TEACHER ACTION RESEARCH (TAR): AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ CONTINUAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)

Abstract

Teacher’s action research is one of the most powerful means of continual professional development (CPD) for English language teaching (ELT) professionals. It is an action-based research which is initiated, conducted and monitored systematically by individual/group of teacher-researchers. It is a method which involves teachers in the assessment and development of their teaching practices. The study aims to elicit whether English teachers working in engineering colleges of Telangana State have necessary support and opportunities for continuous professional development. It intends to understand the kind of training they have had in designing tailored materials and using appropriate methods in their classroom. Additionally, it investigates whether the use of teacher action research helps teachers in overcoming their problems and to contribute for their professional effectiveness. The research was conducted in two phases i.e. preliminary study and main study. Preliminary study was an attempt to explore problems and challenges faced by the teachers working in professional colleges through structured questionnaires and semi structured interviews. It reveals findings such as limited opportunities for professional development, unsure of designing tailored material and using appropriate methods. These findings led to designing main study where teacher participants were offered two week training on teacher action research. This phase encouraged teachers to identify problems in their texts. prepare model course material to strengthen their texts and test out the material for their effectiveness. The results of the study indicate that TAR has primarily developed their teaching practices (analysing their teaching systematically, taking feedback for improvement, planning remedial measures collaboratively etc). Secondly, it has enhanced their research skills (searching for required information, reviewing various integrated task types, designing a model course material, publishing classroom research experiences etc). Finally, it has developed awareness of their teaching profession and learners’ problems besides helping them to learn and grow personally and professionally.