1. Action Research in Foreign Language Teacher Education Rita Collins & Sv ě tlana Hanušová English Department Faculty of Education Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic

2. Looking for a balance in teacher education between practice and theory….

3. ….a possible solution is Action Research

4. What is Action Research? “…inquiry done by a teacher with the intent that the research will inform and change his or her practice in the future. The research is carried out within the context of the teacher’s environment - that is, with the students and at the school at which the teacher works - on questions that deal with educational matters at hand.” Ferrance (2000)

5. The Cycle of Action Research

6. Two action research projects at a Czech university Meeting the needs of a large class of students studying English Developing communicative competence in learners with Specific Learning Disabilities

7. Facing a large class Dilemma: 24 Czech university students who met weekly for 90 minutes for practical English Research:background readings on large classes class evaluations by students class discussions teacher’s previous experience in a different setting

10. Plan:Explained concept of learning centers Students signed up to facilitate We tried it for three weeks. Re-evaluated Reflect and Evaluate: Students were enthusiastic More material was covered More learner-independence An example of action research for future teachers

11. Developing communicative competence in learners with SLD Participatory action research Empowering research WITH teachers not ON teachers Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Moodle 5 participating teachers + researcher as coordinator and facilitator 8 learners with SLD integrated in mainstream primary classes

12. Dual aims Teachers: Improving their practice Teacher educator: Monitoring the cycle of pedagogical reasoning and action (Shulman, 2007): - teacher's understanding of the given content - transformation of the content in order to mediate it to particular learners - teaching and evaluation - reflection and new understanding

13. Research Stages Mapping stage Studying resources Selecting innovations and introducing them to the teaching practice Ongoing reports about the progress online (main source of data) Reflection and evaluation

14. VLE Moodle

15. Research Results Pupils with SLD moderately improved their performance in most domains of the communicative competence No negative influence of the innovations on intact pupils in the study groups reported The teachers appreciated: - “the theory” - online discussions with other teachers - the facilitator's comments on their particular problems The teachers did not appreciate: – time demands

16. Action research benefits has the potential of directly influencing practice shows the relevance of theory to practice allows learners and teachers an opportunity to create a better educational environment possible to use in classrooms and in a virtual environment

17. References FERRANCE, E. Action Research. Rhode Island: The Educational Alliance, 2000. HIGHER EDUCATION ACADEMY, Subject Center for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies. Retrieved 1 February 2009. www.llas.ac.uk/.../projects/action_research.gif KUMARAVADIVELU, B. Understanding Language Teaching. From Method to Postmethod. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 2005. ISBN 0805851763. SHULMAN, L. S. (1987) Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform. Harvard Educational Review. Volume 57. Number 1, pp. 1 – 21.

18. Thanks for your participation! svetlana.hanusova@gmail.com collinsrita@yahoo.com