a presentation taken from classroom action research

1. MARIA ULFA/ 11314135
FITRIYANI/ 11314009
NOVI DYAH/11314037
NAIM KHAIRUDDIN IHSAN/11314139
SECOND GROUP RESEARCH IN ELT 2
“GETTING STARTED”

2. CONSTRAINS AND IMPEDIMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGING THE INSTITUTIONAL,
CIRCUMSTANCE, AND CONDITION IN
SCHOOL IS THE
first important thing to do
to teachers carry out form
of classroom research

3. CONSTRAINS,
STATED BY MC KERNAN’S (1993)
 Most Frequently:
1. Lack of Time
2. Lack of Resources
3. School Organizational Features
4. Lack of Research Skill
 Follow by:
1. Obtaining consent/ support of research
2. Language of research
3. Pressure of student examinations
4. Disapproval of principal
 End by:
1. Disapproval of colleagues
2. Beliefs about role of teacher
3. Professional factors like union policies and construct
4. Student disapproval

4. Similarity factors for TESOL
teacher
 Time Factors
 Limited Factors of Publicity

5. THE STRONG ARGUMENT IS THE KEY ROLE
THAT TEACHERS CAN PLAY PROMOTION OF
ENGLISH TEACHING AS PROFESSIONAL
ENTERPRISE
1. Related to status and actual context of pedagogy
2. Notions of traditional research rather than knowledge of
classroom practice
3. Education is central
4. Initiatives that link teaching to whole activities
5. Tendency that strong institution has stronger position to compete

6. CROOKER (1985) TALKS
“ALIENATION”
Minimum Opportunities for Professional
include: mandated and centralized
curricula, large amount of
administrations, accountability demands,
limited interactions, and large classes
and lack of resources.

7. 1. PEER OBSERVATION
2. TIME
3. CURRICULUM COMMITTEES
4. LOCAL WORKSHOP
5. PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING AND
AVAILABILITY OF RELEVANT PROFESSIONAL
INFORMATION
Grassroots Action

8. CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH
Stimulating direction for curriculum change and
professional development.
Work best if collaborative and framed by supporting
structure.
Part of higher education.

9. FINDING A FOCUS
 After constrains and impediments emerge, now it is
time for researcher to find a focus of what their
research is a about. A question often appear from
an intersection of theory and practice. Sometimes,
what is planned for the classroom is not match with
what actually happens. Brindley suggests that in
identifying a focus for their research, all the
teachers began with a concrete or pratical teaching
concern which was generated by questions they
had already been asking themselves about aspects
of their own teaching and its effect on learners.
Thus, Brindley suggested that an initial focus for
teacher research could arise from the following
factors:

10.  Teachers’ research questions may begin with
concrete teaching interests.
 Particular incidents may highlight a researchable
issue.
 Teachers may wish to validate experiental
knowledge of beliefs.
 Research may arise from issues that teachers have
puzzled about for some time.

11.  One way to begin the process of identifying more
specific focus areas is to pose to oneself a series of
questions such as the following:
1. What is happening in my classroom that am I
concerned about?
2. What makes me concerned about this issue?
3. What could I do to get more information about
what is happening?
4. How will I go about collecting this information?
5. What could I do to change what is happening?

12.  Alternatively, generating a series of statements
relevant to your practice might suggest possible
research areas. Kemmis and McTaggart suggest
the following starting points:
- I would like to improve the...
- Some people are unhappy about...What can I do to
change the situation?
- I am perplexed by...
- ...is a source of irritation. What can I do about this?
- I have an idea I would like to try out in my class.
- How can the experience of...be applied to...?

13. - Just what do I do with respect to...?
- Others statements proposed by teachers in the
Australian studies:
- I don’t think I know enough about...
1. My students don’t seem to...What can I do about this?
2. I’d like to change the way the students...
3. I’d like to integrate more...in to my class. How can I do
this?
4. A colleague and I would like to try out...What would
happen if we did?
5. Why do some students in my class...and others...How
can I find out what is happening here?

14.  One of the problems teachers experienced is developing
a research question where the focus was narrow
enough to be manageable. First, avoid questions you
can do nothing about. Second, limit the scope and
duration of the research. Third, try to focus on one issue
at a time. Fourth, choose areas for research which are
of direct relevance and interest to yourself and to your
school circumstances. Fifth, if possible, link questions
for your research with broader changes in school
curricula or professional development priorities.
 Essentially, action research questions are an attempt to
capture insights about the gap between curriculum
specifications or ideas and what actually happens in
classroom practice.

15.  According to Hopkins, there are two approaches of
finding focus; an ‘open’ or ‘evolutionary’ way into
research formation and ‘more close’ or ‘sequenced’
approach. An ‘open’ approach is characterised as:
- take a broad area of enquiry
- carry out th einitial enquiry
- gradually focus the enquiry
- ‘close’ approach follow the following pattern:
- take a specific issue
- derive research questions
- choose an appropriate methodology

16.  Two approaches to question formulation can be use
in finding focus. ‘Open’ or evolving approach where
a question or area for research may not be
immediately obvious, but may emerge through a
group or a teacher’s own critical reflection or by
‘nosing about in the field of events’. The ‘closed’ or
sequenced approach assumes that a question is
more or less determined in advance, although the
teacher may refine it further before proceeding with
a plan of action.

17. THE ROLE OF THEORY IN QUESTION
FORMULATION

19.  Davis goes on to suggest that to gain an
understanding of the meanings of research
participants. We have to be keenly aware of the
ways we interpret meanings from our own
sociocultural frameworks.
 Enganging in classroom research involves
theorising one’s practice, not only from the point of
view of assumptions about starting points, but as
the research proceeds, from more systematic
examination and critical analysis of what emerges

20.  Hopkins (1993:73) suggest that when this kind of
critical reflection occurs, teachers’ a) stand in
control of knowledge rather than being subservient
to it and b) by doing this they are enganged in the
process of theorizing and achieving self knowledge.
 The theorizing embedded in the initial research
process of theorising

21. Jan Phillips (1996) in his action research
Jan found that once the general thematic concern of her
research, the teaching and learning of pronunciation in an
intermediate English for work class, had been formulated,
aperiod of reflection was needed before she embarked. on
her research plan her reflection involved theorising in order
to make more explicit.
- An understanding of the present situation and its
theoritical basis.
- An examination of the researcher’s own values.
- A relating of the course to the wider context of education
and work.

22.  John analysis of the first area led her to clarify two major
intersecting dimensions within her research.
1. The teching of pronunciation was ot feature in the
syllabus of the english for work program, which assume
that literacy skills were the major area for development.
However her analysis of her students needs and
progress unearthed a different issue. Student
intelligibility as a problem. A key quesstion for further
theorisation and review become: is it important the
teach pronunciation in an english for work progrmme.
2. There were a number of focal questions that needed to
be directed towards Jan’s exploration of the theoretical
base of pronunciation teaching, they included:

23.  How important is pronunciation for communication
 How has the teaching of pronunciation changed?
 Can pronunciation be intergrated with other skills
and activities?
 How can pronunciation be assessed?
 what are the main problem for learners?

24.  Jan also examined her own personal and educational values as they
related to her research question she listed them as including:
1. her commitment to personal and professional development. She
believed it was important and relevant to her teaching to understand
educational theories and that these would help to improve her class
room practice. She also belive that personal satisfaction could be
gained through changing and improving her teaching method and
receiving feedback from her students.
2. her believe in the explicit teaching of pronuncition. She had begun
teaching in the 1975 using audiolingual methods and felt that students
gained a sense of mastery from repetition, drills and memorised
phrase. However, her observation of changes in methods led her to
feel that these techniques could be succesfully combained wih
contextualised and authentic listening and speaking activities, more
common in communicative language teaching.
3. Her preferance for criterion-referenced assessment procedures. She
rejected global judgements and prefered to attemt to specify criteria for
judging pronunciation performance. She saw this as related to issues
of fairness. A key question was: how can we be sure the teacher is
judging on performance only and not on personality or other factors.

25. - On relation to the wider context of education and work, she
examined the needs of differents sakeholders and considered
what possible tensions might be present:
1. she identified the programme she worked in as part of a
winder government agenda to prepare immigrants for the
workplace. Howeever she regarded programe time factors
as unrealistic.
2. She recognised that her imigrant students were in a work-
related programme. However she considered that many
have motivations for learning other than gaining
employment.
3. She acknowledge that the students neede to see progress
towards seeking work. However, she believed it was likely
that they would progress better if their learning experiences
and time in an educational context were positive.

26.  Gaining greater clarity about one’s practicr is
at the heartof the kind of theorisation that
goes on in action research. Atttemting to be
more explicit about the theoritical assumption
guiding the research provides a useful point
of reference as the research proceeds.
Although this framework may change in the
course of the research, it acts as anavigation
point for the investigstion an ameans of
making sense of ans questioning the data
that emerge. It is also part of an awarenes-
raising process that provides the basis for
change.

27. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
 Ethical considerations are an important part of any
research enterprise. Questions relating to the
conduct of research are issues inevitably
confronted by teachers early in the research
process.

28. KINDS OF QUESTIONS THAT EMERGE:
 Should I tell my students about my research?
 What should I do if the students don’t understand my
explanations because of limited proficiency in English?
 Do I have the right to ‘experiment’ on my students?
 What happens if students refuse to be part of the research?
 Do I have to ask my supervisor for permission the people I
interview?
 Should I get written permission from the people I interview?
 What about using students’ names?
 Should I tell other teachers what I am doing?
 Should I present samples of what people have said or written,
such as student writing or interview responses?

29.  Key principles in the ethical conduct of action research are
responsibility, confidentiality and negotiation.
 Confidentiality ensures that the identities of those involved in
the research are not made public, thus reducing the likelihood
that they may be judged negatively by colleagues or
supervisors.
 It is also important for the researchers to negotiate what
access to their data is made available, giving those who are
the subjects of the research the right to veto release of the
data. Teachers who work in a collaborative way also need to
negotiate agreed ‘codes of practice’ on the ethical principles
that guide their research.
 Hitchcock and Hughes (1995) propose three areas which
should be subject to ethical consideration: professional
integrity; the interest of the subject; and responsibilities and
relationships with sponsor, outside agencies, academic
institutions or managements

30. PROFESSIONAL INTEGRITY
 Ensure that the research you propose is viable, that
an adequate research design has been established
and appropriate data collection techniques chosen.
 Explain as clearly as possible the aims, objectives
and methods of the research to all of the parties
involved.
 If using confidential documents, ensure that
anonymity is maintained by eliminating any kinds of
material or information that could lead others to
identify the subject or subjects involved.

31. INTEREST OF THE SUBJECTS
 Allow subjects the right to refuse to take part in the
research.
 Build confidentiality into the research.
 Gain the permission of the parties involved if the
research is to be published.
 Ensure that all researchers adhere to the same set
of ethical principles where research is conducted
jointly or collaboratively.

32. RESPONSIBILITIES AND RELATIONSHIPS
WITH SPONSOR, OUTSIDE AGENCIES,
ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS OR
MANAGEMENTS.
Ensure you are clear on the terms of reference and on your own
and your subjects’ rights in relation to the finished research,
where the research is ‘sponsored’.
Ensure you are aware of possible uses to which the research may
be put.

33. In second language learning contexts, conforming to
some ethical procedures, such as explaining the research
to learners, can be difficult when their English proficiency
levels are not high. There are number strategies that have
been used by AMEP teachers to address this problem:

34.  Explaining the research in language appropriate to the
level of the students and encouraging the students to
ask questions about it
 Providing written information and discussing it in class.
 Arranging for bilingual information or explanations
through aides or other more advanced students
 Explaining the research to family members with higher
levels of English.
 A simple information and consent form, such as the
following (adapted from Campbell 1995 and Carrol
1995), can be useful in setting out clearly for learners
what their participation will involve and how the result of
the process will be used.

35. Information and consent form
This project is being conducted by: with Class: .
Description/ Title of project
Some teachers in my organization want to find out more about how students feel about the things they are learning. This is
so that the information can be used by people who write the courses for learners in this programmed.
What I will ask you to do in this project
I am interested in finding out more about how you see yourself as a learner and how you learn. Each week in class we will
spend some time thinking, talking and writing about the work you have covered in class and techniques you use to learn
English. I will ask you to:
 Write down what you have learned in class. We will do this for 5 minutes at the end of each day.
 Write in a journal about how you learn English. We will do this for about 15 minutes twice a week.
Once a week on Thursday we will discuss your ideas for about 15 minutes.
I need your help. I am interested in your honest opinion, so that we can all know more about the best ways to learn English.
What will happen to the information I get
I will use the information to help me plan new classroom activities that students find the most useful. My organization will
also use this information to improve the English courses and students’ opportunities for learning. The result of the project
will be written in a book of reports for other teachers.
Your agreement to take part in the project
If you agree to be part of this project:
 You can ask me questions about the project at any time
 You are free to withdraw at any time
 You do not have to give a reason for withdrawing
 You will be asked if the information you write or say can be used in the written report
 Your real name will not be used in the report
 You will be able to get copies of the report if you wish.
I, , agree to be part of the project.
Signature: Date:

36.  Dilemmas occasionally arise when there are concerns
about how the research might affect already sensitive
classroom dynamics or when informing the students
might alter the nature of the data. In these rather more
unusual situations, some teachers have used the
strategy of informing their students on completion of the
research, giving explanations for their reasons and
asking their students’ permission to report on the
research. In cases where individual students or other
colleagues state that they would prefer not to be part of
the research, it is important that data about these
individuals are not included in any final reporting.
Research reports should, in any case, keep the
identities of research participants confidential and use
pseudonyms when referring to individuals.

37. THANK YOU VERY MUCH