Do teachers care about research? The research–pedagogy dialogue

Abstract

Instructed second-language acquisition (ISLA) research endeavours to make positive changes in pedagogical practices. In this regard, there is a recent debate concerning whether teachers are (or should be) willing to engage with research. To investigate the research–pedagogy link, the current case study conducted interviews with 12 EFL teachers in Chile. The findings suggested that teachers’ understanding of research was relatively consistent with SLA researchers’ practices, although their awareness of instructionally oriented research was low. Teachers were willing to use research because it gave them emotional support and helped them deal with novel pedagogical issues. The use of research was facilitated by external pressure in the current landscape of higher education. However, teachers lacked physical accessibility to research such as time and resources as well as institutional support. They shared invaluable advice to researchers in promoting the research–pedagogy dialogue, such as creating communities of practice and conducting classroom research.