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Language Education Research Seminar - Wednesday 25 November

Date
Language Education Research Seminar - Wednesday 25 November
Language plays a role in everything we do - as vital to human life as water, food and energy.

The next Centre for Language Education Research seminar at University of Leeds will take place on Wednesday 25 November, 1-2, in the Coach House at Hillary Place. Emma Marsden from University of York will be talking about Engagement with research amongst Foreign Language Education practitioners in the UK

The extent to which research into language learning and teaching reaches school teaching communities remains unclear (Borg 2013, Hammersley 2003). This study (funded by a BAAL Applying Linguistics award) informs our understanding of practitioners' engagement with research and how it could be enhanced.

We present findings from two online surveys (one short (n=430) and one in-depth (n= 134)) investigating the extent and nature of engagement with research amongst those involved in primary and secondary Foreign Language education in the UK.  Issues investigated included: 1) the amount and nature of research consumed and done; 2) attitudes towards and usage of different types of evidence about teaching and testing;  3) views about research designs used to evaluate effectiveness; 4) perceptions of research; 5) factors that hinder and help engagement with research.

Factors reported to hinder engagement included a lack of time and poor access to and understanding of research reports. 'Consumption' of research largely consisted of professional publications, with negligible use of any scholarly publications. Perceptions of different kinds of evidence about 'effective teaching' included a much wider range than those normally considered by instructed SLA research. Results suggested greater research involvement amongst university-based teacher educators than school-based teachers, indicating a role for university-based teacher education in disseminating research (a significant finding given current moves to shift teacher education into schools).

A principal component analysis suggested three main factors hindering engagement: a small role for a 'lack of respect' for research; a larger role for 'situational difficulties' (time and money); and a large role for 'limited access and understanding' . This latter factor reflected dissemination practices that are within researchers' capacity to improve.

Borg, S. (2013)  Teacher research in language teaching: A critical analysis. CUP

Hammersley, M. (2003) Can and should educational research be educative? Oxford Review of Education, 29, 3–25.

 

Seminars are free and open to all, and we look forward to welcoming you.