of practitioners (teachers, teacher educators, psychologists, researchers,
and learners) doing EP in a variety of contexts. I analyse this innova-
tive combination of research methodology and pedagogy, moving from
practice to theory to practice again. It is timely to trace the history of
EP in depth, discuss the developments, and analyse the field with a
more critical eye. However, while I bring critical attention to EP, and
other, related, forms of practitioner research such as Action Research
and Reflective Practice, my intention is not to criticise any of these
movements. There is a fine distinction between the two, which is all too
often forgotten.
EP teachers, teacher educators, and learners have rightly been
focused on developing their understandings locally (Allwright 2003)
and sharing their insights with each other. In The Developing Language
Learner (Allwright and Hanks 2009) we deliberately foregrounded the
importance of learners, challenging what was then a near-ubiquitous
focus on teachers. Now it is time to draw back the camera, without
losing depth, to consider the field of second language education as a
whole. In doing so I aim to acknowledge the work of teachers, teacher
educators, psychologists, administrators, researchers, and learners…
in short, all those who are, and should be, involved in second lan-
guage education.
« Quand la Reine du ciel posa le pied sur le sol, c’est sur cette
pierre qu’elle le posa. » Il faut croire qu’elle était fatiguée du voyage,
car elle pesa lourdement.
Comme bien vous le supposez, les Tolédains furent
excessivement flattés de cette bonne visite. Mais dans l’impossibilité
de la lui rendre ils ont tenu à lui prouver leur gratitude, et par de
petits cadeaux entretenir cette amitié distinguée.
Dans une chapelle belle comme un rêve des Mille et une Nuits,
ils parèrent leur Vierge comme jamais sultan amoureux ne para
l’odalisque chérie. Ils lui achetèrent les plus riches écrins, la plus
somptueuse des garde-robes. Certaines de ces jupes sont chargées
de pierreries d’une valeur de plusieurs millions de réaux. A chaque
fête de l’année, on renouvelle sa toilette, on lui change de robe, de
diadème, de boucles d’oreilles, de bagues, de collier.
Le grand luxe des dames espagnoles consistant principalement
en bagues, il est tout naturel que la Dame du Paradis en soit
chargée.
Vous avouerez avec moi que les bons Tolédains ne pouvaient
mieux faire les choses et montrer plus décemment combien ils
étaient sensibles aux excellents procédés de la Mère de Dieu.
En m’extasiant devant cette splendide toilette, l’idée me vint de
demander si le trousseau était complet, si enfin en lui changeant de
robe on lui changeait aussi de chemise.
Le sacristain que j’interrogeai timidement me répliqua, indigné de
mon doute :
« Une chemise ! certainement elle a une chemise, et toute brodée
de fleurs d’argent.
— Ah !
— Oui, monsieur, et je vous prie de croire qu’elle est aussi propre
que le reste. »
Le reste ! quel reste ? Le fonctionnaire avait une mine si
rébarbativement dévote que je n’osai pousser plus loin mes
investigations.
A côté d’une aussi somptueuse Vierge, le pauvre Jésus fait triste
figure, sur sa vieille croix de bois, affublé de son jupon qu’on
change, j’espère, aussi quelquefois.
Que n’est-il venu rendre visite, comme sa mère, à la cathédrale
de Tolède !
Devant cet inconvenant jupon, je me suis remémoré le mot de
Diderot : « L’indécent n’est pas le nu, mais le troussé, » car il me
semble placé là tout exprès pour donner une furieuse envie aux
curieuses petites Espagnoles de le trousser pour voir ce qu’il y a
dessous.
Ce jupon, dont on affuble non seulement Jésus, mais les deux
larrons qui le flanquent, est un obstacle sérieux à l’investigation que
citait Fra Gabriele de Barletta, l’une des lumières de la chaire au
quinzième siècle, et dans les sermons macaroniques duquel la
Fontaine tira, dit-on, sa fable des Animaux malades de la peste.
Prêchant à Naples pendant un carême, il raconta aux dévotes
extasiées que la belle Samaritaine reconnut Jésus-Christ à trois
choses : son vêtement râpé, sa barbe blonde et sa circoncision.
Voilà qui était pousser un peu loin l’examen !
XXIII
LES BONNES LAMES DE TOLÈDE