Action research in initial EFL teacher education: emerging insights from a CAR project

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to explore what insights pre-service EFL teachers developed through engaging in a collaborative action research (CAR) project which was embedded into an e-practicum course in Turkey. Using a qualitative holistic single-case study design, this study involved seven fourth-year pre-service teachers at a state university in the west of Turkey during the 2020–2021 academic year. After the CAR project was completed, we asked the pre-service teachers to write their reflections on the CAR experience and then we conducted follow-up interviews to elaborate on the points that needed further exploration. We first identified the in vivo codes in the data set and then discussed the deeper meanings they evoked and their interrelationship. The findings revealed that the pre-service teachers’ engagement in CAR enabled them to gain new perspectives on research, their teacher selves, and teacher professional development. Sustained dialogic interaction, collective scaffolding, more symmetrical power relations, a shared goal and ownership of research within the CAR community were the key elements highlighting the pre-service teachers’ new insights into these concepts. Practical implications of these findings for initial EFL teacher education are also discussed.