OBSERVATION & RESEARCH IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

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Name and surname(s): Carlos Diaz Login: PEFPMTFL1201888 Group: 2013-02 Date: July 15th, 2014

SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT: OBSERVATION & RESEARCH IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM Assignment: Read the six case studies in the pdf document, each of which investigates a different topic: literature, grammar, oral English, teaching techniques, language learning, writing. When you have finished reading, follow the instructions below. (From Wallace 1998: 166-169). Of the six case studies outlined above, which topic would be of most interest/relevance for a group of students with which you are familiar? Think about how you would need to adapt the case study for your target group's needs by considering the following questions: 1. Clearly outline the population for your adapted case study. 2. How would you adapt the structure of the case study to fit in with your target group and teaching context? 3. What sort of data would you generate and how would you generate it? 4. How would you analyse the data? When considering the specific teaching situation we are presently involved in, the area of writing, #6 of the case studies outlined in our study materials assignment, coincides with what we consider to be a hurdle to successful output from our students and as such, is relevant and requires further investigation. 1. Population: 50 lower intermediate male EFL learners in the 6 th grade of Elementary (age 11-12) coming from a monolingual and upper echelon of society. 2. The structure presented in the case study we have chosen to investigate involves students participating in a writing skills course which, in our case, needs to be addressed to cope with the reality: that our students’ level of English is considerably lower and, as a consequence, written production is limited to appropriate topics and length. We will continue evaluating the motivational aspect in this case study, however, motivation is central to successful learning of a foreign language, regardless of the skill being examined. Instead of the brainstorming session employed in example #6, we would substitute the action research cycle. The main goal in our case is to see how students could become more motivated to produce written work in the English language classroom. Therefore,

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as stated by Penny Ur, (1996) “Action research is meant primarily to improve the teacher-researcher’s own teaching.” The age of the learners in our situation is considerably different from that of the case study and, as such, the level of production will be quite different. Our expectations as to what level of writing our subjects could actually achieve and what types of activity our students perform will vary. The students in the case study we are comparing also are much more proficient seeing how they are on a 5 year degree course compared to 6th grade students. We will be modifying the activities students complete so they are adequate for their proficiency level (lower intermediate). Another key point to address is that our population is exclusively male gendered and topics of interest will be biased accordingly. 3. As practitioners of language teaching, it is unavoidable that we bring our own personal beliefs, prior knowledge and experiences to the language classroom, which often lend credibility to our personal intuitions regarding learning, which in turn lead us to draw premature or erroneous conclusions to these phenomena. In order to gain more insight and enlightenment, then, it is necessary to be able to support these intuitions with solid scientific or systematic inquiry. Seliger and Shohamy lend support to this view by saying, “the difference between knowledge arrived at through common sense and intuition on the one hand, and scientific research on the other, can be expressed by concepts such as “organised”, “structured”, “methodical”, “systematic”, “testable” and specifically by the notion of “disciplinary inquiry.” (1989) Perhaps one of the most important concepts that has gained recognition and popularity in the field of research has been that of what Schon refers to as a “Reflective practitioner”. As Schon points out, teachers possess two different types of professional knowledge which he refers to as “received knowledge”, which is comprised of facts, theories and data and it is essentially what a teacher learns about teaching through schooling and training. Teachers also have possession of experiential knowledge which is gained through classroom experience, and it helps teachers make the “on the spot” decisions which are largely based on intuition rather than on facts. The ability of teachers to willingly reflect on their classroom experiences and think critically about why classroom phenomena happens is paramount to successful research. Having an inquisitive impulse and desire to understand the transactions and causes of the events that take place during the course of a class can lead to more effective research and, as a result, teachers who are capable of reflecting on their own practices are more adept at developing their skills as educators and facilitators and thus develop professionally. The most appropriate method of research applicable to our specific situation would be that of action research. Penny Ur affirms this by stating “Action research is meant primarily to improve the teacher-researcher’s own teaching.” (1996) and as we are the teacher/researcher’s in this case, we are principally concerned with enriching our students and our learning experiences. The fundamental characteristics of action research put forth by Elliot (1990) support our choice of applying the action research model to this case: - It analyses the human actions and social situations that students and teachers experience. 2

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It uses an exploratory approach. It aims to explain what happens in the classroom. It interprets different classroom events from the point of view of those who take part. It uses direct simple language to explain the classroom situations that are analysed.

What Kemmis and McTaggart mention also supports our stance on carrying out action research. First, as previously mentioned, we are the teacher/researchers; we will also be collaborating internally and our goal in this circumstance is to improve and change the motivation regarding writing, which should lead to better writing skills. Although action research does not necessarily require collaboration and change, to lend credibility and validity to our research we will consider these points mentioned above. In order to determine the type of data we would need to engender and how this would be produced, we first of all need to identify what phenomena needs to be addressed. The purpose of conducting research as stated by Selinger and Shohamy in their summary (1989) is that: a. b. c. d. e. f.

There exists a phenomenon that is not understood To understand this phenomenon, it is observed and analysed Questions are formed about the phenomenon. Intuition is used to predict outcomes or reasons A hypothesis is formed based on the most probable explanations This hypothesis is investigated by collecting and testing data.

As our research is aimed to be carried out in the classroom, it follows that classroom research (practical research) will be the logical choice in our case. In addition to Selinger and Shohamy’s summary above, Cohen and Manion’s eight stage model provides us with an outline for conducting research. Following this format: Stage 1: The identification, evaluation and formulation of the problem. Students do not show interest in the writing activities done in class. Stage 2: Preliminary discussion and negotiations amongst interested parties culminating in a draft proposal. The 6th grade teacher, (Dean Lenton) along with Graham Jarvis and Kenneth Summerford, discuss the issue and brainstorm ideas as to how to go about the investigation. Stage 3: Review of research literature and comparable studies. We would review our study materials and relevant articles on the internet to provide examples and insight. Stage 4: Restatement of the problem, or formulation of a hypothesis; explicit discussion of the assumptions underlying the project. Students are not motivated because the writing activities are not significant or authentic. Stage 5: Selection of research procedures, allocation of resources, choice of materials and methods, etc. Collaborative action research will be used along with naturalistic, ethnographic observation and to some degree experimental approaches. Observer notes, interaction analysis, semi structured questionnaires and semi open interviews will be used to collect data. 3

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Stage 6: Choice of evaluation procedures- bearing in mind that evaluation will be continuous. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluation procedures will be used to measure both grammar and the functions of language with the quality of written work in terms of meaning and style. Stage 7: The implementation of the project itself, including data collection and analysis, monitoring and feedback. Apply the project Stage 8: The interpretation of the data; inferences to be drawn; overall project evaluation. Upon completion. In order to conduct an effective investigation into the problems associated with writing, we need to adhere to what Van Lier states are key topics for classroom research. We need to consider and collect data on students’ inter-language, the interaction and relationship between students and teacher, what specific learning strategies for writing are employed, preferred cognitive styles of the students and the efficiency of evaluation techniques. In addition, the points presented in figure 1.1: A framework for L2 teaching analysis and research (Madrid 1995) should be included. It is worthwhile to note what Donald Freeman asserts in his article, “Data and gathering it, or why an interview or survey isn’t data.” (HLT, issue 5, 2000 www.hltmag.co.uk) in that the data in question when researching is the actual interaction that happens during a class, and it comes from three sources: the students, the teacher and the settings, which include the curriculum, school records, etc. The use of questionnaires, surveys, interviews etc. are how we collect the data. With this in mind, the data regarding writing and how motivated students are to participate in these types of activities is always present in class, it is just a matter of devising the right tools for collecting it. In order to generate this data then, we would make use of interviews and questionnaires to provide background information regarding the learners’ social context and their individual characteristics. Semi structured interviews and questionnaires would be used to gain more specific feedback to the cognitive styles students use or prefer whereas more structured questioning would be used to extract personal social information. In order to evaluate the level of motivation stemming from the teacher and his/her relationship with the subjects, we propose to observe the population in class and use an ethnographic approach in order not to intervene in the normal transaction of the class. With this said, we would also interview the teacher in question as he is an integral participant and source of motivation for the students in question to find out more about his beliefs and classroom practices. This naturalistic setting would be optimised to provide us with a realistic portrait of how this skill (writing) is dealt with on a day to day basis and the teacher’s curricular plan and class plan would be subpoenaed to evaluate the types of writing activities being used in class. Another tool we would use would be that of interaction analysis and in this case the FLINT model could be called upon to propagate this data that helps to demonstrate the interaction that happens between a teacher and his students in order to see if there are any adverse problems with the teacher-student relationship that might be causative of a lack of motivation. Additionally, notes taken by the researcher would be compiled during these observation sessions and analysed along with the other data collected. 4

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When considering the evaluation of written work, it would suffice to apply both qualitative and quantitative approaches in data collection. In regards to grammar and the functions of language we would apply quantitative evaluation to the students written work found in their workbooks and notebooks or other writing activities. When examining procedural concepts we would apply a more qualitative approach to the evaluation of student work. Utilising both approaches should provide objective evaluation through quantitative study and subjective evaluation with qualitative investigation. It would be difficult to examine just one aspect when trying to identify why students are experiencing difficulty in this area so both types of analysis should be conducted. As stated above, before we begin any research, it was important to consider a framework in order to encompass the divergent variables of research. The subjects in our particular case are presently being taught by one of the actual investigators (Teacher/researcher) and to clarify and give credence to what has been written above, investigation and observation will be carried out through collaborating parties, those being the other teachers/researchers involved. 4. The analysis of data is the final stage of research where the hypothesis is evaluated. There are many options available to analyse data however and there should exist some concordance between the methods used for data collection and those used for the analyses of this data. At this stage, we can draw conclusions about the research and confirm or reject what was previously put forward in the research project. In order for our research to hold water, it is of the utmost importance that our findings can be validated. This can be accomplished by applying data triangulation techniques. We will be concerned principally with internal reliability as we seek to improve conditions in our specific teaching content but with the premise that this research can be duplicated in others grades and offer similar results. What we have laid out in data collection is that we will use a variety of strategies to obtain data which include interviews, questionnaires, diaries, interaction analysis, note taking and setting examination (curricular plans, school records etc.). Investigator triangulation will be achieved through 3 different researchers observing similar and individual aspects of the study. Each individual member is responsible for and conducts specific data collection, which is shared in the data analysis stage. Before analysing the data though we will discuss and present an agreement on how we will grade or rate the analysis of data to achieve inter-reliability. At the same time it is important that we define constructs, “A psychological construct is a theoretical label that is given to some human ability that cannot be seen or touched (intangible) because it goes on in the brain…” (Brown 1992). Clear definitions of what is being evaluated, for example, the concept of motivation (it can mean different things to different investigators) need to be established and considered in the analytical processes used. Methodological triangulation will be applied and evaluated and would include the analysis of observer notes, teacher self report notes, interview notes, questionnaire results and so forth. In short, we will be applying multiple triangulations with the aim of collecting reliable data that can stand up to scrutiny by later research. 5

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Because of the diverse methods used while collecting data, the analysis process in this case also necessitates a variety of analysis techniques. We will be operating with different analysis tools including qualitative, quantitative and multivariate analysis. The qualitative data collected through interviews with subjects and the teacher will be analysed using deductive qualitative analysis to assess the data. Deductive analysis coincides with the application of action research and the fact that we have hypothesised what we believe will be the outcome of the research and are looking for evidence to support or refute this. As our questionnaires are semi structured and seek more specific insight into background information, the subjects preferred learning styles and cognitive styles we will utilise descriptive research analysis to present statistics about the data. Finally, multivariate techniques will be used to assess the construct information collected, for example, the motivational levels subjects demonstrate towards writing. In order to better understand what happens in the language classroom, teachers like ourselves need to become familiar with the methods and techniques for conducting research into our own practices. The latest trends seem to be centred on two central ideas, reflective thinking and action research. When teachers realise that they are the primary instigators of research and it is not done by theorists and scholars who have nothing better to do than try to explain learning phenomenon, the sooner these teachers will start developing professionally. Conducting action research provides insight and enlightenment into the learning experience and the reflective practice that experienced teachers apply to their day to day work provides a wealth of situations for investigation. All the data for research is there for the taking, it is just a question of deciding how to collect and analyse this data.

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