An Action Research Cycle in an Academic Skills Course

2,061 words - By Gregory Strong - Download Word® file

This presentation is part of the “Listening and Comprehension” research project sponsored by the Aoyama Gakuin Research Centre.

Most action research has focused on teacher training and education at the primary and secondary levels. However, there is a growing interest in its application to EFL instruction (Crookes, 1993; Nunan, 1993). In general, action research is done through a systematic observation of teaching practice, followed by an analysis to determine future action. The scale can vary from a single teacher’s classroom to large, collaborative efforts among groups of teachers. Burns (1999) suggests a primary role for action research in professional development, curricular innovation, and educational research. It often emerges from classroom issues and has a practical focus in addressing these problems and improving teaching practice. In general, action research consists of a recursive cycle: (1)the problem is outlined, (2)information is gathered, (3)changes are proposed, (4)changes are implemented, (5)data is collected, (6)conclusions are drawn, and the problem is further refined for subsequent study (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988; Burns, 1999).
  1. Academic Skills Course Development
  2. EAP Listening Activities
  3. The Action Research Project
  4. Classroom Data
  5. Results
  6. Conclusion
  7. Bibliography

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