Constructing Research Preferences by Prospective Indonesian EFL Teachers

Abstract

Several studies have discussed the features and characteristics of research on English language teaching in Indonesia by both lecturers and students. However, there is very little research that discusses topics, research methods, designs, and reasons for choosing topics, as well as the efforts to improve the quality of research conducted by prospective EFL teachers in the Indonesian context. The study aims to identify, assess, and characterize the research conducted by prospective Indonesian EFL teachers. The study used mixed research methods utilizing 477 research works as the objects of study, while the research participants were 67 prospective Indonesian EFL teachers and 5 heads of the English education program. The results showed that students' selected research topics were the process of learning English at the secondary school level and that their preferred methodologies were quantitative research, qualitative research, and classroom action research (mixed methods). The most popular topics in English language learning research were methods for learning, classroom action research, textbook analysis, media for learning English, and viewpoints on English teaching concerns. The reasons for choosing certain research topics and methods were dominated by issues of ease of research completion. The results contribute as a basis for future research to select variables, designs, issues, or study subjects to explore as well as for directing and defining the themes and research topics in the English Education study program.