The role of action research in the self-development of an ELT teacher: a descriptive case study

Abstract

Teacher training and teacher development are two research issues which have been frequently addressed in recent years in teaching English as a foreign language. Due to a wide range of existing interpretations, many distinctions made between teacher training and teacher development have been articulated by a number of researchers (Larsen-Freeman, 1983; O'Brien, 1986; Duff, 1988; Freeman, 1989; Richards and Nunan, 1990; Wallace, 1991; Ur, 1996). In this study, Freeman's (1989) teacher training constituents, knowledge and skills, and one development constituent, awareness, were taken as the main constructs. In this way, teacher training and development constituents were integrated and covered under the term "self-development". The self-development of an ELT teacher, in a broad sense, refers to the change that is expected to come about as a result of commitment to improve one's own teaching practice. This study employed action research, one form of classroom-based research, as a means for enhancing the self-development of an ELT teacher in his/her teaching situation. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether an action research project can contribute to the self-development of an ELT teacher in accumulating knowledge of teaching situation, developing teaching skills and enhancing awareness of personal and professional aspects of teaching. This descriptive case study was conducted at the Department of Basic English (DBE), Middle East Technical University (METU). The subject of the study was an English instructor, working at the department. Weekly meetings were held by the researcher (Action Research Initiator: ARI) and the subject (Teacher as Action Researcher: TAR) to implement the stages of action research defined as planning, acting, observing and reflecting (Kemmis and McTaggart, 1988). The researcher acted as an initiator of the project and worked collaboratively with the subject for three months. Qualitative data were collected through action research meetings, the subject's journal entries and interviews conducted by the researcher both during the course of the action research project and at the end. Qualitative data were analyzed by a coding system which entailed the grouping of data into meaningful categories in the light of the research questions. Some secondary quantitative data were also collected and analyzed through descriptive and interpretive statistical procedures. The findings of the study indicate that the subject experienced self-development in terms of knowledge, skills and awareness of teaching practice. One example of self-development in terms of knowledge can be cited as the subject's accumulating knowledge concerning writing techniques, following the identification of the problem as poor organization in student essays. In addition, the findings reveal that the subject gained familiarity with the process of action research. Self-development in acquiring teaching skills was reported to be in developing the ability for helping her students with the organization of their essays by employing various pre-writing activities such as mind-mapping and role-playing. The findings reveal that the subject experienced the most benefit in terms of awareness, realizing both her students' and her own weak and strong points in the teaching/learning experience. In addition, drawing on the findings of the study, it can be said that she developed a positive attitude towards action research due to the problem solving approach that the project offered. In conclusion, this descriptive case study showed that action research can contribute to the self-development of an ELT teacher in terms of accumulating knowledge of language teaching, developing teaching skills and enhancing awareness of personal and professional aspects of teaching situations.