Action Research, Teacher Research

and Classroom Research in

Language Teaching
Warm up: Memory Game!
Action research is an actual research
method.
Teacher research is def ined by who
conducts the research (a teacher).
Classroom research is def ined by the
setting or place in which the data are
collected.
 What is Language
Classroom Research?
 Classroom Research

Bridget L on g def in ed
classroom re se arch as all or part of
whose data are derived from th e
ob s er vation or m eas urement of the
classroom pe r for m an ce of te a che r s an d
studen ts.
If students f ill out a questionnaire about
t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n l a n g u a ge l e s s o n s o r
classroom, would it f it the def inition of
classroom research according to what Long
said?
So, if the answer is NO. What can we do
to add a classroom research in this
activity?
 Classroom Research according to
Allwright

Classroom research is
just that research that concentrates on the
inputs to the classroom (the syllabus, the
teaching materials) or the outputs (learners
achievement scores). So, for Allwright
“c l a s s r o o m r e s e a r c h” i s n o t j u s t t h e s e t t i n g o r
p l a c e f o r i n v e s t i g a t i o n b u t , m o r e i m p o r t a n t l y, a s
the object of the investigation.
What is teacher research?
 According to Brindley “teacher
research” is often connected with the concept of
teacher development and empowerment because
by investigating teaching and learning processes in
classroom, we (teachers) ourselves learn more
about the craft (ability) and the science of teaching
so that we may improve our work as teachers.
So, according to what Allwright
says about Teacher Research,
does it always take place in
classrooms?
So, if the answer is NO, Could you
give an example of Teacher
Research out the classroom?
What is Action Research?
 The term action research is an approach to
collecting and interpreting data that involves a
clear, repeated cycle of procedures.

The researcher follows the next steps to achieve an

action research:

1. The researcher begins by planning an action to

address a problem. Ex: Asking questions to
prove students' understanding to the topic
during three classes.
2. The next step is the systematic observation of the
outcomes (results) of the action. The observation is
done through a variety of procedures (audio or video
recordings, teacher's diary entries, observer's notes,
etc.) for collecting data.

Ex: if students have problems to understand the

topic, the teacher may record his/her students'
answers in order to discover the main reason of the
problem.
3. After observing the apparent results of the
action, the researcher reflects on the outcome
and plans a subsequent action, after which the
cycle begins again.
Ex: After the teacher has observed which is the
main problem of their students'
understanding. He can try to bring more
integrated activities in order to help students
to understand the topic quicker.
 Summery
To summarize, we can say the following:

1. Classroom Research refers to the location and the

focus of the study.

2. Teacher Research refers to the agents who conduct

the study.

3. Action Research denotes a particular approach, a

codified but flexible set of procedures.
Can classroom research, teacher
research, and action research fit
together?
 The answer is Yes, and the following statement proves it:

Classroom research conducted by teachers using the action

research approach.

Ex. Inside the classroom (classroom research) the teacher

(teacher research)wants to know why his/her students have
some problems with pronunciation, so he/she decides to
carry a tape recorder (action research)in order to listen
which are the most difficult phonemes to his/her students.