Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira

Departamento de Humanidades e Idiomas Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa

Programa Fundamentos de Investigación (LI362)

Facilitadora: Dolly Ramos GallegoEmail: dollytam@utp.edu.coOffice hours for students: Tuesdays from 11:00 to 12:00 H- 402Class schedule G1 Tuesday 2-4 pm Building Y– Room 221

G2 Wednesday 10-12 am Building H– Room 602

Course description

The focus of this course is to provide learners with the basics of educational research with an emphasis on qualitative language teaching and learning. The purpose of this course, then, is to enhance the students' knowledge about the concept of language research and its implications on the academic community mainly in the Colombian context. Additionally, the course will also expose students to all aspects that involve the act of doing research; namely, theory, concepts and studies. Therefore, the priority is to 1) create awareness on the importance of becoming an educational researcher and what it takes to carry out research. 2) Identify educational phenomenon or problematic issues that arise in the language classroom that could be researched.

Throughout this semester learners will be familiarized with issues related to the educational field by means of theory and class observations; thus, learners will be expected to analyze critically to identify current researchable problems or challenges that Colombian schools confront in EFL classrooms. Consequently, they must propose innovative solutions and ideas to overcome these challenges.

On the other hand, Comité Curricular of the Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa (LLI) supported on the reglamento estudiantil (2012) will grant, this semester, students the opportunity to decide on two possible projects that must be presented as a requirement by the student’s program to become Licenciados. These are: learners will have the chance to either carry out a research project or systematize their teaching practicum.

By the end of the course, learners will have the responsibility to: 1. frame their topic of interest for their research proposal or identify an aspect they would implement in their practicum. 2. They must decide on the type of project they will present as their requirement for graduation. (Research proposal or systematize their practicum) 3. They must decide on who their academic partner will be throughout the entire process of the project.

The course will enable the students to: Improve their reading skills. Introduce students to the terminology related to research. Develop theoretical and practical aspects required to initiate research projects. Discuss about instruments for data collection. Read and analyze samples and articles about qualitative research related to ELT.

Acquire knowledge and abilities about research projects in ELT. Broaden the knowledge of ELT in order to start reflecting about this field. Improve the four communicative skills while learning to start doing research. Expand the understanding of different qualitative research approaches and research topics. Read and understand research works related to ELT. Start observing and analyzing what happens in public Colombian education. Identify needs of public school contexts and plan pedagogical interventions based on theory.

Linguistic Competences The course will contribute to develop language competences. In that sense students will:

Read general, literary and academic texts with a good level of fluency and accuracy.

Understand lengthy, complex texts on a wide variety of topics (personal, academic, professional) where author's arguments and ideas can be inferred.

Employ critical thinking skills such as: analysis, argument , classification, summarizing, reflection.

Write an essay or report which develops an argument systematically with appropriate highlighting of significant points and relevant supporting detail.

Employ an extensive vocabulary of common and specialized leximes to construct propositionally and linguistically complex sentences on concrete and abstract themes in his/her field of specialization.

Follow the essentials of lectures, talks and reports and other forms of academic/professional presentation which are propositionally and linguistically complex.

Students are expected to: Present tasks on time. Collaborate and share ideas. Participate actively during oral presentations. Be active participants. Follow our ground rules in order to have a nice class environment. Participate in oral presentations about a theme or a topic provided by the teacher for the discussion of

the day. Work in groups to discuss topics or assigned questions and share ideas with the whole group. Complete all reading assignments prior to class and to be prepared to participate in class discussions

about the assigned readings. Show adequate linguistic competence in the four skills for this course. Become good observers and critical thinkers.

Content:

1. What is research?2. Reflective Teaching3. Active Learning4. Being a careful observer.5. Constructing your Conceptual Framework6. Qualitative and quantitative research

7. Qualitative researcha. Types of qualitative researchb. Stages of a qualitative researchc. The difference between descriptive, exploratory and narrative researchd. Qualitative Methods and techniques for data collection in ELT

8. The English language teacher as researcher 9. Research in ELT.10. .Ethical consideration on research11. Revising sources/ APA

Methodology:

The methodology implemented in the course will be a mixture of input sessions, guided discussions, student’s presentations and written reports.Each class will be guided by the assigned readings. Therefore, students should read all assigned material prior to class. In the classroom, students will be asked for participating, creating and reflecting on the issues presented. Therefore, regular attendance will be required. Presentation of different topics will be carried out by the professor and/or the students.

This course incorporates elements of different pedagogical models such as:

Content-based Approach: Learners develop communicative skills (listening, reading, speaking, and writing) and are aware of structural items of the language through the exposure to theoretical input based on language research. Students will participate in activities such as: workshops, interviews, class discussions and debates (collaborative activities), summarizing, note taking, extracting key information, etc.

Humanistic Approach: The basis of the Humanistic Approach is shifting the focus in education from teaching to learning, so that the teacher is no longer the focal point in class but someone who facilitates the process of education. By means of reading assignments, classroom discussion and written tasks, students incorporate skills and concepts presented in the course into individual processes of intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth that empower them to make positive, meaningful contributions to society. In-class and out-of class activities aim to present the English in ways that promote student’s affective engagement with the language, respond to their needs and interests, and maximize opportunities to use English to communicate information, feeling and ideas.

Critical Reflection: Critical Reflection helps students by creating new understanding, by making them conscious of the social, political, professional, economic and ethical assumptions that support or constrain one’s actions. It allows students to learn from mistakes, examine actions, evaluate them, propose solutions, revise and plan continually.

Socio-constructivism: Students complete graded in-class and out-of-class tasks, and select from a variety of optional, independent activities according to their interests, needs, and individual learning styles. Work is evaluated taking into account students’ assimilation of skills and concepts into diverse, personalized, individualized models of the English language and EFL pedagogy.

Evaluation:

The course is intended to promote self assessment and autonomy. Written paper will need to be presented on the materials discussed inside the class sessions. Oral presentations will also be part of the assessment as well as written tasks.

First Partial Exams 30%Conceptual FW 1st draft 15%Observation and report 15%Assignments, quizzes, class work 15%Conceptual Framework Defense 30%

Bibliography:

Freeman, Donald A. 1998. Doing Teacher Research: from Inquiry to Understanding. Pacific Grove: Heinle and Heinle.

Brown, H. D. 2001. Teaching by Principles: An interactive approach toLanguage Pedagogy (second edition). Longman.

Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of language Learning and Teaching (fourthedition). Longman.

Allwright, D., and Bailey, K.M. 1991. Focus on the Language Classroom: An Introduction to Classroom Research for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bailey, K.M., and Nunan, D. (Eds.). 1996. Voices from the Language Classroom: Qualitative Research in Second Language Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Nunan, D. 1992. Research Methods in Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Merrian, S B. (2009) Qualitative Research: A guide to design and implementation. United States of America: Jossey-Bass.

Hall, Joan Kelly. 2002. Teaching and Researching Language and Culture. Applied Linguistics in Action Series.