What is Action Research?

Action Research (AR) is a research approach that allows us teachers to investigate our own practices in order to improve and refine them. Instead of relying solely on external research, AR enables us to conduct research with our own students to address challenges or improve outcomes specific to our context.

While AR tends to be associated with classroom teaching, there is no reason it cannot be adapted to one-to-one teaching. What’s more, although the focus of AR is about improving learning outcomes, I am convinced that it is also strongly linked to better business outcomes. Indeed, we can even explicitly make our AR about how we promote and sell our services.

Action Research:

• is cyclical: It involves identifying a problem or area for improvement, planning an intervention, taking action, observing the results, and reflecting on the outcomes. This cycle can be repeated multiple times.
• is collaborative: Often involves a group of educators working together, though it can also be done individually.
• is problem-solving: Focuses on real and immediate problems in a specific context.
• is reflective: Encourages us to reflect on our own practices and the impacts of our actions.
• is participatory: The researcher is directly involved in the change process, unlike many traditional research methods.

How is it relevant to the EFL context?

• Tailored Interventions: Every EFL classroom/business is unique and has its own challenges. AR allows us to design interventions suited to our specific context.
• Improved Methods and Techniques: We can test new teaching methods, materials or classroom activities to see if they improve student comprehension, engagement or proficiency.
• Enhanced Professional Development: Conducting AR fosters reflection and critical thinking, thereby helping us become more skilled and adaptive educators.
• Immediate Feedback: Instead of waiting for external research to offer insights or suggestions, we can quickly get feedback on our practices and make immediate changes.
• Empowerment: We can feel more in control of our professional growth and development by actively engaging in research and problem-solving in our own context.
• Engaging with Challenges: EFL classrooms may face specific challenges like cultural nuances, motivation issues, mixed abilities, etc. Through AR, we can address these challenges head-on.
• Promotion of Best Practices: Findings from AR can be shared with the larger EFL teaching community, promoting evidence-based best practices.
• Greater Business Acumen: By improving our effectiveness AR allows us to increase our confidence and develop a clearer teaching identity. This makes it easier to articulate our unique value proposition and identify our ideal client profile.

Here’s a series of short videos by Vicki Bos from Teaching in Harmony on AR.

1. Overview
2. Identifying a problem
3. Solutions and research questions
4. Making an action plan

I also recommend an extensive book review on Anne Burns’ Collaborative Action Research for English Language Teachers on Jim Fuller’s blog Sponge ELT.