CLASSROOM RESEARCH

概要

It is not uncommon to hear the criticism (or almost a complaint) that the results of research projects rarely have direct practical relevance. One response to such a criticism is to try to focus directly on issues that are obviously important to teachers and learners as well who are actually involved in learning teaching and learning in the classroom. With the practical issues in mind, this course is intended: 1) to bring the importance of researching classroom language teaching to the awareness of in-service and pre-service teachers as well as the students who are interested in second/foreign language learning and teaching; 2) to encourage these participants to become explorers themselves so they may deepen their understanding about their own teaching in the classroom; and 3) to explore the way of rendering the research findings in their own classrooms. In doing so, a number of practical questions will be raised, discussed and empirically explored. The following are some of such questions: 1)Does teaching in the classroom help learners learn EFL (English as a Foreign Language)? 2)Why don’t learners learn what teachers teach? 3) Is error correction helpful? 4)Who creates classroom atmosphere? 5)Is it possible to assess student’s performance in the classroom? 6)Is the process of learning a language in the classroom the same as the process of learning a language outside the classroom? In an effort to find the ways of finding answers to these problems, the course will also offer the chance to practice writing a research report so it may carry an impact to the field exploring the issue of classroom teaching and learning.

目標

By the end of this course, students will be able to: 1) examine their own teaching in the classroom objectively: 2) examine their colleague's teaching objectively and offer useful suggestions for improving his/her teaching in the classroom: 3) use the appropriate instrument to understand the quality of teaching in the classroom choosing from among a range of available instruments: 4) develop their own observation and research instruments, and 5) write a useful and informative research report.

授業外の学習

1) Analyse the data gathered from the classroom observation. 2) Visit a language classroom to observe and record. 3) Develop a topic for micro project. 4) Write a paper reporting on the project.

所要時間: 190 minutes