Teacher Research as a Form of Critical Praxis

The aim of this chapter is to provide TESOL practitioners, undergraduate, and graduate students in language teacher training programs with both a conceptual framework of teacher research (TR) as a form of critical praxis and a practical guide on how to implement it in language education settings. Subsequent to the description of what TR consists of and how it relates—or it does not—to other forms of research endeavors undertaken by TESOL teachers, the chapter continues with an outline of the procedures and practices to be implemented in TR and concludes with some key recommendations as to the promotion and dissemination of it for a full and effective exploitation of its transformative power.

UNDERSTANDING ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ VIEWS OF TEACHER RESEARCH: A REPORT FROM INDONESIA

This article reports on a study investigating the perceptions of EFL teachers in schools and language courses (henceforth, teachers) and EFL lecturers in tertiary educational institutions (academic staff) from Indonesia regarding their definitions of and their engagements in teacher research. An online questionnaire was used to gather quantitative data from almost 400 EFL teachers and academic staff from Indonesia. The questionnaire was followed by in-depth interviews with some respondents who met the criteria set and agreed to be interviewed. Results from the study show that both teachers and academic staff align research with evidence-based practice, survey, literature-driven practice and professional communication, and observation-based popular article. In terms of engagements, most of the teachers and academic staff read research papers occasionally, and more academic staff did research compared to teachers. Research done by both teachers and academic staff is largely associated with internal and external factors, such as, professional awareness and professional obligation, with academic staff seem to receive more support to engage in research. The findings of the study provide insights for future continuous professional development (CPD) activities for English teachers and academic staff. The activities might involve exploring ways to integrate teacher research into teachers’ and academic staff’s teaching responsibilities and integrating teacher research into the short-term and long-term goals of CPD.

Professional Competence of Vocational Teachers: a Conceptual Review

In this article, the variety of interpretations of the concept of professional competence with reference to vocational teachers is reviewed and discussed. Previous vocational teacher research has been found to focus on which professional competencies vocational teacher possess or should demonstrate, with little focus placed on how competence is defined, leaving a gap related to how the professional competence concept is perceived and constructed. Through a conceptual analysis method (CAM), which follows the data collection process of a systematic literature review, the researcher identifies the concept attributes that are commonly shared as well as neighboring concepts associated with professional competence. Findings indicate that only few studies detail solid concept definitions. Furthermore, there is an agreement amongst the researchers on the main attributes of professional competence, including the situated and developmental character of professional competence as well as its relationship with action. In regard to concept use, there are distinct interrelationships between professional competence, professionalism, performance and qualification. Most definitions regard the individual as the reference point and little to no discussion takes place regarding professional competence at a collective level. Because complex concepts like the one under study can lead to confusion, it is suggested that their use should be accompanied by a discussion of their various meanings.

Gamification in English language classes: a comparative study within the LWB-UFS context

Considering the need to engage and motivate English language students within the context of the Language without Borders (LwB) program at the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), gamification or the use of game thinking and mechanics in real life contexts was applied in a class from a 48-hour course. In this paper, this gamified class is analyzed and compared to a non-gamified one. We also investigate how students perceive the experience in comparison to the regular classes. The methodology employed is a qualitative teacher-research based on action research. Finally, we conclude that even though 100% of the students think that the gamified class is better, they feel just as motivated in non-gamified ones.