Knowledge foundations for research-engaged language teachers : part 3

Abstract

This article is the last of a three-part series that examines some of the key concepts and approaches that teachers positioning themselves as research-engaged language teaching professionals might and useful to be familiar with. Research engagement involves either digesting published research or else conducting a study in one’s school. Part 3 enables language teachers to consider some of the central notions informing the way a study is conducted, especially if it employs a qualitative approach. After a discussion of the characteristics of primary and secondary research, phenomenological research is used as an example of a qualitative approach to doing research. Interviews and observations are then evaluated as popular methods of collecting classroom data.