Action Research in Second Language Teacher Education

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Until the late 1980s, action research (AR) had relatively little impact on second language teacher education. Its emergence as a vehicle for professional development paralleled growing interest in learner-centered curriculum design (Nunan 1989; Johnson 1989) and classroom-based research (Allwright 1988; van Lier 1988; see also McKay, Chapter 28). The notion of the teacher as a self-reflective, inquiring, and critically motivated practitioner (e.g., Zeichner and Liston 1996; see also Burton, Chapter 30) also accelerated interest in AR in ELT environments, as did the advocacy of the concept of the “teacher as researcher” (Allwright and Bailey 1991; Nunan 1989). The shifts in goals and models of teacher education from the teacher as “operative” to the teacher as creative “problem solver” and decision maker (Roberts 1998) and the advent of constructivist perspectives (Williams and Burden 1997) in teacher education have created a productive framework for the adoption of AR into second language teacher education. Underlying these perspectives is the view that teachers “will make their own sense of the ideas and theories with which they are presented in ways that are personal to them … each individual constructs his or her own reality” (Williams and Burden 1997: 2). In this chapter, I first provide brief definitions and explanations of the major concepts and processes of AR and offer comparisons of AR with other research paradigms. I then consider the scope and impact of action research in English as a second language teacher education settings. This discussion is followed by an analysis of the range of ways and settings in which AR is integrated into teacher education. I conclude by raising issues relating to the further development of AR in language teacher education. SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS WHAT IS ACTION RESEARCH? Action research is the combination and interaction of two modes of activity – action and research . The action is located within the ongoing social processes of particular societal contexts, whether they be classrooms, schools, or whole organizations, and typically involves developments and interventions into those processes to bring about improvement and change. The research is located within the systematic observation and analysis of the developments and changes that eventuate in order to identify the underlying rationale for the action and to make further changes as required based on findings and outcomes.