ACTION

RESEARCH (AR)
Members:
Thai Huy Hoang
Le Nguyen Ngoc Bich
Phan Nguyen Ngoc Anh
Le Ngoc Quynh Giang
 1. What is action research?

TABLE OF
2. Plan – Planning the action
3. Act – putting the plan into action

CONTENT 4. Observe – observing the result of the plan

5. Reflect – reflecting and planning for
further action
What is action
research?
THAI HUY HOANG
Action research is research carried out in the
classroom by the teacher of the course, mainly with
the purpose of solving a problem or improving the
teaching/learning process.
(Elizabeth, Sonora)

Definition
Action research is carried out by teachers in their context, in their
classrooms. Teachers identify a problem or an area they wish to
improve and based on theory or experience or a hypothesis they think
of an intervention. They document the intervention and results of it. If
the results are positive they could lead to the dissemination of the
information. If not, the cycle may be started again.
(Iraís, Tlaxcala)

Definition
AR is a reflective process that aims to solve a particular teaching-
learning problem that has been identified. One of the aims of AR is to
improve the teaching practice and in the long run the whole
curriculum. In order to do action research it is necessary to carry out a
rigorous study in which the problem has to be clearly specified, an
action plan has to be described and carried out, and finally an
evaluation has to be contemplated in order to show if the decisions
taken were the adequate ones.
(Carmen, Mexico City)

Definition
 • Means oriented
• Ends oriented
Main • Theory oriented
characteristic • Institution oriented
s • Society oriented
• Teacher oriented
(Edge, 2001, p. 5)
Process
of AR
 Action: intervene into
Planning: Identify a
teaching situation over
problem or issue ->
an agreed period of
Develop a plan of
time. The interventions
action
are ‘critically informed’

Process Observation: Observe

systematically the
effects of the action and
Reflection: Reflect on,
evaluate and describe

of AR documenting the
context, actions and
opinions of those
the effects of the action
to make sense and
understand the issue.
involved. Use ‘open- May decide to do
eyed’ and ‘open- further cycles of AR.
minded’ tools.
 Systematic ‘Scientific’ approach: go beyond their intuitions or assumptions (asking questions,
collecting information, analyzing the data, drawing out conclusions, and interpreting their findings)

‘objective’ stance: control the variables, look
for a cause and effect relationship
Main goal: make a new contribution to an
existing ‘scientific’ evidence about effective
teaching and learning
Structured and controlled set of methods
Connect with and test out ‘grand’ theory from
the field
‘subjective’ approach: explore different
ways of teaching -> change the conditions
Main goal: Directly focused on addressing
an issue of immediate practical and personal
concern.
Flexible and open-ended approach
Personal knowledge becomes the main basis.
A theory for practice rather than a theory of
practice

Applied research Action research

Comparison
01
Try to find ways to
restructure classroom
activities that will lead to
better outcomes for the
students and more
productive use of class time.
02
Become actively involved in
articulating the nature of
their work and extending the
knowledge base of teaching.
03
Complement the work of
educational researchers,
involve themselves in
curriculum development and
school change, and take a
leading role in their own
professional development

Reflective teaching
Exploratory teaching

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Identify a Refine your Select a Find Adapt them Use them in Interpret the Decide on
puzzle area thinking particular appropriate to the class outcomes their
about that topic to classroom particular implications
puzzle area focus upon procedures puzzle you and plan
to explore it want to accordingly
explore
 Exploratory teaching
For Step 4, Allwright suggests several interesting classroom procedures which
allow for exploring puzzles, as well as being the basis for good classroom activities.
1. Groupwork discussions 7. Role-exchanging
2. Pair work discussions 8. Diaries
3. Surveys 9. Dialogue journal writing
4. Interviews 10.Projects
5. Simulations 11.Poster sessions
6. Role-plays 12.Learner-to-learner correspondence.
Exploratory
teaching
Exploratory teaching shares many characteristics
with AR and it also fits perfectly within the
continuum of reflective teacher.
PLAN –
PLANNING THE
ACTION
LE NGUYEN NGOC BICH
The first steps in starting up an AR project.

The starting point for AR is identifying a problem you want to

focus on. ‘Problem’ is the research term for the issue under
investigation.

Plan
Exploring your AR problem: you’ve recognised areas you want
to examine in more depth and you want to find possible
answers for them.

Another aspect of planning for AR is considering the

resources and materials you will need, such as access to
literature you might want to read or participants you might
want to include.
 Finding a starting point for their research is not easy –
Finding your in fact, it can be very frustrating trying to narrow
focus things down so that the focus is clear and the research
is manageable.
Guiding questions in the early stages
What new approaches
What do you feel What do you feel to learning or teaching
passionate about? curious about? are you interested in
trying?

What gaps are there

between your current
What will make you a
teaching situation and
more effective teacher?
what you would like to
see happening?
Guiding questions in the early stages
Why are some of your
What needs of your Why are your students
students not achieving
students are not being behaving the way they
in the same way as
met? do?
others?

What do you want your

students to know, What language skills
understand, or do would you like your
better than they students to improve?
currently do?
The possibilities could include any of the
following broad areas

Increasing Integrating Focusing on Understanding Developing Promoting

learner language language student writing skills group work
autonomy skills form motivation
The possibilities could include any of the
following broad areas

Making Trying out new Finding new Integrating Helping students

classrooms more materials ways to do technology into to develop self-
communicative assessment class activities study
techniques.
Identifying broad
areas
GETTING SOME IDEAS ABOUT THE BROAD
AREA(S) YOU ARE INTERESTED IN
RESEARCHING.
Developing and refining your questions
Having to narrow the initial focus area involves developing more specific questions
that should help lead you logically to the most appropriate ways to collect your data
and analyse your findings.

‘What, why and how’ questions are probably the most important in forming the kind
of qualitative questions used in AR (cf. Mason, 2002) as they allow us to ask about
puzzles and seek explanations.

Shaping the questions along the following lines (see Burns, 1999, p. 55).
 First, avoid questions Second, tailor your
you can do little about. questions to fit within the
time limit you have

Developing and available.

refining your
questions

Also, focus on one issue Finally, choose areas of

to see where it takes you direct relevance and
rather than trying to look interest to you, your
at multiple aspects. immediate teaching
context, or your school.
Techniques that can be used to help
shape your thinking and focus

FOCUSING CIRCLE MIND MAPS

Getting permission and covering ethical issues
These goals are underpinned by core AR ideologies which can be summed up
briefly as:
• Promoting the effective learning and best interests of students;
• Working towards more inclusive, democratic, and just educational goals;
• Enhancing teacher professionalism;
• Empowering teachers professionally, educationally, and politically by giving
them a stronger voice in matters of teaching and learning.
Getting The goals that stand out in AR are connected more broadly to
conducting research ethically and it is important to be aware of the
permission fundamental ethical standards. Ethical research practice has its
roots in a principle widely taught to doctors before they enter the
and covering field of medicine, which is sometimes summed up in the
expression: First, do no harm. Essentially, research ethics are to do
ethical issues with conducting research in a moral and responsible way.
 The requirements for ethical standards involving
human participants vary in different research studies.
Getting They depend on the scope of the project and the
permission methods to be used, the number of researchers, the
and covering participants involved, the location of the research, and
how the results will be distributed. Typically, AR is
ethical issues small-scale and carried out by an individual, or a group
of colleagues working collaboratively together
You should keep at least three important
issues in mind
Whose permission do you need for your research?

Who will be affected by your research?

Who should be told about your research when it is

completed?
Whose permission do you need for your
research?
Two kinds of permission must be considered.
• Obtain permission from the school board, district, or the
individual school to undertake the research.
• Informed consent (i. informing people that you are conducting
research; and ii. gaining their consent to participate)
o If you are working with children or young adults, you may
need to seek written permission from their parents or others
responsible for their welfare.
Whose permission do you need for your
research?

First and most importantly, Second, most institutions Finally, it is necessary for
it is one way of involved in research publication of the findings
demonstrating respect for projects require it. in a refereed journal.
the individuals involved in
a research project.
 • the purpose and goals of the research;

• the benefits that are anticipated for the participants;

Written
consent • the procedures to be followed;
requires
statements • the participant’s roles in the research;
about
• the assurance of confidentiality and withdrawal
without penalty;

• a section for the participant to provide written

agreement.
Who will be Research should not involve any risk,
affected by harm or disadvantage to the students by
being involved in the actions you take.
your Neither should it invade their privacy by
research? touching on personal, sensitive areas.
 Participants have a right to
know whether they will be given
Who should information about the outcomes and in
be told about what form, as well as who else is likely to
be told about the research. It is good
your research practice to provide some kind of feedback
when it is to the participants.
completed? Your participants will also want to know
whether they will be able to be identified
as individuals when your research is
presented to others.
Preparing your resources and materials

01 02 03
Consulting Involving Preparing
the literature others equipment
and materials
 1.
It is not absolutely essential to do a
Consulting literature search before you begin
the your AR.
literature
1. Consulting the literature
The literature is very helpful:
o Gives you ideas for your focus area and questions.
o Helps you connect what you are doing with a larger body of work in language teaching
and learning.
o Gives ideas about how to design your research and collect data, as well as suggestions and
examples for analysing your data.
o Helps you get a better feel for the value that doing this research will have for yourself and
for others in the field.
o Strengthens the validity of the research by comparing your findings and outcomes with
what others have done and basing your research in a broader theoretical framework.
o Helps you to crystallise your ideas about the terms you are using and what they mean.
o Helps you refine your own personal theories about teaching, re-evaluate your teaching
practices and identify what you have found out
Immense choice of literature

BOOKS JOURNALS DATABASES INTERNET SOME CRITERIA SCAFFOLDING

FOR YOUR READING
EVALUATING OF THE
LITERATURE LITERATURE
RESOURCES
2. Involving others

identifying the people you will involve. One Apart from these direct participants, you may
essential group is the research participants wish to encourage other teachers to be co-
themselves. researchers who work collaboratively with
you.
2. Involving others

Other forms of input and support on a whole range of AR issues can

come from professional mentors or academic researchers to whom
you have access. Teachers I’ve worked with have found that senior
colleagues, directors of study, principals, tutors, parents, students,
lecturers, professional development officers, teacher developers and
teacher colleagues experienced in action research have all been
sources of encouragement, insights, information and helpful hints.
3. Preparing equipment and materials

SOFTWARE HARDWARE
 Obviously, the software materials you use depend on the types of
data you decide to collect and your own preferences for
documenting information.

Software
notepads, diaries, day books, post-it notes, the margins of lesson
plans, notelets, different coloured paper for different kinds of
observations, index cards, squared paper for map drawing,
overhead transparencies, electronic notebooks, memo pads,
preprepared observation/interview/survey sheets, and electronic
whiteboards
 The possibilities are only limited by the technology you have
available and your confidence in using it. Recordings of classroom
interactions and behaviors can be made using video-recorders,
Hardware audio-cassettes, MP3 players, mini-disc, digital cameras, and
mobile phones.
• Hints on recording
• Taking stock of your planning
ACT – PUTTING
THE PLAN INTO
ACTION
PHAN NGUYEN NGOC ANH
Collecting your data
Observing and describing
AR observation is different from the routine kind of looking/seeing that teachers
do every day.

It is much more self-conscious because it is:

• focused: you are seeking specific information about something, rather than looking in a general way;
• objective: you are aiming to see things as they really are and not just through a personal, subjective
or intuitive lens;
• reflective: you are observing in order to see things from a position of inquiry and analysis;
• documented: you deliberately make notes or records of the information;
• evaluated and re-evaluated: you check out your own interpretations again later by yourself or
collaboratively with others.
Observation roles and approaches
Observers can take on a variety of roles, or modes of
observation, for example:
• ‘Other’-observation: observations by you of others
• Peer observation: observation of other teachers by you, or of you
by other teachers
• Self-observation: observation of your own behaviours, thoughts,
actions, ways of communicating as a teacher.
• Collaborative observation: observation with other observers
Planning your
observation
 Hamed’s description captures the
essential elements of the decisions he
needed to make in planning his
Doing your observation: the decisions about who
(teachers), how many (himself and six
observation colleagues), what (oral feedback), where
(primary and secondary classrooms),
when (during two tasks), and how often
(once) outlined above.
Doing your observation

In addition, he outlines the tools he used to

collect his observation data:

Recording
Observation
Notes and
sheets
transcription.
Observation sheets
B EH AV I O U R CH EC K L I S T
Observation
sheets
E V E N T C H E CK L I S T
Observation notes

REFLECTIVE ANALYTICAL NARRATIVE SHADOWING

OBSERVATIONS OBSERVATIONS OBSERVATIONS
 Reflective observations are notes written
Reflective about classroom events with the
observation researcher’s comments placed next to
them.
 Analytical observations take the process
of recording reflective observations one
Analytical step further by getting you to think about
observations the main elements or features of their
meanings.
 A narrative observation is another way you can
make notes. It’s a bit like telling the story of the
events you observe as they happen. Narrative
Narrative observation usually requires a great deal of
observations freehand writing, even if you are using a
computer, so it can be useful to develop a
personal ‘shorthand’ to record things quickly as
you watch
 A shadow observation is where you set aside blocks of time,
maybe during a whole day or week, simply to follow and observe
what an individual or group does as they go about their regular
routines. It focuses on tracking their movements, interactions or
Shadowing behaviours, while taking in and noticing the main features. This
kind of study can be useful in certain situations to shed light on
what is happening more generally in the lives of your students,
either inside or beyond your classroom walls. It allows you to get
an idea of what things are like ‘from the other side of the desk’.
 Recording the situation you want to observe
has the advantage of capturing oral
interactions exactly as they were said.
Recording and
As you transcribe you will probably realise
transcription that you need to note who is speaking or that
some of the talk is unclear or that you need
to insert a note about non-verbal details.
Maps and photographs

More powerful than words to some You may prefer to document your
people observations through visuals
 They can:
• remind you of the location and what was
happening in it;
• capture a specific teaching moment;
• track a sequence of events or behaviours;
Maps and • record non-verbal aspects such as physical
photographs expressions or body positions;
• capture facial expressions that might reflect
aspects of people’s attitudes, thinking and
ideas;
• identify who places themselves where in
the classroom.
This map shows the physical set-
up (door, cupboard, etc.), the
teacher’s (T) position in the room
as the lesson started, where each
male student (MS) sat, where each
female student (FS) sat, and where
I (AB) sat as I observed the class.
Asking and discussing
Questionnaires/
Interviews
Surveys

Journals and Classroom

logs documents
Interview

Structured Guided, or Open interviews Issues to

interviews semi-structured consider when
interviews interviewing
Structured interviews
The most controlled kinds of
conversations, where the researcher
wants to get the same specific
information from each person. The
advantage is that you can then compare
responses to the same questions across all
the people interviewed.
Guided, or semi-
structured interviews
Structured and organised but also more open. The
aim of a semi-structured interview is to enable
you to make some kind of comparison across
your participants’ responses, but also to allow for
individual diversity and flexibility. The advantage
over the structured interview, however, is that you
are likely to find out about some things in more
depth and so will get richer information.
Open interviews
An open one where there are no pre-planned
questions. These interviews are unstructured and
individualized – though this does not mean they
should become aimless or shapeless because, of
course, their purpose is to bring out issues related
to your research. Usually, you will have a set of
questions or topics in mind but will allow the
direction of the interview to be determined by the
participant.
 Explain the purpose of Be sensitive to Provide feedback and
the interview, what students’ responses reinforcement to
will be done with the and any awkwardness responses throughout

Issues to
information, and the or nervousness that the interview, using
benefits to might arise. thanks, praise and
participants. support.
consider when
interviewing

Consider how to Prefer to set up focus Take quite a number

record the responses group interviews of practical steps and
you get; usually a which involve using decisions in carrying
recorder or notes are any one of the above out interviews.
the main ways. approaches with
groups of six to eight
participants
 STEP 1 PREPARING

Take quite a
number of
practical steps
and decisions STEP 2 ORGANISING THE INTERVIEW

in carrying out
interviews

STEP 3 CONDUCTING THE INTERVIEW

STEP 1: PREPARING

You will need to think about what you want to achieve in the
interview – its main aims and purposes. Having done this
you need a list of the topics to be covered. It’s useful to
break the list down into sub-topics so that the various issues
are grouped together logically. Then you can develop more
specific questions to ask about each issue.
 Richards (2003) has a useful set of pointers
for this step in the process. He asks us to
consider:
• who? think also about whether the people you select
STEP 2: cover all the perspectives you need to include;
ORGANISING • when? think about the best times in the research
cycle when you will need the data and the best times
THE when the speakers will not be busy or tired;
INTERVIEW • where? : think about how you can make the setting as
appropriate, comfortable and attractive as possible to
put the interviewee at ease;
• How long?: think about a feasible amount of time for
what you are trying to find out
• Under what conditions?
STEP 3: CONDUCTING THE
INTERVIEW
The main things to watch out:
- Listening: not to interrupt but to give people time to get their thoughts together and express their
ideas completely.
- Asking questions: Depending on which type of interview you decide to do, you are likely to be
asking four different types of questions.
- Warm-up questions: aim to establish a good rapport with your interviewee and to start off the
interview with some gentle and familiar openings.
- Open questions: are ones where you are genuinely unaware of the possible replies and want to find
out about the interviewee’s behaviours or opinions. These questions usually begin with how, what,
why, when, where.
STEP 3: CONDUCTING THE
INTERVIEW
The main things to watch out:
- Closed questions: are ones that expect yes/no answers.These kinds of questions are
best used when you are likely to know the answer but want to check your
assumptions.
+ Closing questions are ones used to wind down the interview. They give your interviewee a chance to put the final
word.
+ Clarifying/Expanding: Probing strategies take different forms: confirming; exemplifying; interpreting; clarifying;
reviewing.
Questionnaires/Surveys
=> As you can see from this list there are
different ways of going about designing items
for your questionnaire and we’ll consider some
of these next. To do so we will look at two types
of items: closed-ended and open-ended.
Closed-ended
Closed items are probably the ones most frequently used in
questionnaires. These are items for which there is a limited
choice of answers. The main types are yes/no (or true/false);
items rating scales; numerical scales; multiple choice; and ranking
scales.
Open-ended
Closed items are probably the ones most frequently used in
questionnaires. These are items for which there is a limited
choice of answers. The main types are yes/no (or true/false);
items rating scales; numerical scales; multiple choice; and ranking
scales.
 Piloting usually alerts you to some of the most common problems
and pitfalls in questionnaire design:
- Ambiguous questions: Which class do you teach?
- Multiple questions: Do you enjoy reading, and how skilled
Questionnaire are you in listening?
- Knowledge: How frequently do you use the subjunctive in
layout writing?
- Language level: What are your expectations of this
introductory course?
- Literacy level: What complexities of controlling
grammatical knowledge emerge in your learning?
Journals
and logs
Classroom documents
Try some of the following ideas to collect data
through classroom documents:
- Get your students to write a letter to the class
- Collect copies of your students’ writing once a week
- Collect your lesson notes for a logical period of time
- Collect a portfolio or dossier of students’ work
- Get your participants to draw pictures
Using/Incorporating technology
into data collection

Hobson and Smolin offer other great ideas about

using technology for action research. I’ll highlight
two of the main areas they cover:
1. Expand your journal writing
2. Conduct interviews and focus groups
Cross-checking and strengthening the
information
Here I’ve illustrated how Duong’s research included these different ways of triangulating:

Time Space
triangulatio triangulatio
n n

Researcher Theory
triangulatio triangulatio
n n
OBSERVE –
OBSERVING THE
RESULT OF THE
PLAN
THAI HUY HOANG
Overall framework

01 02 03 04 05
Assembling Coding the Comparing Building Reporting the
your data data the data meanings and outcomes
interpretations

(Adapted from Burns, 1999, pp. 157–160)

1. Assembling your data
all the data you have as well as any ongoing reflections you have made
Collect about them.

Review your initial and/or your revised questions.

going though your data and look for broad patterns, ideas or trends
Start that seem to answer your questions.
2. Coding the data

Based on the broad picture you have developed, start refining it

by coding your data into more specific patterns or categories
(coding is discussed in more detail in the next sections).

Identify which of your data sources you can code qualitatively

(e.g. journal entries) and which you can code quantitatively (e.g.
questionnaires).
3. Comparing the data

Once your coding is complete,

compare the categories or patterns
across your different sets of data (e.g. Develop tables, bar/pie charts or sets
interviews compared with surveys) of quotes to set the data out and
to see whether they say the same display them in a concise form (see
thing or whether there are later sections of this chapter).
contradictions that you can
highlight.
4. Building meanings and interpretations

Think deeply about what Look for more abstract Pose questions, identify Refine your own
the data are saying by ‘big picture’ concepts connections, and ‘personal theories’ (more
reflecting beyond the and not just step-by-step develop explanations about these in Chapter 5)
immediate surface descriptions of what you about what the research about the meanings of
details. have found. means at the broadest this research.
level of your
understanding of it.
5. Reporting the outcomes

Think about how you can present your Consider how you will organise the whole
research and what you have found to tell ‘story of your research’ from beginning to end
others (we’ll look at this again in Chapter 5). and not just the analysis and findings.
Analysing and synthesising qualitative data

Categorising

Analysing talk
Categorizing

We generally treat qualitative data in AR though a process of what is known as

inductive coding (scan the data carefully, usually several times over, to see what
categories suggest themselves)

Deductive coding: the researcher develops categories based on the literature or

on theoretical knowledge and then looks for instances in the data to match those
pre-arranged categories
 3. Take a section of
1. Gather together
2. Read the data over the data and give a
all the data you want
several times label to the main
to look at
idea or theme

5. Make a list of your 6. Now look back

Some possible
4. Keep doing this
until you have
different initial
categories on a sheet
over your broad
categories to group
steps for working
developed a number
of different labels
of paper or on a
computer.
them more into sub-
categories
out categories for
coding your data
7. Make a note on 8. Show your
your category list categories to a
(see point 5) colleague
 Richards (2003, p. 185) suggests
four steps in a basic analysis:
Analysing talk • Providing a general characterization
• Identifying grossly apparent features
• Focusing in on structural elements
• Developing a description
Analysing and synthesising quantitative data
A quantitative analysis is used:

to gain a concise to characterise or to show numbers to show how

numerical picture describe a set of succinctly in terms numbers disperse or
of the issues; numbers; of averages, vary around a
frequencies, central point.
percentages;
Numerical scale

A nominal An ordinal An interval

scale scale scale
Descriptive statistics

Measures of central tendency

Measures of dispersion (or variability)

 Mean
Median
Measures of
central Mode
tendency
Range
Standard deviation
 Keep the pedagogical focus of your research
in mind

Use more than one source of information

Validity in
Immerse yourself in the data
action research

Maintain objectivity and perspective

Focus on ‘practical theory’

REFLECT –
REFLECTING AND
PLANNING FOR
FURTHER ACTION
LE NGOC QUYNH GIANG
 Reflecting in the AR cycle

Reflecting on practice

Reflecting Reflecting on the research process

Reflecting on beliefs and values

Reflecting on feelings and experiences

 Building knowledge in AR is based on the
deeper kind of reflection that comes from
Reflecting in investigating your classroom systematically.
So, reflection in an AR cycle often has a
the AR cycle dramatic effect on how teachers build their
personal knowledge about aspects of their
teaching
 - In AR, ongoing practical action is the ‘engine’that drives the
research process along. Also, the actions, or practices that are
Reflecting on part of your research are always subject to reflection, and
reflection on action is what gives rise to further ideas for
practice practice.
 practice and reflection on-practice cannot be separated in the
AR process.
 - The relationships between the teaching action
and research are made close, systematic and
Reflecting on ongoing.
- AR process is likely to have been a much more
research intense experience than regular day-to-day
process teaching.
- Action and reflection are tied together as a
central part of the research process.
Reflecting on - Action research aims to improve and change situations. And,
our personal beliefs and values are central aspects of the
process.
beliefs and - AR allows for deeper engagement with a practical situation
than routine teaching, we’re also likely to end up examining,
values questioning, exploring, and expanding our ‘personal practical
knowledge’.
 - Part of AR reflection includes dealing with the
emotional reactions we have to the way our
Reflecting on practices may be changing because of our
research. In some cases, where our actions
feelings and help to confirm our teaching practices,
experiences emotions will be positive.
- AR can also challenge our most dearly held
teaching approaches or routines.
Reflecting on - what happens in AR should not be treated as a ‘test’of our
success or failure as teachers.
feelings and  open ourselves up honestly, and sometimes courageously, to the
problems & try to find the changes that make a difference,
experiences however small they seem to be.
 Continuing the action

Concluding the action

PLANNING
THE NEXT
STEP
Sharing with others

Modes for sharing your research

Continuing the action
Depending on where this first cycle has taken you,
and the time and interest you have available, you
may decide to keep going. Sometimes the second
cycle will involve testing out the same issues with
different participants to see whether your new
teaching strategies continue to work well.
You might go in a completely different direction
because you realise you have not yet fully explored
the issue you had in mind, or because the first cycle
of research did not give you the outcome you were
looking for.
Concluding the action
The research process will almost certainly have been a
‘messy’ and complex experience –that is the nature of AR. So,
having an opportunity to dialogue with others can help
recognise and crystallise the most important aspects.
Sharing with others
Teacher accounts allow good teaching and learning ideas to be
shared around. Opening up what we do in the classroom
inspires us to learn from each other and breaks down
classroom isolation
Modes for sharing your research

Oral Visual Written

modes modes modes
 In face-to-face situation, oral reports are a
common way of presenting. You might want to
use an oral presentation just to develop your
Oral modes ideas further in a small group. The approaches
I’ll outline below begin with the more ‘private’
types of oral presentations and then move on to
ones that involve an outside audience.
 CONVERSATIONS

BRIEF UPDATES DISCUSSIONS

Oral modes RECONSTRUCTIONS

DEBATES WORKSHOPS

VISITS
Visual modes
Including photographs, drawings, illustrations,
handwritten texts, diagrams, tables, video clips,
clip art, sound, symbols, or animations makes
the presentation lively and more appealing to the
audience too.
Written modes
Write about your research.
Means that your work reaches a wider audience,
adds to the research voices of teachers, an acts
as an impetus for language teaching and
learning research in general to connect with real
classrooms
CHAT ROOMS, BLOGS AND DISCUSSION LISTS

BRIEF REPORTS
/

ACTION RESEARCH ACCOUNTS

Written modes
Thank you for your
attention