Penny Ur This session Research as one component of the professional knowledge of the teacher The contribution of researchbased insights The problems Possible answers selective and critical ID: 810913
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Slide1
Research and the language teacher
Penny Ur
Slide2This session
Research as one component of the professional knowledge of the teacher
The contribution of research-based insights
The problems Possible answers: selective and critical readingThe importance of mediators.
2
Slide31. Research as one component of professional knowledge
3
Slide4Sources of teachers’ knowledge
Courses (pre- and in-service)
Conferences
Reading (research, professional literature)Recommendations of colleagues
Feedback from students
Classroom experience + reflection
4
Slide5Schön: The Reflective Practitioner
Professionals learn mainly by reflecting in/on action
Not by applying research-based theories
(Schön, 1983)5
Slide6Research-based theory in teaching
“The teaching profession, as with all high-standard professions, needs the best available academic knowledge in order to fulfil its commitments to society… Teachers have to be familiar with the latest knowledge and research about the subject matter.”
(Niemi, 2008).
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Slide7And the teachers themselves?
Most teachers do not read the research literature very often, if at all.
Reasons:
‘I don’t have the time.’‘I don’t have access.’
‘It’s not of
practical help.’
‘It’s
difficult
to understand.’
(Borg, S. 2009)
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Slide8The teacher as researcher
Lawrence
Stenhouse
(Hopkins & Rudduck, 1985) Research as ‘disciplined enquiry made public’ Action ResearchBut: it hasn’t happened
If it does, only within a supportive framework (course, external initiative)
8
Slide9Interim summary
Research-based theory is not seen by most teachers as the main contributor to professional knowledge.
Teachers learn mainly from reflection on experience.
Teachers do not usually do research themselves.But the importance of the research continues to be stressed in the professional literature.
There is a trend towards ‘
academicization
’ of the
profession
9
Slide10Bottom line: dissonance
An uncomfortable, unresolved discrepancy
R
ising awareness and increasing discussion in the literature and at conferences (Ellis, 2010, 2012; discussions in the research SIG at IATEFL, 2012)My position: research is not the main source of teacher knowledge, but it can enrich it.
10
Slide112. The contribution of research-based insights
11
Slide121. Different types of research-based
literature
1. Original empirical research
2. Overviews / meta-analyses3. Theory, drawing on research evidence
12
Slide13How does it contribute?
Research produces
evidence,
that can be used to create practical principles for teaching.May provide new insights / information that hadn’t occurred to usMay contradict comfortable, but inaccurate, assumptionsMay confirm our own intuitions
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Slide14Example 1
Guessing from context (‘
inferencing
’)Convincing evidence that in over 50% of the cases, in natural contexts, unknown words cannot be guessed (Nassaji, 2003)Even if they are guessed correctly, this does not lead to better learning (
Mondria, 2003)
Guessing from context is no substitute for learning.
It’s probably better simply to explain, or gloss, new vocabulary in a text rather than asking students to guess.
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Slide15Example 2: lexical sets
Tinkham
(1993) Does it help learners to master a new set of lexical items if they are all members of a lexical set (same part of speech, same kind of meaning: e.g. clothes, animals)?
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Slide16Learners were presented with two sets of items from an artificial language, and told their ‘meanings’; one set all related to the same domain, the other did not.
shirt =
moshee
jacket = umausweater = blaikelrain = achen
car = nalofrog =
kawvas
rain =
moshee
car
=
umau
frog
=
blaikel
shirt
=
achen
jacket =
nalo
sweater =
kawvas
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Slide17The learners consistently learned the unrelated
items better
.
The research was later replicated, with similar results.e.g. Waring (1998), Papathanasiou (2009)When asked, learners said that they found they were confused because words had similar meanings. i.e. if you learn two words with similar meanings (or forms?) the learning of one ‘interferes’ with learning the other.
17
Slide18But words linked to each other syntagmatically
and
thematically are learnt well.e.g. blue + sky rather than blue + redThe vocabulary presented in elementary textbooks should be based not on semantic sets or pairs, but on thematic and syntactic links.e.g. if the theme is ‘family’ then items might be things like:home, love, mother, father, kitchen, cook, marry, happy, comfortable...and not just a list of family members
mother, father, brother, sister, aunt, uncle...
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Slide19Example 3:
Corrective feedback
‘Recasts’ are the least effective of oral corrective feedback strategies.
(Lyster, 1998) When correcting we need to involve the student (elicitation, negotiation).
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Slide20Problems
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Slide21Why don’t teachers read the research?
Time!
Lack of clarity
Contradictions Researcher bias
Practical application may be limited or inappropriate:
Trivial or impractical topics
Small population, time-frame
The ‘Hawthorne effect’
Local pedagogical or practical constraints
Inadequate professional experience of researcher
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Slide22Time
Teachers are busy: lessons, preparation, checking assignments, paperwork.
Reading and study are not built in to the teachers’ work description.
Sometimes actively discouraged by employers.
22
Slide23Lack of clarity
Sometimes inevitable
: specific terminology
, statisticsOften unnecessary (and unforgivable!): difficult language for its own sake (Aaronson, 1977)
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Slide24Contradictions
Example:
The role of practice in instructed language learning
Salaberry(1997)vs.Ellis (2001)
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Slide25Researcher bias
Articles which use the research to support a particular position
Examples:
Truscott (1999): Against the giving of corrective feedbackSwan (2005): Against task-based instruction
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Slide26Limited practical application(i) Trivial, irrelevant or impractical
Studies on problems with a particular grammatical point.
Studies on topics that aren’t relevant to our context (e.g. CLIL)
Studies that draw conclusions that can’t be implemented in practice (e.g. teachability hypothesis)
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Slide27Limited practical application(ii) Small population or time-frame
Small populations: usually university students
Relatively short time
Example: Studies quoted in Norris & Ortega (2001)
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Slide28Limited practical application(iii) The Hawthorne effect
Impressive results in an empirical study may be simply the result of change, and subjects’ awareness that this is an experimental innovation.
e.g. Research on the use of CALL
(Macaro, Handley, & Walter, 2012)
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Slide294. Limited practical application (iv) Pedagogical / practical constraints
The published research on ELT is nearly all second language acquisition (SLA).
But practical pedagogical issues are often more important to practitioners:
large and/or heterogeneous classes
discipline problems
pressure from stakeholders
upcoming exams
the local culture of learning
limited time to prepare
… etc.
29
Slide30Example 1: Culture of learning
Task-based or communicative teaching
The task-based approach seen by many as the best basis for successful instructed language-learning
But not appropriate for some cultures of learning(Carless, 2007; Hu, 2002)
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Slide31Example 2: stakeholder pressure
The optimal age for starting to study English in school
In the context of instructed language learning, late starters learn better.
(Muñoz & Singleton, 2011)But the pressure of parents, politicians and commercial interests leads to early-start programs.
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Slide32(iv) Inadequate professional knowledge of researcher
The rearcher’s ‘practical pedagogical implications’ are often in fact impractical.
Many excellent studies are followed by ‘off the wall’ suggestions for classroom teaching.
Practical application of research to teaching has to be determined by the teacher (Widdowson, 1990; Ellis, 2012).
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Slide33Selective and critical reading
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Slide34Main problems: time, access, practical use, comprehensibility.
Time and access
: the contribution of the Internet
Access: national and international conferencesPractical use, comprehensibility: the need for selective, critical reading.
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Slide35Selective reading
Check the topic: look it up on the Internet
Check the source: a respected publisher or journal
Check the authorWebsites, e.g. http://www.tesolacademic.org/Webinars, conference proceedings, Youtube…
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Slide36Critical reading
Check for clarity
Check for replications / contradictions
Check for applicability to your teachingDraw your own conclusions
36
Slide374. Mediators
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Slide38Who are the mediators?
‘Mediators’: Teachers who are also trainers, readers of research and perhaps writers: can mediate the research literature for other teachers.
38
Slide39Types of mediators
Speakers at conferences presenting their own interpretations of research
Writers of teacher handbooks
Teacher trainers or counselors.39
Slide40The research component in teacher courses
It is important to include insights from the research in teacher courses
(whether preparation or
השתלמויות)But why, if it’s not a major source of teacher expertise.40
Slide41The reasons
It’s not a major source, but it is a significant one, not available from daily practice.
Teachers rarely, if ever, have opportunities to encounter it elsewhere.
The trainer is in a position to mediate the research. 41
Slide42What is ‘mediation’ in this case?
Selection
. The trainer selects for inclusion research studies that present reliable evidence, and that have clear implications for teaching/learning.
Clarification. The trainer presents / explains the studies, rather than leaving teachers to read on their own. Criticism. The trainer leads discussion of the implications of the research for teaching, including reservations and criticism.
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Slide43Summary
The research literature is an important source of professional knowledge.
There is too much of it, and a lot of it is impractical or difficult to read.
It should be read selectively and critically.Hence the need for mediators: chiefly the teacher trainers. (Ur, 2014)
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Slide44References
Aaronson, S. (1977-8). Style in scientific writing.
Essays of an Information Scientist
, 3, 4-13. Available from: http://www.garfield.library.upenn.edu/essays/v3p004y1977-78.pdfBorg, S. (2009). English language teachers’ conceptions of research. Applied Linguistics, 30(3), 358–388.Carless, D. (2007). The suitability of task-based approaches for secondary schools: Perspectives from Hong Kong.
System, 35(4), 595-608.
Ellis, R. (2001). Grammar teaching - Practice or consciousness-raising? In Richards, J. C. &
Renandya
, W. A. (Eds.),
Methodology in language teaching
(pp.167-174). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ellis, R. (2010). Second language acquisition, teacher education and language pedagogy.
Language Teaching, 43
(2), 182-201.
Ellis, R. (2012).
Language teaching research and language pedagogy
.
Chichester
,
Uk
: Wiley-Blackwell.
Hopkins D., &
Rudduck
J. (Eds.) (1985).
Research as a basis for teaching: Readings from the work of Lawrence
Stenhouse
. London: Heinemann.
Hu, G . (2002). Potential cultural resistance to pedagogical imports: the case of communicative language teaching in China.
Language, Culture and Curriculum, 15
(2), 93-105.
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Slide45Lyster, R. (1998). Negotiation of form, recasts and explicit correction in relation to error types and learner repair in immersion classrooms.
Language Learning, 48(2)
, 183-218.
Macaro, E, Handley, C., & Walter, C. (2012). A systematic review of CALL in English as a second language: Focus on primary and secondary education. Language Teaching, 45, 1-43.Mondria, J- A. (2003). The effects of inferring, verifying and memorizing on the retention of L2 word meanings. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 25(4), 473-499
.Muñoz, C., & Singleton, D. (2011). A critical review of age-related research on L2 ultimate attainment.
Language Teaching, 44
(1), 1-35.
Nassaji
, H. (2003). L2 vocabulary learning from context: Strategies, knowledge sources and their relationship with success in L2 lexical
inferencing
.
TESOL Quarterly, 37
(4), 645-670
.
Niemi
, H. (2008). Advancing research into and during teacher education. In Hudson, B. &
Zgaga
P. (
eds
)
Teacher education policy in Europe
(p.184)
.
Faculty of Teacher Education, University of
Umeå
, in co-operation with the Centre for Educational Policy Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana
Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2001). Does type of instruction make a difference? Substantive findings from a meta-analytic review.
Language Learning, 51
, Supplement 1, 157-213.
Papathanasiou
, E. (2009). An investigation of two ways of presenting vocabulary.
ELT Journal, 63
(4), 313-322.
Salaberry
, M. R. (1997). The Role of Input and Output Practice in Second Language Acquisition.
Canadian Modern Language Review, 53
(2), 422-451.
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Slide46Schön, D. A. (1983).
The Reflective Practitioner
. New York: Basic Books.
Swan, M. (2005). Legislation by hypothesis: the case of task-based instruction. Applied Linguistics, 26(3), 376-401.Tinkham, T. 1993. The effect of semantic clustering on the learning of L2 vocabulary. System 21(3): 371-80.Truscott, J. (1999). What's wrong with oral grammar correction? The Canadian Modern Language Review, 55
(4), 437-56.Ur, P. (2014). Practice and research-based theory in English
teacher development
.
European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 3
(2), 143-156
.
Waring, R. 1998. The negative effect of learning words in semantic sets: a replication.
System 25
(2), 261-74.
Widdowson
, H. G. (1990).
Aspects of language teaching
. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Slide47Useful Resources
Journals
The
Reading TeacherEducational LeadershipEnglish Teaching Professional ELT JournalEnglish Teaching ForumThe Modern Language JournalModern English Teacher
Blogshttp://leoxicon.blogspot.co.il
/
http://elt-resourceful.com
/
https://
janecohenefl.edublogs.org
/
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