17th Annual Summer Intensive Workshop
Doing Action Research in the ESL/EFL Classroom
Instructional component: June 24-26 9:00am-5:00pm
Follow-up component: July 8 & 10 (for 3-credit participants)
Featured Workshop Leaders:
Sue Garton, Aston University, UKAnne Burns, University of New South Wales, Australia
Workshop Flyer
Workshop Description
The workshop introduces students to the practical elements and theoretical constructs of action research (AR), and explores how AR can inform classroom teaching and improve language learning. Students design their own action research project and write a proposal, and 3-credit participants carry out the project and report on the results.
Workshop Leaders
Sue Garton is Director of Postgraduates Programs in English and Academic Director of the Center for English Language and Communication at Aston University, UK. She taught English to undergraduates in Italy for over 15 years before joining Aston University, UK, in 2000. At Aston she teaches on masters programs and supervises doctoral students in the area of TESOL. She was Programs Director of MSc in TESOL at Aston for 4 years, a programs that encourages its participants to take an Action Research approach. Her research interests are in the areas of language teaching methodology, practitioner research, teacher education, and classroom interaction.
Anne Burns is Professor in Language Education at Aston University, Birmingham and Professor of TESOL at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. She has facilitated action research with over 200 teachers in many different countries internationally, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Mexico and is well-known for her work in this area. Her book publications on action research include Collaborative Action Research for English Language Teachers (CUP, 1999) and Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching: A Guide for Practitioners (Routledge, 2010) and she has published numerous other book chapters, journal articles and encyclopedia entries on this topic. One of the things she enjoys most is working intensively with teachers to develop action research plans which they can then go on to carry out in their classrooms to deepen their understanding of themselves as professionals and of their students.
Project Evaluator
Heather Linville has extensive experience as an administrator and instructor in English language and TESOL programs. She has also served as an English Language Specialist with the U.S. Department of State, building on her prior English Language Fellow experience in Panama and Indonesia where she was an EFL teacher and teacher-trainer. While currently a PhD student in the Language, Literacy and Culture program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Professor Linville holds a Master's degree in Instructional System Design (ESOL/Bilingual emphasis) from the same university. Her research interests include the internationalization of education, international student adjustment, the use of digital stories for language and cross-cultural education, and cultural sensitivity of ESL/EFL educators.
