Research

TeachingEnglish
ELT Research Papers

Teachers’ engagement
with published research:
how do teachers who
read research navigate
the field, what do they
read, and why?
Graham Hall

In collaboration with
ISBN 978-1-915280-20-6
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© Graham Hall

Citation:
Hall, G. (2023). Teachers’ engagement with published research: how do
teachers who read research navigate the field, what do they read, and why?
British Council. Available online: doi.org/10.57884/B04W-E417
 ELT Research Papers 22.04

TeachingEnglish
ELT Research Papers

Teachers’ engagement with

published research: how do
teachers who read research
navigate the field, what do they
read, and why?
Graham Hall
About the author
Graham Hall is Professor of Applied Linguistics/TESOL
at Northumbria University, UK, where he teaches on the
University’s M.A. Applied Linguistics for TESOL and M.A. TESOL
programmes. He is the author of Exploring English Language
Teaching: Language in Action (Routledge, 2011; 2nd edition,
2017), which was the winner of the 2012 British Association
for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) book prize. He also edited the
Routledge Handbook of English Language Teaching (2016), and
was editor of ELT Journal from 2013–17. His research interests
range from classroom discourse and language teaching
methodology to the ways in which English language teachers
understand their practice and the role research might play in
their professional development.
[email protected]
Abstract
This project reported in this paper sought to uncover the
reported practices and attitudes towards published research
of English language teachers who worked in a range of
contexts around the world, and who reported reading
or being interested in research and research-oriented
publications. Aiming to give voice to and learn from these
‘research-interested’ teachers, the project examined the role
of research publications and research-oriented literature in
the teachers’ professional lives and in the development of
their professional understandings and practices. It examined
those factors which facilitated or created a barrier to such
engagement, and additionally sought to uncover those key
areas of research that the teachers saw as priorities, or of
particular relevance to themselves. It also explored how, from
the teachers’ perspective, such research findings might be
made more accessible within the field. Ultimately, therefore,
the project sought to find out how, from the standpoint of
those teachers who are interested in engaging with research
and research-oriented publications, the often-problematic
relationship between research and practice in English
language teaching (ELT) might start to be addressed.
Contents
1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1

2 The relationship between research and practice in ELT: key issues and current debates....................... 4
2.1 Gaps, divides and dysfunction? Images of the research-practice relationship......................................................................... 5
2.2 Research findings and pedagogic ‘answers’: different types of knowledge?.............................................................................. 5
2.3 Do English language teachers read research? Some evidence from the field........................................................................... 7
2.4 Why do teachers read (and read about) research?................................................................................................................................. 8
2.5 Barriers to reading research............................................................................................................................................................................. 9
2.6 Enhancing teacher engagement with published research.................................................................................................................. 9
2.7 Justification for this study ................................................................................................................................................................................10

3 Research methodology............................................................................................................................................... 12
3.1 Aims and research questions..........................................................................................................................................................................12
3.2 Research design....................................................................................................................................................................................................12
3.2.1 The questionnaire..............................................................................................................................................................................13
3.2.2 The interviews.....................................................................................................................................................................................16
3.3 Data analysis ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................17
3.4 Research ethics ....................................................................................................................................................................................................17

4 Results ............................................................................................................................................................................. 19
4.1 The teachers’ understandings of Research���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������19
4.2 RQ1: To what extent do the teachers report that they read research – in both its
original published form and in other research-oriented professional literature?������������������������������������������������������������������21
4.3 RQ2: What reasons do the teachers give for this level of engagement with research
publications? Why do they say they read research, and what do they report as
discouraging or preventing them from doing so?���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������25
4.3.1 Reasons the teachers give for reading research ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������25
4.3.2 Comparing research publications and other sources of information in the
teachers’ professional lives ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������26
4.3.3 What prevents the teachers from reading research?........................................................................................................28
4.4 RQ3: What topics and issues do the teachers themselves prioritize as potential
focuses for research and research publications in ELT?�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������32
4.4.1 Teaching language skills and structures ................................................................................................................................33
4.4.2 Classroom management, actions and activities ..................................................................................................................33
4.4.3 Online technologies and technology-mediated learning and teaching....................................................................33
4.4.4 Other practice-oriented issues ...................................................................................................................................................34
4.4.5 Learner motivation, autonomy and independence ...........................................................................................................34
4.4.6 About teachers....................................................................................................................................................................................34
4.4.7 Other issues … and absences .......................................................................................................................................................35
4.5 RQ4: How might research publications and findings be made more relevant and
accessible to English language teachers?������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������35
4.5.1 Physical availability: cost and access .......................................................................................................................................36
4.5.2 Internal accessibility: readership and ‘the discourse of research’ .............................................................................36
4.5.3 Collaborative approaches: before, during and writing-up research ..........................................................................37
4.5.4 Teacher-researcher communities and interfaces ..............................................................................................................38
4.5.5 Sharing findings: workshops, conferences and social media .......................................................................................38
4.5.6 Summaries, digests and collections..........................................................................................................................................39

5 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................................ 41

References .....................................................................................................................................................................43
1
Introduction
The relationship between practice and research, and IATEFL’s research-oriented Special Interest Group,
between practitioners/teachers and researchers, ReSIG). Yet there is undoubtedly some appetite
has long been the subject of considerable debate within the field for the dissemination of research,
within ELT and related academic disciplines such although this demand is, perhaps, not always
as Applied Linguistics (e.g., Pennycook, 1989; Borg, for research published in its primary form and/
2009; Marsden and Kasprowicz, 2017; Sato and or original format (e.g., journal articles, research
Loewen, 2019). Some suggest that research values monographs), as demonstrated by the popularity
‘scientific’ knowledge over local and contextual of research-oriented ‘mediating’/‘go-between’
knowledge (Pennycook, 1989), and ‘hardly ever’ publications (Medgyes, 2017; Thornbury, 2019) and
helps teachers solve classroom problems (Medgyes, the blogs and other online posts of ELT writers and
2017: 493). From this perspective, teachers can ‘fare scholars such as Philip Kerr, Jack Richards, Scott
well without being informed about recent advances Thornbury, Penny Ur, and many others.
in language and language-education related
research’ (ibid.: 495), and engaging with and trying However, whilst much work has been forthcoming
to implement fully and consistently ideas emerging in recent years around teachers’ own engagement
from academia and research is likely to lead to in research (i.e., ‘teachers as researchers’; see,
frustration amongst practitioners (Pennycook, 2004). for example, Slimani-Rolls and Kiely, 2018; Smith
The suggestion is of an often-parasitical relationship and Rebolledo, 2018), there is relatively little data
between research and researchers on the one hand illuminating the extent to which and how teachers
and teaching and teachers on the other, in which actually engage with research and research-
researchers need teachers far more than teachers oriented publications, and whether and how such
need researchers, both as a source of data and as engagement might inform their professional
an audience for their findings (Medgyes, 2017). practice. Those studies which exist are relatively
localized (e.g., Rossiter et al., 2013; Sato and Loewen,
Others, however, are concerned by what they see 2019), relate to UK foreign language teaching rather
as an apparent breakdown in the ‘interface’ and than ELT (e.g., Marsden and Kasprowicz, 2017),
‘dialogue’ between research and practice within or adopt a broad lens through which to focus on
ELT. Whilst recognizing that research is not part teachers’ ‘research engagement’ more generally
of often overworked teachers’ job descriptions, (e.g., Borg, 2009; 2010).
that research can require specific and technical
expertise to be understood in its primary form, and Consequently, much of the debate surrounding
that research findings are often ‘hidden’ behind teachers’ engagement with published research
costly publisher paywalls, they suggest that, without and the disciplinary knowledge it may bring to ELT
such dialogue, teachers are ‘in danger of rejecting lacks data through which we might understand
evidence a priori’ and simply prioritizing their own the ‘technical’ and ‘attitudinal’ issues practitioners
intuitions (Paran, 2017: 507). From this perspective, identify as facilitating or hindering their engagement
‘building bridges’ between research and practice, (e.g., physical access and time for the former,
and between researchers and practitioners, is wanting and needing to read for the latter; see
important in order that both individual teachers and Borg, 2010). In other words, many claims about the
the profession as a whole can develop. relationship between research and practice, and
about the relevance or irrelevance of research to
The debate thus continues in a variety of forums teachers, often seem to lack a central component –
(see, for example, arguments both for and against the voices, experiences, and perspectives of
the relevance of research for practitioners in the teachers themselves.
pages of publications such as ELT Journal (Medgyes,
2017, and Paran, 2017), on Twitter (#ELTchat), and
in other online discussions such as those hosted by

Introduction 1
This project therefore sought to address this gap Some investigations of language teachers’ beliefs
and uncover the reported practices and attitudes about and engagement with research have drawn
towards published research of English language on these understandings explicitly. Marsden and
teachers who worked in a range of contexts Kasprowicz (2017), for example, defined research
around the world, and who reported reading or to the teachers participating in their study as
being interested in research and research-oriented ‘systematic activity, that goes beyond normal
publications. Aiming to give voice to and learn teaching duties, and that aims to shed light on
from these ‘research-interested’ teachers, the a particular phenomenon. This includes reading
project examined the role of research publications reports about research or collecting data, e.g.,
and research-oriented literature in the teachers’ pupil opinions or achievement, the effectiveness of
professional lives and in the development of their teaching etc.’ (p.617). Others have taken a different
professional understandings and practices. It approach, offering no definition but instead aiming
examined those factors which facilitated or created to establish what teachers themselves understand
a barrier to such engagement, and additionally research to be (e.g., Borg, 2009; Sato and Loewen,
sought to uncover those key areas of research 2019) before exploring other elements of teachers’
that the teachers saw as priorities or of particular engagement with research investigations and
relevance to themselves; it also explored how, from publications.
the teachers’ perspective, such research findings
might be made more accessible within the field. Like Cohen et al., Paran, and Marsden and Kasprowicz
Ultimately, therefore, the project sought to find (op. cit.), therefore, this report takes a broad view
out how, from the standpoint of those teachers of research and its key characteristics. This shared
who are interested in engaging with research understanding underpins the review of key issues,
and research-oriented publications, the often- debates and literature which follows (Section 2).
problematic relationship between research and Ultimately, however, the project followed Borg (op.
practice in ELT might start to be addressed. cit.) and Sato and Loewen (op.cit.) in building a
picture of teachers’ engagement with research
publications based on teachers’ own understandings
A note on ‘research’
of what research might be, as can be seen in the
A vast literature within ELT and within related research methodology, and presentation and
academic fields such as Applied Linguistics, Second discussion of data in this report (Sections 3 and 4).
Language Acquisition (SLA), and Education seeks
to define and outline the key characteristics of
research. Most understandings share similarities with
Cohen, Manion and Morrison’s (2007) suggestion
that research is systematic; empirical, drawing on
observable data or evidence that is necessarily
experimental; and self-correcting, in that insights
and understandings are updated over time as new
information comes to light. Put simply, therefore,
research ‘is a way of collecting information in order
to enable us to reach decisions about future actions,
in ways that are appropriate and relevant to these
decisions’ (Paran, 2017: 501).

Introduction 2
2
The relationship between research
and practice in ELT: key issues and
current debates
The broad and varied field of ELT is often One source of new knowledge in the field that
characterized as being in ‘ferment’ (Richards and teachers might encounter during their professional
Rodgers, 2001: 254), awash with methodological lives is research. This might be research which they
ideas, techniques and materials which aim to undertake for themselves as teacher-researchers,
support teaching and learning, and with related perhaps as part of a professional training, education
debates about the theories, principles and or development programme, or perhaps as a
evidence which underpin them. Yet this is not true result of their ongoing professional curiosity
in all contexts – the popular perspective of rapid through approaches such as Action Research
and regular change, and of ELT as a particularly (see, for example, Burns, 2010) or Exploratory
innovative enterprise, overlooks the methodological Practice (see, for example, Allwright and Hanks,
continuities that can be found in many ELT settings 2009). Yet teachers might also encounter research
and classrooms (Hunter and Smith, 2012), and undertaken and subsequently presented by others in
assumes both a level of interest in and/or access to research-oriented publications (e.g., books, journal
new knowledge and ideas that does not realistically articles, professional magazines and newsletters,
reflect the professional circumstances and interests blogs, British Council ELT Research Papers such as
of many teachers around the world (Borg, 2010). this), and ELT professional development ‘mediating
As Erlam (2008: 253, citing Belcher, 2007) points texts’ such as Hall (2017), Richards and Rodgers
out, ‘teachers have been teaching languages (2014) and Thornbury (2017).
successfully for millennia’, and might reasonably
question the extent to which new knowledge and
associated thinking about its practical implications
can benefit their pedagogic practice. And yet,
without engagement with new knowledge in some
form (through, for example, reflective and/or
problem-solving conversations with colleagues;
accessing blogs, videos and other developmental
resources online; engaging with Teacher
Associations and their associated events and
activities; or reading and engaging with professional
publications), teachers might rely solely on their
personal experiences and intuitions when making
pedagogical decisions (Sato and Loewen, 2022).
Whilst such decisions can, of course, benefit student
learning, they would perhaps be more secure if
informed by knowledge and perspectives from other
relevant sources.

The relationship between research and practice in ELT: key issues and current debates 4
2.1 Gaps, divides and dysfunction? the research-practice gap are largely foisted on
teachers by researchers (rather than the other way
Images of the research-practice
round), and are consequently unlikely to result in
relationship improved relationships between them. Meanwhile,
The relationship between teachers and published Lightbown (1985), whilst positive about its potential
research (and implicitly, therefore, with researchers) usefulness for practitioners, also emphasizes that
is often discussed and frequently problematized. ‘second language research does not tell teachers
Although ‘second language (L2) researchers who what to teach, and what it says about how to teach
conduct instructional research, and L2 practitioners they had already figured out’ (p.182). And it is to this,
who are open to improving their practices, share the expectations of research in relation to pedagogy,
a common goal; that is, to help students develop that is, the extent to which research might or can
their L2 skills in a more effective and efficient way’ inform day-to-day teaching practices, that we
(Sato and Loewen, 2022: 3), the vast majority of now turn.
commentaries recognize the ‘inconvenient truth’
(Korthagen, 2017) of a ‘gap’ or ‘significant divide’ 2.2 Research findings and pedagogic
(Belcher, 2007) between research and pedagogy ‘answers’: different types of
which may be ‘widening’ (Rose, 2019) and, for most,
knowledge?
is ‘damaging’ (Allwright, 2005). Such accounts
call for the establishment of ‘dialogue’ to ‘build The discussion thus far has touched on two
bridges’ or ‘pave a path’ (respectively, Paran, 2017; broad perspectives on the role of research and
Erlam, 2008; and Sato and Loewen, 2022) towards researchers in ELT. The more sceptical view
a productive and cooperative future, ending the maintains that the research-practice divide in part
‘dysfunctions’ (Clarke, 1994) of the research-practice results from researchers’ ‘self-interest’ (due to, for
relationship. example, academic institutional pressures such as
‘publish or perish’) leading, at its most extreme,
Although Korthagen (2007) characterizes the to an ‘adversarial’ and hierarchical relationship
research-practice gap as a perennial problem, between research and pedagogy in the field (Levin,
for many, this problematic state of affairs has 2013). The more benevolent viewpoint suggests
developed and worsened as a result of an increasing that researchers and teachers share the goal of
‘intellectualization’ of ELT-related research (Rose, improving L2 pedagogy and learning and that
2019; Sato and Loewen, 2022). Thus, an activity addressing the research-practice gap is a therefore
which was once led by practitioners who researched in the interests of researchers, teachers, and
is now dominated by researchers drawing upon language learners alike. From this perspective, the
psychological, educational, or linguistic theories, gap is wide:
who are removed from language teaching itself,
and whose research is valued more highly by … not primarily because educational researchers
other researchers than more practically-oriented are self-indulgent or irresponsible in the kinds of
classroom-based research still undertaken by research they do or in the ways that they report
teachers (McKinley, 2019). it, nor because teachers are unprofessional or
anti-intellectual in their approach to practice …
For some, this strengthens the notion of researchers but primarily because the kind of knowledge that
working in an isolated academic ‘ivory tower’ research can offer is different to the knowledge
located ‘above’ teachers who are consequently that classroom teachers need to use (McIntyre,
disempowered from setting agendas for research, 2005: 358–9)
and whose own inquiries and publications are
undervalued (Rose, 2019; Kumaravadivelu, 2003; McIntyre (ibid.) thus characterizes the knowledge
2012). Yet while many seek to understand, challenge that teachers draw upon to manage their classrooms
and address this research-practice gap (i.e., ‘to and to organize and facilitate students’ learning
build bridges’), others see its consequences in as ‘pedagogical knowledge’, or ‘knowledge how’.
less problematic terms. Noting that as ‘academic This knowledge is pragmatic, usable, and useful,
research’ and teaching are two different activities, and is valued by teachers for its practicality
Medgyes (2017: 492) concludes that they ‘move and its feasibility and effectiveness in context
along fundamentally different paths and never the (ibid.). According to McIntyre, this contrasts with
twain shall meet’. Maley (2016) also suggests that ‘propositional knowledge’ or ‘knowledge that’: this is
attempts to bring research and pedagogy together usually the concern of academic research. Generally
are misplaced – each have value and legitimacy in located in a broader field of study, such knowledge
their own domain, but ‘we should not expect any is valued for its perceived clarity and coherence
necessary or close links’ between them (p.13), whilst of argumentation, and for its ‘truth’, which can be
Kerr (2021) wonders whether attempts to bridge abstracted or in some way generalized. Although

The relationship between research and practice in ELT: key issues and current debates 5
there is a necessary degree of simplification in Whilst realistic about what academic research,
these descriptions – McIntyre (ibid.), for example, with its focus on single issues and its aim at
suggests that we might perhaps regard them as generality, can actually ‘tell’ teachers engaged in
points at either end of a knowledge continuum) – contextually-specific pedagogical decision-making,
they are echoed across the field. Ellis (2001), for this is a more limited conception of the research-
instance, suggests that teachers are interested in practice relationship than one which seeks ‘to give
‘practical knowledge’ whilst researchers are seeking me practical advice’ or ‘study something I can use’
to develop ‘technical knowledge’; meanwhile, Bartels (as teachers in Medgyes (2017: 492) and Shkedi
(2003) contrasts the context-specific pedagogic (1998: 559) reportedly request). However, it perhaps
knowledge of teachers with the abstract and starts to re-balance the relationship between
generalized knowledge of research and researchers. research and practice and between researchers and
Crookes (1997), focusing on research into SLA, teachers, for, as Ellis (2010: 197) notes ‘it is always
similarly argues that teachers require knowledge the teacher who ultimately determines the relevance
which is embedded in its social context (i.e., the of SLA constructs and findings for teaching, not the
learning environment of which they are a part) SLA researcher’.
and is thus more specific and practically-oriented;
this contrasts with the focus of much research Yet, a number of questions remain. Although
knowledge which seeks to reveal universal construing the research-practice relationship as
processes that are ‘internal’ to the learner. indirect is in many ways helpful and realistic, is this
an understanding which teachers share, and if so,
Acknowledging that there are different kinds of do they have the time (and inclination) to evaluate
knowledge has a range of possible implications and make use of research which has ‘only’ indirect
for the ways in which academically-researched relevance to their professional lives? As Millin (2021:
knowledge and publications might or might not link n.p.) notes, in this situation:
to ELT pedagogy. Firstly, there is the reasonable
suggestion that not all L2 research should consider how do [teachers] know what research to choose
the research-pedagogy link. As Sato and Loewen to read? … How much of a ‘critical mass’ does
(2022) point out, there is a place for scientific and research need to reach before teachers should
lab-based studies which seek to develop theoretical pay attention to it? How do they know when it has
knowledge about how second languages are hit this point? How do they extrapolate from the
acquired or learned, for example, without focusing research to work out how to change their practice?
on how they are taught. Such ‘basic’ (rather than Furthermore, does the often-differential status of
‘applied’) research (ibid.) may eventually have an researchers and practitioners (see above) really
indirect impact on the wider field, but this is not its support and facilitate the idea that teachers, rather
goal. Of course, many ELT research publications than researchers, can truly assert what are and are
do seek to draw out their implications for practice, not relevant research findings? And, given these
although the depth and value of this is sometimes concerns, how might practitioners access such
variable; ‘Implications’ sections that sometimes research and associated research publications in
appear to be an afterthought or ‘add on’ (Han, 2007: the first place, and what barriers might prevent them
387) at the end of detailed accounts of research from doing so?
studies are often criticized for being superficial,
impractical or even ‘more pretentious than We shall address these more specific questions
genuine’ (ibid.). shortly. Firstly, however, uncovering the extent to
which practitioners are reported as reading and
Consequently, McIntyre suggests that engaging with research provides a broad indication of
conceptualizing the relationship between much how teachers might perceive the value (or otherwise)
research and practice as being ‘indirect’ is perhaps of research within their professional lives.
the most satisfactory way of addressing the
gap between them, arguing that ‘the best that
researchers can generally aspire to is throwing
light on issues that are important for practice, and
that this is very different from offering complete
solutions to practitioners’ problems’ (2005: 363).

The relationship between research and practice in ELT: key issues and current debates 6
2.3 Do English language teachers A number of smaller studies and case-studies
paint a similar picture of the extent to which
read research? Some evidence
English language teachers read research, and their
from the field tendency to read original research publications
Both the number of publications deliberating such as journal papers only rarely whilst
over the research-practice ‘divide’ (such as those accessing information about research findings
referenced above) and many researchers’ and from other sources more regularly. Like Marsden
teachers’ own professional experiences suggest and Kasprowicz (ibid.), the 47 Israeli teachers in
that ‘most teachers are just not terribly interested in Shkedi’s (1998) study read about research via the
research and rarely, if ever, read it’ (Kerr, 2021: n.p.). professional, practical and ‘applicative’ literature
Yet surprisingly few empirical studies have sought (p.565), with only 3 reporting that they read ‘original
to investigate or provide evidence for this broad research literature’ per se. Meanwhile, some of
assessment of the field. Although the results of those the 12 Chilean teachers in Sato and Loewen’s
which do seem to make for gloomy reading for those (2019) study reported barriers and obstacles to
who are keen to develop a practitioner-researcher accessing original research publications such as
dialogue, the picture is, however, more complex than academic journal articles (see below for further
it might at first appear. discussion of ‘barriers’). Consequently, they noted
how like-minded teachers had shared research
Borg’s (2009) survey of 505 teachers from findings via online communities, supporting Levin’s
13 countries found that only 15.6 per cent of (2013) assertion that the impact of the internet
participants reported reading research regularly, on the communication of research to a range of
with 3.8 per cent of respondents reporting that they interested communities ‘cannot be overstated’
‘never’ read research, and 28.7 percent reporting (p.13). And yet, perhaps due to its relatively recent
that they did so only ‘rarely’. In Borg’s survey, emergence and its ever-changing capabilities, the
therefore, twice as many teachers read research links between reading about research online (either
‘rarely’/‘never’ than those who read research ‘often’, through original journal articles or in other mediated
Borg finding a weak but significant correlation formats) have arguably been under-explored aspects
between the frequency with which research was of the relationship between research and practice/
read and both higher level teaching qualifications practitioners.
and longer teaching experience. A similar situation
was uncovered by Nassaji’s (2012) survey, in Canada As this summary indicates, therefore, reading
and Turkey, of 410 English language teachers’ research in its original published form does not
engagement with research into, specifically, SLA. seem to be a regular part of many teachers’
professional lives. While some access original
Marsden and Kasprowicz (2017), reporting on research relatively often, many more never or rarely
the behaviours and perspectives of 574 foreign do so. However, the reports outlined in this section
language teachers and practitioners in the UK do not indicate that teachers have no interest in
(rather than ELT professionals per se), similarly published research – rather, many tend to access
record that over half the classroom teachers findings and other insights from research via other
and around a quarter of the non-school-based channels, including other forms of publication
practitioners surveyed had never read an original (professional newsletters and magazines) and
research report. This was not to suggest, however, online (including summaries and links shared within
that their participants discounted the value of practitioner communities). For those interested in
research – over one third of teachers reported developing the relationship between research and
reading publications such as magazines or practice, therefore, a key concern is to establish
newsletters or hearing about something which more clearly what types of publications and other
mentioned research over the course of a year, modes of communication teachers employ to
with over two-thirds noting that they read reports learn about research, and why they choose these
about research on the internet relatively frequently. publications (rather than reading research in its
Clearly and as already noted, there is more to original published forms). Underlying these issues
reading research than reading research only in its is a key question to which this review will first
original form. turn – why are teachers interested in research and
research publications at all?

The relationship between research and practice in ELT: key issues and current debates 7
2.4 Why do teachers read (and read Many teachers also experience external or
institutional pressures to read about research,
about) research?
such as directives by ministries of education for
Although we have noted that most teachers to become ‘involved with’ research, initially
conceptualizations see the relationship between through reading (and, in some cases, eventually
research and practice as being only indirect, many by undertaking research; Sato and Loewen,
reasonable claims have been made about the way 2019), or because is it part of the requirements of
in which research has shaped broad swathes of their job (Shkedi, 1998; Sato and Loewen, 2022).
professional language teaching practice over time. Although these pressures are often unwelcome
Paran (2017) for example, highlights the role of when obligatory and not sufficiently supported,
research in promoting: extended reading; narrow reading research voluntarily and from time to time
reading and vocabulary development; the use of in order to develop professional knowledge is also
learners’ L1 in supporting L2 learning; teaching relatively common (Shkedi, op.cit.). Of course, many
students how to listen; the value of task repetition; practitioners undertake professional and academic
and the value (or otherwise) and ways of providing qualifications over the course of their working lives
corrective feedback. However, reflecting Kerr’s (for example, teaching diplomas and masters-level
(2021) concern that the call for a ‘dialogue’ between degrees) in order to expand their professional
research and practice is in fact driven by academics knowledge and enhance their career prospects,
rather than teachers (see Section 2.1, above), such which require them to read research literature.
summaries tend to be put forward by researchers,
and often offer broad perspectives on developments One suggestion bringing these perspectives
in the field more generally rather than specifically together, therefore, is that teachers read research
addressing why individual teachers themselves read (or can/should read research) as ‘critical consumers’
research or find out about research findings. (Borg, 2010) in order to develop professionally
and to inform their pedagogical decisions
In fact, teachers report reading research or about (although, as noted above, this latter point is not
research for a variety of reasons, one of the most straightforward). From this standpoint, teachers
regularly cited being to support classroom and other read in order to ‘critique and evaluate research
pedagogical decision-making, particularly when the information for themselves’ and ‘not depend on
issues faced are new to them, for example, the rise others’ (McMillan and Wergin, 2010: v). However,
of online teaching over the last five or six years as Borg (op.cit.) points out, whilst the benefits to
or, in some contexts, higher numbers of immigrant individual practitioners and to the development
students in classes (Sato and Loewen, 2019). As we of the field of a ‘critical consumers’ perspective
have seen, however, links between research and seem clear, conceptualizing teachers in this way is
practical classroom activities or innovations tend to problematic due to a series of barriers, challenges,
be indirect; consequently, although many teachers and ‘erroneous assumptions’ (p.410).
report, slightly vaguely perhaps, that reading
research is ‘useful’ or ‘improves teaching’ (e.g.,
Nassaji, 2012), few accounts document occasions
when practitioners have actually integrated research
findings in their teaching (Sato and Loewen, op. cit.;
Shkedi, 1998).

However, reading research can provide teachers

with emotional support and confidence if and
when it supports what they already do in practice
(Sato and Loewen, 2019). Hall and Cook’s (2013)
investigation, for example, found widespread use
of students’ L1 use in ELT classrooms and, in also
documenting a clear rationale for it, was reported
(in subsequent feedback to the authors) to have
reassured many teachers that their own L1-use in
class was not straightforwardly ‘wrong’ and that they
were not ‘alone’ in its considered use in support of
L2 interaction and learning.

The relationship between research and practice in ELT: key issues and current debates 8
2.5 Barriers to reading research To summarise, therefore, on the one hand, many
teachers do not have access to or time to read
Teachers cite a range of issues when reporting what
published research, whilst on the other, they
either prevents them from reading research and/or
may not wish nor need to read such material
why they choose not to attempt to read research at
(Borg 2010). Thus, unless teachers find good reason
all. In practical terms, teachers suffer from a lack of
and value in engaging with research publications,
time to find and read publications, often associated
it is extremely unlikely that the level of engagement
with a lack of wider institutional support (e.g.,
outlined above will change significantly. How might
time and finance) for engagement with research
this such change be facilitated?
publications (e.g., Borg, 2009; Nassaji, 2012; Sato
and Loewen, 2019). Some teachers have also
2.6 Enhancing teacher engagement
suggested that their colleagues’ lack of interest in
research, perhaps stemming from the wider culture with published research
of the institution they work in, is also discouraging. A number of potential interventions have been
Most research publications also lie behind costly suggested which might enhance English language
paywalls which present a very significant barrier to teachers’ engagement with published research (e.g.,
teacher engagement (ibid.). Nassaji, 2012; Sato and Loewen, 2019). Institutions are
encouraged to provide time within job descriptions,
Additionally, the language and terminology
incentives for promotion, and financial support
of research papers is often challenging, whilst
for access to publications and for membership of
teachers are generally not trained to understand
professional organisations which circulate research
research design and ways of analysing data –
newsletters and summaries such as IATEFL – the
particularly statistics (Borg, 1998). Consequently,
International Association of Teachers of English as
for the teachers in Nassaji’s (2012) study, other
a Foreign Language (Kerr (2021), however, notably
sources of pedagogical information and insight
and not unreasonably perhaps, observes that such
(e.g., conversations with colleagues, online
suggestions are more often than not ‘pie in the
blogs) are more readily sought out. Beyond this,
sky’). The issue of finance is also central to calls for
teachers might perceive research and researched
publishers, and where possible researching authors,
knowledge to be irrelevant to their ‘real world’
to allow free/open access to more publications which
concerns and the ‘messiness’ of complex classroom
are often located behind paywalls.
contexts – research knowledge is seen as being
different from the practical knowledge that they Other suggestions focus more on developing
wish to make use of (see Section 2.2, above). They teachers’ understanding of the research and
may be sceptical about educational research, research publications they may encounter.
perceiving it either to be ‘too scientific’ and unable ‘Mediating texts’ aim to fulfil such a function,
to deal with the complexities of classroom life, summarising research findings in accessible forms
or not scientific enough, inferior to research into for practitioners (Thornbury, 2019). So, too, do many
the physical sciences, and thus lacking in validity ELT courses and events – engaging with research
(Sato and Loewen, 2022). Shkedi (1998) also notes findings is a central element of most teacher training
some teachers’ doubts about the motivations or and education programmes (Ellis, 2010), whilst
‘authenticity’ of research, whilst Medgyes (2017) in-service professional development workshops
argues that different research publications often might focus on the implications of specific research
present teachers with unhelpful contradictory papers. Such events are likely to involve familiarizing
conclusions, further undermining practitioners’ belief teachers with the discourse of research publications,
in the value of reading research. These perspectives in order that, for example, potentially complex
suggest that many ELT professionals see research as terminology and/or dense data reports are made
being in a ‘different world’ to their own, drawing on less off-putting and more accessible, and the idea of
a different discourse about what kind of knowledge supporting teachers more generally in their efforts
is valuable and how such knowledge should be to understand discourse of academic research
conveyed (Bartels, 2003; also Gee, 1990), with and publication has been regularly suggested. Yet
researchers belonging to a different community this approach has been criticised as, ultimately,
of practice to teachers (Wenger, 1998). This it requires teachers, rather than researchers,
presents significant attitudinal barriers to teachers’ to change their ways of reading, thinking and
engagement with research publications. understanding; continues to position teachers as
the consumers and researchers as the producers
of knowledge; and maintains the dominance of
academic discourses over teacher discourses.

The relationship between research and practice in ELT: key issues and current debates 9
It also does little to address the central charge that 2.7 Justification for this study
the vast majority of research publications simply do
Despite the evident focus on the research-practice
not address issues that practitioners are concerned
relationship in ELT, and, in particular, on teachers’
about in ways which they understand (Bartels, 2003);
engagement with research publications, the vast
consequently, teachers have little reason to read them.
majority of the discussion is by those engaged
A more significant way of encouraging teachers in research and/or who work in universities or
to read published research is to fundamentally in teacher education. Thus, significant gaps
revise the relationship between practitioners and remain in our knowledge and understanding
researchers. Teachers and researchers might work of practising teachers’ own perspectives on
together to set an agenda for research and establish research publications, the extent to which they are
topics of mutual concern (Nassaji, 2012). Teachers relevant to their professional lives, their access
could also contribute to the design of ‘ecologically to publications and/or obstacles to reading them,
valid’ studies (Loewen and Plonsky, 2016), in which and, fundamentally, what they want and need from
the researchers fit their research to the classroom published research (if, indeed, they want anything
rather than adapting the classroom to fit the at all). A global survey of teachers’ perceptions and
research (Sato and Loewen, 2019). Consequently, priorities provides a wide-ranging empirical base
research and research findings are likely to be for further discussion and for the development of a
authentic to their context. Requiring a collaborative genuinely collaborative research agenda for ELT.
mindset, such ways forward would establish
new communities or professional networks of
teachers and researchers, recognizing each others’
complementary skill-sets and knowledge, working
together to develop and subsequently disseminate
new knowledge (Sato and Loewen, 2022). Here,
‘knowledge mobilization’ (Levin, 2013) would not be
a one-way process from researchers to practitioners,
but would recognize ‘the interactive and social
connection … between research and practice’
(p.2). This perspective thus moves the relationship
between teachers and published research beyond
ideas of teachers as ‘just’ (critical) consumers of
research (see Section 2.4, above); instead, teachers
are integral in the production of researched
knowledge and publications. Clearly, however, truly
levelling current hierarchies would require significant
changes in thinking and working, Clarke (1994)
concluding that ‘however reasonable it may appear
to be, I do not see this happening’ (p.18).

Overall, the various suggestions to facilitate or

support teachers’ engagement with published
research are a blend of the practical and the
idealistic, and those with significant resource
implications for specific ELT stakeholders and
those which might be more easily achievable.
However, it is notable that although some draw on
teachers’ voices in localized studies, many have
been suggested by researchers who see it as
their responsibility ‘to pave a path for productive
research-practice dialogue’ (Sato and Loewen, 2022:
1). It is also notable that accounts of such changes
actually occurring and resulting in significantly more
teacher engagement with published research are
hard to come by!

The relationship between research and practice in ELT: key issues and current debates 10
3
Research methodology
3.1 Aims and research questions 3.2 Research design
The project aimed to explore the reported practices The project adopted a mixed-method research design
and attitudes towards published research of English (Cresswell and Plano Clark, 2018; Dörnyei, 2007),
language teachers working in a range of contexts combining quantitative and qualitative approaches
around the world, and who generally reported to provide a broad, yet in-depth picture of teachers’
reading or being interested in research and reported engagement with and attitudes towards
research-oriented publications. It sought to uncover published research. An online survey first collected
the extent to which these teachers access and read quantitative data about teachers’ practices and
research and research-oriented publications; the priorities from a global sample of ELT practitioners,
types of publications they read; the reasons for and and, subsequently, qualitative data was collected via
obstacles to reading research; and the teachers’ own a series of semi-structured interviews with teachers
priorities in terms of the particular issues, questions who, on completing the initial questionnaire, had
and concerns that they are/would be interested in volunteered to contribute further to the study; the
reading about in research and research-oriented interviews were also conducted online.
publications. Consequently, the study addressed the
following research questions: This mixed-method approach drew on the strengths
of each research instrument (e.g., questionnaires
1 To what extent do the English language can be administered efficiently and economically
teachers1 report that they read: a) research to large and diverse populations; interviews allow
in its original published form, and b) other for more open-ended and in-depth explorations of
research-oriented professional literature? issues), whilst also mitigating their limitations when
2 What reasons do they give for this level of these are conducted in isolation (e.g., potentially
engagement? superficial answers from unmotivated survey
respondents; the time required and sample size
a Why do they say they read research? limitations of semi-structured interviews). It thus
b What do they report as discouraging or facilitated verification of the project’s findings from
preventing them from reading research? differing data sources, enabling deeper insights to
be gained, through the interview data, into the broad
3 What topics and issues do the teachers
trends revealed by the questionnaire.
themselves prioritize as potential focuses for
research and research publications in ELT?
4 How might research publications and findings be
made more relevant and accessible to English
language teachers?

1
For presentational reasons, the Research Questions at this point of the report refer simply ‘English language teachers’, rather than
‘teachers who were interested in reading research or who reported that research could be of relevance to their day-to-day professional
lives’ (as outlined in the title, abstract and introduction to this report). More about the participants and their particular profile within the
field, with implications for the subsequent analysis and possible conclusions, follows in Section 3.2.

Research methodology 12
3.2.1 The questionnaire • Part 3 aimed to uncover the reasons why
The online survey designed for the first stage of teachers might engage with published
the project drew on key themes and debates within research. Participants completed five multi-part
the literature (see Section 2), framing them in a way Likert-scale questions which asked them to
which linked those more theoretical discussions evaluate the importance of research in keeping
with the practical experiences and attitudes of up with developments or innovations in ELT,
participating teachers2. Piloted with 20 teachers and in influencing their classroom practice. It
working in 14 different countries around the world also asked them to evaluate other sources of
and in differing contexts (e.g., private and state information and guidance such as conversations
institutions; primary, secondary and tertiary sectors), with colleagues, attending conferences, and
the questionnaire was subsequently revised in guidance from ministries of education, enabling
accordance with meta-feedback from the pilot the project’s subsequent analysis to compare
sample regarding occasional question wordings the perceived value of differing sources of
and minor formatting issues. In the pilot study, the professional and research-oriented information
average time for questionnaire completion was for teachers.
approximately 20 minutes. • Part 4 explored participants’ institutional
cultures and possible barriers to engagement
Thus, the final version of the survey comprised
with published research through four multi-part
16 multi-part questions, including a range of
questions. Respondents reported the extent to
closed- and a number of open-ended items.
which they agreed or disagreed with a total of 21
Closed questions took the form of Likert-scale
statements such as: ‘(In my institution) Teachers
items; open-ended items gave participants the
have access to research journals, newsletters
opportunity to add written qualitative comments to
and books’, ‘Time for reading and engaging
the quantitative survey data, for example, to develop
in research is built into teachers workloads’,
their views or provide further examples of their
and ‘Teachers talk about the research they
engagement (or otherwise) with published research.
have read’; ‘Published research is difficult
The questionnaire explored four key aspects of
to understand’, ‘Published research is not
participating teachers’ engagement with and
relevant to my classroom context’, and ‘I am not
perceptions of published research, as follows:
interested in published research’.
• Part 1 aimed to establish participating teachers’
The questionnaire concluded with two open
understandings of research. Through a five-
questions, the first asking participants to note key
point Likert scale question, it asked participants
topics and issues which they thought ELT research
to evaluate the importance, as they saw it, of
should prioritize, and the second inviting any further
19 Characteristics of good quality research,
perspectives on the relationship between published
evaluating statements such as ‘The research
research and practice in ELT via an ‘Additional
leads to new theories’; ‘Results are made public’;
comments’ question. The survey also included
‘The research is systematic’; ‘A large volume
11 shorter questions establishing participants’
of data is collected’; and ‘The research aims to
professional biographies and contexts (e.g., teaching
address teachers’ concerns’.
experience, ELT-related qualifications, institutional
• Part 2 asked respondents to document the context), and two questions asking respondents
frequency with which they read research, whether they would be willing to participate in the
and the kinds of publications they read subsequent semi-structured interview phase of the
(e.g., academic journal articles, professional study and whether they wished to receive a copy of
newsletters and magazines, research-oriented the project’s final report (i.e., this paper).
blogs and websites, and research-oriented
teacher development texts).

2
It is important to acknowledge the influence (with his permission) of Simon Borg’s (2009) survey exploring English language teachers’
conceptions of research on the design of Part 1 of my questionnaire.

Research methodology 13
Given the aims of the study, the only criteria for Most participating teachers worked in state schools/
participation in the survey was that respondents institutions (56.7 per cent of the sample) and, whilst
were practising English language teachers, data some taught primary-aged learners (6.9 per cent),
being collected by non-probability opportunity the vast majority worked with students aged 12–17,
sampling. Details of, and links to, the online 18–23, or 24+ years old (respectively, 24.9 per cent,
questionnaire were circulated with the assistance 42.4 per cent and 25.9 per cent of respondents).
of the British Council, a number of international, Participants’ experience of teaching English ranged
national and regional Teachers’ Associations, by from 0–4 years (5.7 per cent) to 24 years and above
several online teaching communities, and via my (34.3 per cent), and, whilst just 0.3 per cent of the
own professional contacts across a range of ELT sample reported holding no relevant qualifications
contexts. The survey was administered and remained for English language teaching, 13.3 per cent held a
open for a ten-week period from mid-February 2020. Bachelor’s level qualification, 52.3 per cent a Master’s
level degree, and 20.9 per cent a doctorate. Details of
Profile of the questionnaire respondents the participants are brought together in Table 1.
The questionnaire was completed by 696 English
language teachers working in wide variety of
teaching contexts around the world, although
participants teaching in Europe and Asia at the time
that the data was collected comprised the majority
of the sample (respectively, 44.2 per cent and 24.9
per cent of respondents).

Table 1: Summary of online survey participants

Continent/Global region Europe: 44.2%

North America: 4.8 %
South and Central America: 9.4%
Africa: 2.9%
Asia: 24.9%
Middle East: 9.6%
Oceania: 4.2%
Sector Private: 38.4%
State: 56.7%
Other: 4.9% (e.g., charity and non-profit, military)
Age of learners taught 0–5 years: 0.6%
6–11 years: 6.3%
12–17 years: 24.9%
18–23 years: 42.4%
24+ years: 25.9%
Highest relevant teaching Certificate: 6.3%
qualification Diploma: 6.9%
Bachelor’s/first degree: 13.3%
Master’s/second degree: 52.3%
Doctorate (PhD): 20.9%
No relevant qualification: 0.3%
Years of experience as an 0–4 years: 5.7%
English language teacher 5–9 years: 13.2%
10–14 years: 14.8%
15–19 years: 15.5%
20–24 years: 16.4%
25 or more years: 34.3%

Research methodology 14
Although the cohort of participants in the survey is face, their perceived lack of interest in the topic,
relatively large, it is important to note the profile of and, indeed, their access to the survey in its
this particular group of teachers, with its orientation online format. And yet, while limiting the claims
towards those working in the state sector, those that can be made on behalf of the data, it seems
teaching learners who are secondary-aged or older reasonable to suggest that the perspectives
(rather than primary-level teachers), and those who of this particular group of ‘research-interested’
are relatively experienced and/or tend to possess teachers are especially interesting to uncover.
postgraduate teaching qualifications. Given the vast What lessons can be drawn – for researchers, for
and diverse nature of global ELT, it is impossible to institutional managers, and for other teachers
establish how far this cohort is truly representative – about, for example, how engagement with
of teachers around the world. research publications might support professional
development; how some research appears irrelevant
That said, in comparison to the indifferent or to even the most engaged teachers (perhaps
negative attitudes towards research and research due to its focus or presentational style) while
publications that teachers more generally are said other research does not; which research-oriented
to hold (see Section 2), those who participated publications teachers actually read; the barriers
in this project tended to be relatively positive teachers experience accessing research and
about reading research and about the potential possible ways of addressing these; and the issues
relevance of research to their own day-to-day that teachers would like to see research focus
professional lives; Table 2, for example, shows the upon? Thus, the participants in this study provide
majority of participants disagreed with statements a particularly informative set of insights into the
which questioned the relevance of research to relationship between research and practice, and
practice. The emergence of this particular cohort between researchers and practitioners.
as participants in the research is understandable,
given the time and work pressures most teachers

Table 2: Evidence for participating teachers’ general interest in published research

Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Strongly

disagree dis/agree agree

(%) (%) (%) (%) (%)

I am not interested in published research. 49.1 33.0 10.8 4.8 2.3
Reading research is not necessary as my own
45.0 38.2 10.4 5.1 1.3
teaching experience is sufficient.
Published research is not relevant to my classroom
35.2 40.9 15.9 5.7 2.2
context.
Published research does not see teaching and
25.1 42.2 26.1 4.5 2.1
learning the way I do.
Published research is not relevant to my everyday
27.7 45.8 16.4 7.6 2.5
classroom practice.
There is no opportunity to implement findings
from published research in my school/institutional 22.8 42.9 18.8 11.5 4.1
context.
Published research does not provide me with
24.2 36.2 22.7 11.7 5.1
practical advice for teaching.

Note: most frequent answer highlighted

Research methodology 15
3.2.2 The interviews Although the interviews aimed to uncover
participating teachers’ own perspectives on and
As noted, semi-structured interviews were
reported practices concerning their engagement
conducted to explore themes within the
with published research in ELT, we should
questionnaire data in more detail. The interviews
acknowledge the collaborative and co-constructed
aimed, firstly, to provide greater insight into the
nature of such encounters (including, for example,
thinking behind teachers’ answers to the questions
the interviewees’ lack of anonymity to me, as
in the survey, eliciting experiences of and attitudes
researcher, and their consequent navigation of
towards engaging with published research more
what they might have perceived to be the ‘agenda’
generally. They also aimed to explore in more
of the research) may have influenced the data
specific detail the participants’ conceptions
(Mann, 2011).
of ‘teacher-friendly’ research publications.
Consequently, like Rossiter et al. (2013), participating Profile of the interview participants
teachers were provided with three research/
research-oriented articles prior to the interviews, Of the 696 survey respondents, 384 volunteered
which acted as prompts and reference points during to be interviewed. Clearly, given that the
the discussion. To control for topic familiarity, all semi-structured interviews were planned to last
three articles focused on the same issue, the use of 35–45 minutes, it was unrealistic to speak to all
the learners’ L1 in the language classroom, which who volunteered. Thus, 15 teachers were invited
I also considered to be a ‘hot topic’ of potential for interview, from a variety of contexts and with a
relevance and interest to most teachers working range of professional experiences, with the aim of
in most contexts around the world. However, the providing a stratified purposeful sample (Cresswell
three articles varied in a number of ways, including and Plano Clark, 2018) which reflected key criteria in
their length, complexity of language used (including similar proportions to the wider survey population.
terminology), depth of literature review and number These criteria were:
of references, and data analysis (including use of • sector (i): primary, secondary, tertiary, and other
statistics). Thus, Schweers (1999) reported on a adult education/language classes
small-scale investigation into teacher behaviours
and attitudes in the Puerto Rican institution he was • sector (ii): state or private institution
teaching in; Copland and Neokleous (2011) drew on • geographical spread: by country/global region
transcribed classroom data and teacher interviews
to identify the reasons for L1 use in two schools • length of English language teaching experience
in Cyprus; and Moore’s (2013) study, undertaken (years)
over a seven-month period, examined Japanese
students’ use of their L1 as they prepared for oral The 15 teachers were thus drawn from the following
presentation tasks. Published in English Teaching contexts/sectors:
Forum, ELT Journal, and The Modern Language • State: Brazil (primary); Malta (secondary); Greece,
Journal respectively, all three articles were also Iran, Netherlands, Oman (tertiary); Canada, UK
freely available via online open-access at the time of (other adult)
the interviews.
• Private: China (primary); Argentina, Mexico,
The semi-structured interviews took place slightly (secondary); Chile, Taiwan (tertiary); Germany,
later than initially planned for the project due to South Korea (other adult)
challenges posed by the Covid pandemic, over a
Although the interview sample sought to represent
six-week period in November–December 2020.
the wider survey population as closely as
The project’s global reach meant that interviews
possible, countries and educational sectors are
were conducted online at distance, and at times
not homogeneous, and differences exist between
suggested by participants living and working in
institutions and within groups of teachers. The
different time-zones around the world. Use of the
interviews thus provide illustrative insights, rather
Blackboard Collaborate platform enabled both
than full representation, of the questionnaire
video- and audio-interaction, the sharing and,
data. It is also again worth noting the particular
on occasion, annotation of documents (i.e., the
composition of the cohort of participants in this
three sample article prompts), and the recording
study, and implications of this when answering the
of the interviews, which was undertaken with the
study’s Research Questions (see Section 4).
agreement of all participants. The interviews were
subsequently transcribed, and the data anonymised.

Research methodology 16
3.3 Data analysis
The closed questionnaire data were analysed using
SPSS Version 26, and descriptive statistics (e.g.,
mean averages, frequencies and distributions) were
calculated for all questions. Open responses to
survey items provided a substantial further data-set
of 43,300 words, which, together with the interview
transcripts, were analysed using Nvivo 11 software.
These qualitative data were thematically coded and
categorised to find commonalities and contrasts
between both the interview participants themselves,
and between the interview and the survey data. Such
analysis is, of course, an interpretive activity in which
the researcher plays an active role in developing
understandings of the data (Talmy, 2011).

3.4 Research ethics

Ethical approval for the project was received in
November 2019 from Northumbria University’s Ethics
Committee before the questionnaire was circulated
and the interviews undertaken. All participants gave
their informed consent for their participation. For
the questionnaire, information outlining the project’s
aims and processes, its voluntary and anonymous
nature, and the right of participants to withdraw
at any time, was included in the introductory text
preceding the survey questions. Consent was then
assumed on an opt-in basis for those teachers
who subsequently and voluntarily completed it.
Interview participants were also informed in advance
about the aims of the interviews, their anticipated
length, and the likely themes for discussion, with
also subsequent anonymity and confidentiality
noted. Again, participants could withdraw from this
stage of the project at any point. As noted above
(Section 3.2.1), in order to develop a more balanced
and reciprocal relationship between the researcher
and participants, all respondents who expressed an
interest will receive an e-copy of this final report.

Research methodology 17
4
Results
This section presents a summary of results in 4.1 The teachers’ understandings
relation to the research questions outlined in
of Research
Section 3. Findings drawn from the quantitative
questionnaire data will be supported by qualitative Part 1 of the survey sought to uncover participating
responses to the open-ended survey questions and teachers’ own understandings of research,
by qualitative interview data. Before addressing the asking them to rate the importance of a range of
research questions, however, we shall look briefly characteristics commonly associated with ‘good
at what participating teachers understand research quality research’. Table 3 lists their responses ordered
to be, in order to establish common ground for the according to the percentage of teachers who
subsequent discussion. reported that a characteristic was ‘more important’.

Table 3: Participating teachers’ perspectives on the characteristics of research

Very Moderately Slightly Unsure

important/ important important/
Characteristics of ‘good research’ Important Not at all
important
(%) (%) (%) (%)
The researcher is objective 85.5 8.7 3.4 2.5*
Results give teachers ideas for their classrooms 82.5 8.8 6.9 1.8
Results are made public 81.2 9.2 6.4 3.1
The research is systematic 79.2 10.0 9.0 1.9
Practical teaching problems are studied 75.8 13.6 7.6 2.9
The research aims to address teachers’ concerns 73.4 13.9 10.2 2.5
Information is collected in classrooms 63.3 19.0 13.7 3.8
Hypotheses are tested 62.7 20.6 13.6 3.2
Results apply to many English language teaching contexts 59.6 19.3 17.9 3.2
The research explains what already happens 56.3 25.5 15.2 2.9
A large number of people are studied 55.3 23.9 19.4 2.3
Information is analysed using statistics 47.9 25.0 22.0 5.1
A large volume of data is collected 45.6 26.9 23.7 3.8
The research leads to new theories 45.5 28.1 23.6 2.8
Experiments are used 45.2 24.8 24.1 5.9

For presentational purposes, the table merges the two Likert responses ‘Very important’ and ‘Important’, and, similarly,
‘Slightly important’ and ‘Not at all important’.

*Note: responses for each characteristic do not always total 100% due to rounding up/down

Results 19
As Table 3 shows, ‘The researcher is objective’ was
the most highly rated characteristic of research, Published research should deal
with ‘Results are made public’ and ‘The research with solutions to the immediate
is systematic’ also scoring highly. To some extent, needs of the community in the first
therefore, participating teachers tended to conceive place and the needs of teachers,
of research in ways which align with scientific and/ learners and educational centres.
or ‘traditional’ models of research. It is notable, (Germany; interview)
however, that ‘Results give teachers ideas for
their classrooms’ was the second most highly
ranked characteristic, whilst ‘Practical teaching
problems are studied’ and ‘The research aims to Research is a tool for teachers to use.
address teachers’ concerns’ were also rated highly, (no context provided; survey)
as, respectively, the 5th and 6th most important
characteristics of research according to the
participants. Teachers’ pragmatic concerns when
I get to make my own judgement call –
conceiving of research were thus ranked above
I’m an adult and I can figure out what
ideas such as ‘Hypotheses are tested’, ‘Results may
this could be leaning toward … I’m
apply to many ELT contexts’, ‘A large volume of data
going to bring these new ideas in my
is collected’, and ‘Research leads to new theories’.
classroom and I’m going to watch my
The findings indicate, therefore, that these teachers students and see ‘oh, does this bear out,
tended to understand research as something which you know, accord with what I observed?’
can develop their pragmatic, pedagogic knowledge (Canada; interview)
if it is undertaken objectively and systematically
(confirming the suggestions outlined in Section 2.2,
above). Whilst they recognized the development
I think [the relevance of research to
of propositional knowledge through, for example,
teachers] depends on why the teacher
theory-building and the presentation of widely
wants to read the paper and who the
applicable findings, these were regarded as less
paper is aimed at… . (South Korea;
important characteristics of research. Similar
interview)
conceptualizations were also articulated within the
qualitative responses to the open-ended survey
questions and during interviews, which, whilst As these perspectives suggest, the ways in which
demonstrating a clear orientation towards pragmatic this group of teachers characterize research is
concerns, also noted the role teachers themselves closely linked to the ways in which they read and
might sometimes take in navigating research engage with research publications, and it is to
findings and publications in order to make sense of this key focus of the project and its four Research
it for their own teaching in their specific contexts. Questions that the discussion now turns.
For example:

I want something that is easy to

understand or relates to my experience,
and is not about discussing the
different points of view of researchers.
(Iran; survey)

[Research should…] respond to real-life

teaching problems, rather than ivory
tower issues, study real classrooms,
learners, and teachers, … [avoid] poor
quality, biased, ideologically-motivated
“research”. (Canada; survey)

Results 20
4.2 RQ1: To what extent do the teachers report that they read research –
in both its original published form and through other research-oriented
professional literature?

As Figure 1 shows, of the 696 teachers who Yet what previous studies (e.g., Borg, 2009; Marsden
completed the questionnaire, 47.3 per cent reported and Kasprowicz, 2017) also found is that whilst
reading research about language teaching and many teachers may tend not to read research in
learning ‘often’, with 35.5 per cent indicating that its original form, some often engage with research
they ‘sometimes’ read research; 14.8 per cent through other types of publication (e.g., newsletters
reported ‘rarely’ reading research, while just 2.1% of and magazines), online summaries, and so forth.
the surveyed teachers reportedly ‘never’ accessed Thus, teachers in this study who reported reading
research-oriented literature about ELT. research ‘often’, ‘sometimes’, or ‘rarely’ (totalling
97.9 per cent of all participants) also identified the
It is important to note again (see also Section 3.2.1), types of publication they read. Table 4 lists their
therefore, that the teachers participating in this responses to the question ‘have you ever read about
study represent a particular cross-section of the research in…?’, and shows that just over 78 per cent
wider ELT profession – that is, those connected to of respondents reported reading about research in,
or active within Teachers’ Associations and/or other respectively, professional newsletters or magazines
teaching communities which were made aware (78.9 per cent) and on the internet (78.3 per cent).
of the research, those able to access the survey Academic journals were reportedly accessed by
online, and, importantly, those who had enough slightly fewer participants (by 70.6 per cent of the
interest in the topic to spend time to complete cohort), which, in turn, was a higher percentage
the questionnaire; as we have seen (Section 2.3), than those who reported reading about research in
there are regular claims within the field that most teacher development/education books (69.4 per
teachers are not interested in reading research. cent). British Council ELT Research Reports were
As we continue to survey the data in this study, reportedly less accessed, perhaps due to their being
therefore, we should note that participants are most a very specific publication type and fewer in number
appropriately characterized as ‘teachers who read than the very broad categories of ‘newsletters’,
research’ (see also Sections 1, Introduction, and 3, ‘magazines’, and ‘journals’.
Research Methodology).

Figure 1: Reported frequency with which participating teachers read research

How often do you read research about

language teaching and learning?

50
47.3

40
35.8

30
Per cent

20
14.8

10

2.1
0
Often Sometimes Rarely Never

Results 21
 Table 4: Types of publication in which participating teachers report reading research or about research

Have you ever read about research in… Yes (%) No (%)
… a professional newsletter or magazine? (e.g., IATEFL SIG newsletters, Teacher 78.9 21.1
Association newsletters, IATEFL Voices, English Teaching Professional)
… on the internet? (e.g., on a blog or teacher development/education website, in which 78.3 21.7
the author summarises and/or interprets others’ research (but does not necessarily
report their own research findings)?
… an academic journal? (e.g., ELT Journal, Language Teaching Research, System, 70.6 29.4
TESOL Quarterly)3
… a teacher development or teacher education book (in which the author summarises 69.4 30.6
and/or interprets others’ research, but does not necessarily report their own research
findings)?
… a British Council ELT Research Report? 50.8 49.2

For each type of publication that the respondents reportedly read with relatively similar frequencies
had reported reading, the survey then asked how by those participants who accessed them – few
frequently they did so (‘How many articles about respondents, for example, read fewer than or only
research do you read each year in: professional one newsletter, online item, or academic journal
magazines or newsletters/ academic journals / on article per year, most reportedly reading between
the internet …?’). As Figure 2 shows, the survey found 2–10 items, with fewer again reading 11–20 or more
that the differing types of research publications were than 20 articles per year.

Figure 2: Number of articles per year that participating teachers report reading, by type of research publication

550 Number of
articles/items
500 per year

450 21+

400 11–20

350 5–10
Teacher responses (n)

300 2–5

1
250
 Fewer than 1
200
per year

150

100

50

0
Professional
magazines
and newsletters

Online reports

Academic journals

Teacher
development/
education books

British Council
ELT Reports

3
While the difference between professional newsletters/magazines and academic journals is generally clear, there are occasional
differences of perspective regarding some publications. With its aim ‘to link the everyday concerns of practitioners with insights gained
from relevant academic disciplines’, ELT Journal is at times subject to such discussions. However, noting its publication of research articles
and its Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) listing, this project sees ELTJ as an academic journal, albeit one which occupies a particular
place within the field. And, more broadly, SSCI-listing is taken as the boundary between professional newsletters/magazines and academic
journals throughout this research. Although the status of TESOL Quarterly as an academic journal is less debated (in part, perhaps, due to
articles’ length and methodological detail), it too aims to publish ‘articles on topics of significance to individuals concerned with English
language teaching and learning and standard English as a second dialect … both theoretical and practical’.
(Sources: https://academic.oup.com/eltj/ and https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15457249 )

Results 22
That said and as Figure 2 shows, there was of course Respondents who indicated that they read about
some variation in the responses. For example, while research in either professional newsletters and
28.8 per cent of the 520 teachers who reported magazines and/or in academic journals (n=594 of
reading about research in professional magazines the survey’s total of 696 participants) were asked
and newsletters did so 2–5 times per year (the most to name up to three publications they read most
frequent response from readers of all publication regularly. Academic journals constituted 56.1 per
types), 35.9 per cent of respondents who read cent, and professional newsletters and magazines
research reports online (n=507) also reported 43.9 per cent, of the 1168 titles participants named.
doing so 2–5 times per year. Yet perhaps the most However, as Table 5 shows, the two publications
notable variation in the data is the number of participants reported most regularly reading were
readers of academic journals who report accessing ELT Journal and TESOL Quarterly, academic journals
over 20 articles per year (25 percent of the which specifically aim to address the concerns of
519 respondents) – an evident difference to the practitioners (see Footnote 2, above, for further
readership trends when compared to other types details). These two journals accounted for 30.6 per
of publication (e.g., only 14.6 per cent of those who cent of the total number of publications ‘read most
read about research in professional newsletters regularly’ by participating teachers. Thus, although
and magazines accessed over 20 articles per year). we can see that teachers did report reading
Possible reasons for this include the particular academic journal articles regularly, these were from
profile of the teachers participating in this study, these two particular, practice/practitioner-oriented
the different reasons participants might have journals.
for reading the various types of publication, the
nature and focus of the articles published, and so
forth; we shall unpack these issues further as the
discussion continues.

Table 5: Ten most frequently reported publications read by participating teachers

Number of % of all
Publication Type of publication
mentions mentions
ELT Journal Academic journal 194 16.6
TESOL Quarterly Academic journal 164 14.0
National Teacher Association newsletters and Professional magazines and newsletters
109 9.3
magazines *
IATEFL Voices Professional magazines and newsletters 93 8.0
English Teaching Professional Professional magazines and newsletters 65 5.6
IATEFL SIG newsletters ** Professional magazines and newsletters 61 5.2
British Council ‘Teaching English’ newsletter Professional magazines and newsletters 38 3.3
System Academic journal 38 3.3
Language Teaching Research Academic journal 30 2.6
Applied Linguistics Academic journal 25 2.1

*Note: the analysis has brought together the wide range of publications named by participants within each of these starred categories.
Thus, National Teacher Association newsletters and magazines includes all publications by TAs in, for example, Argentina, India, Italy,
Japan Mexico, Peru, Spain, and South Korea. IATEFL SIG newsletters includes all named publications by, for example, IATEFL’s Business
English, Pronunciation, Research, and Teacher Development SIGs.

Results 23
Table 5 also shows that, beyond ELT Journal and The perspectives of this survey sample, therefore,
TESOL Quarterly, teachers tended to refer most add to the key themes and trends identified in
regularly to a wide range of international and the literature. Although the extent to which these
national professional magazines and newsletters. participants report reading research is, depending
Furthermore, as we have seen (Table 4 and Figure on one’s point of reference, slightly or somewhat
2, above), teachers drew on a range of alternative higher than some previous studies of teachers’
sources to find out about research. For example, engagement, it is clear that research is accessed
when identifying specific online sites used regularly from a variety of types of publications and related
to read about research, the British Council’s sources, most notably, from those specifically written
‘TeachingEnglish’4 website was by some way the with practitioner interests in mind. But what factors
most frequently mentioned source (23 per cent shape and/or limit the extent and ways in which
of 365 participant references to online sites; teachers engage with published research? It is to
see Figure 3). Meanwhile, 38.8 per cent of survey these questions that we now turn.
respondents identified at least one mediating
publication or book series as a regular source
through which to read about research.

Figure 3: Most frequently reported online sources/sites for reading about research

% of all mentions
23
British Council Teaching English website
84 Number of mentions

Search as appropriate via Google and 12.6

Google Scholar (and other) platforms 46

3.2
Search as appropriate via Academia.edu
12

2.7
Follow links posted on Twitter
10

58.4
Other (miscellaneous) online sources
213

0 50 100 150 200

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/
4

Results 24
4.3 RQ2: What reasons do the teachers give for this level of engagement with
research publications – why do they say they read research, and what do they
report as discouraging or preventing them from doing so?

4.3.1 Reasons the teachers give for

language teachers in general (not just
reading research
English) have a duty … Keeping up-to-
Drawing on a range of ideas previously suggested date by reading about current research
within the relevant literature (see Section 2.4) and by practices and findings, and by attending
participants in the pilot study, the survey explored conferences and arranging research-
why teachers might engage with research-oriented based meetings internally, are essential.
publications, asking participants to evaluate a range (South Korea; survey)
of possible reasons for reading research. As Figure 4
shows, a significant majority (85 per cent) of the
survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed
with the broad statement that teachers ‘should’ Research should be seen as something
read research, some further qualitative responses very much a normal part of a teacher’s
suggesting a notion of ‘duty’ or ‘obligation’, work. (Brazil; survey)5
for example:

Figure 4: Reported reasons for reading research

Teachers should read research about

language teaching and learning

Reading research is enjoyable

Reading research is good for

teachers’ professional development

Reading research will help me

get a promotion

I read research because it is part

of a course I am studying on

My school/institution expects
me to read research

Reading research makes me

a more effective teacher

Reading research gives me

confidence in what I do

Reading research helps me make

decisions about teaching

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Per cent

Strongly agree Agree Neither agree/disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Not applicable

5
It is notable, however, that the Brazilian teacher cited above also commented that ‘time and space within a curriculum should be made so
that this can be achieved’, a point we shall return to when examining the constraints on teachers’ engagement with published research.

Results 25
Unpacking more specific reasons that might Thus, the teachers’ responses do not demonstrate
underpin this general perspective, while a an unquestioning desire to access and engage with
small majority reported that reading research all research into language teaching and learning.
was ‘enjoyable’ (58.1 per cent), 81 per cent of Taken alongside the types of publications teachers
respondents strongly agreed/agreed that reading reported reading (see Section 4.2, above), the data
research was good for teachers’ professional suggests teachers seek out research which seems
development. The survey data thus suggests that to them to be practically orientated and/or aligns
most teachers participating in this project read in some way with their classroom context and
research in order to support or develop their concerns, albeit not necessarily directly.
teaching, respondents reporting that reading
research made them ‘a more effective teacher’ These positive perceptions of the links between
(80.1 per cent); gave them confidence in what they reading research and more effective classroom
do (77.9 per cent); and helped them make decisions practice contrast sharply with participating teachers’
about teaching (81.8 per cent). Further qualitative perspectives on more institutional concerns which
survey and interview comments emphasised this are sometimes put forward as reasons for teachers’
focus on teaching, and on supporting or validating engagement with research publications; only 19.7
practice: per cent felt that reading research would help
them gain a promotion, and less than a third of
respondents (32.6 per cent) reported that their
school/institution expected them to read research.
Research papers range from very
This suggests that the extent to which schools
theoretical towards very practical,
support teachers’ (i.e., those teachers who are
I think teachers are more interested
interested) engagement with research publications
in the practical side of the continuum.
is potentially problematic, a point noted above
(Iran; survey)
(Section 2.6) and to which we shall return shortly.

4.3.2 Comparing research publications

I read to validate a direction I might be and other sources of information in the
leaning in… if I find a paper to support
that direction, [it] gives me more
teachers’ professional lives
momentum and then I might actually Although the vast majority of teachers who
go out and start looking for even more completed the survey saw reading research as
research to back me up. (Canada; important for their professional development (see
interview) above, 4.3.1), engaging with published research
is, of course, just one element of a wider range of
developmental activities that teachers may engage
in (see Section 2’s introductory discussion). Others
[if you are] … short of confidence, then include attending conferences or professional
you read papers and it seems that you development/training events, speaking to colleagues
are not isolated from the ELT world. and/or students, and so forth, and to treat ‘reading
(Iran; interview) research’ as an isolated activity is to lose sight of
this broader picture. The survey thus sought to
establish the place of reading research relative
to other sources of information teachers might
Research helps give teachers ideas
access in order to learn about developments and
and saves some wheel-reinventing, but
innovations within the field (more generally), and to
even the best (i.e. best conducted and
address classroom challenges and difficulties (more
reported) research will not necessarily
specifically).
be replicable in your teaching context.
(Netherlands; survey)

Results 26
Figure 5 thus shows the value participants placed institutions and ministries of education were not
on differing sources of information which helped seen as particularly important by most participants.
them learn about innovations in ELT. Overall, while Beyond those activities specifically referenced in
72.9 per cent of the teachers regarded reading the survey (and illustrated in Figure 5), a number of
research as either a ‘very important’ or ‘important’ other ways of keeping up-to-date were suggested
way of keeping up with developments in the field, by respondents, including observing other teachers,
attending professional development/training participating in a professional mentoring scheme,
events and attending conferences were regarded and, in particular, teachers engaging in research
as more significant (respectively, 80.6 and 76.1 projects of their own – which is increasingly focused
per cent of participants reporting these to be ‘very upon in the field of ELT, but which lies beyond the
important’ or ‘important’). Meanwhile, conversations focus of this project (see Section 1, Introduction).
with students, conversations with colleagues,
and reading professional magazines/newsletters/ The survey data also indicates that participating
papers were all seen as being similarly important teachers saw a role for published research
to reading research (72.4, 71.8 and 71.8 per cent when reflecting on or addressing challenges or
of respondents reporting that these activities were difficulties within their classrooms. Although the
very important/important sources of information). most frequently sought source of help, support and
It was perhaps surprising that ‘only’ 61.7 per cent ideas came from teachers’ own students (65.6 per
of survey participants considered online sources of cent reporting they ‘always’ or ‘often’ spoke to their
information such as websites, blogs and social media students when challenges arose), 63.2 per cent of
to be very important or important (particularly, teachers said they always or often read relevant
perhaps, given that details of the survey were research (see Figure 6 for a detailed breakdown
circulated largely via online communities who might of the data for these and other sources of support
be expected to be particularly engaged with web- which teachers might access).
based sites, see Section 3); participants’ schools/

Figure 5: Reported importance of differing sources of information in keeping up with developments and innovations in ELT

Attending professional
development/training events

Attending conferences

Reading research

Conversations with students

Conversations with colleagues

Reading professional magazines,

newsletters and newspapers

Online websites, blogs,

and social media

My school/institution

The Ministry of Education

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Per cent

Very important Important Moderately important Slightly important Not at all important

Results 27
Figure 6: Reported importance of differing sources of information for addressing classroom challenges or difficulties

I speak to my students

I read relevant research

I undertake my own research

(e.g., through action research or
exploratory practice)

I ask my colleagues for their advice

I ask my Director of Studies, Head of

Department, or Head Teacher

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Per cent

Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never

For participants in this study, therefore, engaging 4.3.3 What prevents the teachers from
with published research is seen both as a way of
reading research?
keeping in touch with general developments across
the field of ELT and, to a slightly lesser extent, as A range of possible barriers to reading research
a possible source of ideas and information to help were explored. These ranged from concerns around
them address practical classroom challenges. the accessibility of research both in terms of the
However, whilst reading research is regarded as way research is presented in writing (e.g., the use of
valuable by respondents (who, as noted, constitute terminology or the sometimes challenging nature
a specific group of ELT teachers who are particularly of academic discourse) and concerns about, for
interested in the role published research might example, physical availability and cost, to the extent
play in their professional lives), it is notably only to which institutional/school policies, practices and
one element of the wider range of possible cultures supported or encouraged participating
developmental activities they engage in. One or two teachers to engage with research publications.
other sources of information are regarded as slightly The survey therefore asked participating teachers
more important or are accessed slightly more often. to indicate the extent to which a range of specific
Particularly interesting, perhaps, is the importance issues prevented them from reading research, or
ascribed to professional development events and from reading more research than they did at the
conferences in keeping track of developments and time of completing the questionnaire.
innovations within ELT, as it is at such events that
both research findings and implications for practice
are often summarised through presentations
and workshops. This raises interesting questions
about the ways in which research and ideas for
practice drawn from research might be most
effectively disseminated and made accessible to
ELT practitioners, issues to which we shall return in
Section 4.5, and made more pressing by the barriers
to reading research that teachers often face. It is to
these difficulties that we now turn.

Results 28
 A number of initial insights emerge from the survey The overview provided by these quantitative
data. For example, as Figure 7 shows (column 1), responses seems to suggest, therefore, that
the majority of respondents identified a lack of participating teachers saw the main barriers to
time as a preventing them from reading research; reading research as broadly ‘institutional’; in other
66.0 per cent of the sample agreed with this words, issues such as lack of time and concerns
perspective, many very strongly, and just 20.0 per about high access costs, which reflect teachers’
cent disagreed. Similarly, the cost of accessing working conditions and pay, seemed to be more
published research (column 3) was also seen as significant than the presentation of the research
a barrier by many participants, albeit to a lesser per se. Indeed, time and expense also emerged
extent with 49.2 per cent agreeing that it prevented as key themes within the participants’ qualitative
them from reading research, whilst 36.7 per cent survey and interview responses, for example:
disagreed. Interestingly, fewer of this group of
teachers identified issues surrounding the way
in which research is presented in writing as a Teachers of English are often on poorly
particular problem, at least in this survey data (see paid, or short, contracts. (Spain; survey)
below for more discussion, however). For example,
just 26.5 per cent and 26.4 per cent respectively
of participants reported that difficulties in
understanding published research (column 2) and Theoretical research can be interesting
the terminology used (column 4) prevented them but finding time to sit, read and
from reading research publications. digest a research paper is difficult.
(Malta; survey)

Appreciation from the institute …

[and] … workload are the barriers.
(India; survey)

Figure 7: Reported barriers to reading (more) research

100  Prevents me:

very much
90
 Prevents me:
80 significantly

70  Prevents me:
somewhat
60
 Prevents me:
Per cent

50 slightly

40  Prevents me:
not at all
30

20

10

0
My lack of time Published Accessing The terminology I don’t know
research is published used in research what research is
difficult to research publications available
understand is expensive is difficult to
understand

Results 29
Furthermore, some participants also noted the
extent to which institutional barriers to reading the biggest problem is selecting the
research shaped the wider culture and attitudes research that is the most relevant …
towards reading research within staffrooms and With the proliferation of ideas and
amongst similar groupings of teachers. From this publications, that is increasingly hard to
perspective, those who are interested in reading do. (survey; Spain)
research may feel they lack a community of
like-minded peers with whom they can share their
ideas, reflections and enthusiasms, due in part to
culture of, and support offered by, the institution not all research is equally useful.
in which they teach. For example: (survey; Netherlands)

One common barrier … relates to the Others doubted more explicitly the value of there
micro-culture of a particular school being so much research with a potential claim on
or sub-set of teachers. If nobody their attention, and, consequently, the value of many
in the group reads research, and if individual research publications that teachers might
there is no suggestion from managers encounter in their search for something relevant:
that this would be a good thing for
teachers to do, they are unlikely to
even think of reading research report. I feel there are far more people out
(survey; Germany) there writing about education than
necessary, and trying to find something
useful is like fishing in a lake that is
Although this perspective offers important insights
doubling as a dumping ground. Finding
into the barriers to reading research, it is somewhat
anything of any value is a tedious task.
problematic as it potentially places responsibility
(survey; Japan)
for the ‘research-practice gap’ on institutions and/
or even on individual teachers, thereby implicitly
suggesting that in order to narrow this gap, either
institutions and/or teachers will need to change [Research is] how progress is made,
(assuming change is desirable! See also Section 2.6). but it doesn’t need all these competing
Yet putting the onus to change on teachers seems newsletters and editorials and blogs
unreasonable, given the challenging constraints trying to ‘make it accessible’ … This
most work within. Meanwhile, as Kerr (2021: n.p.) engenders resistance, whereas it should
argues, in most schools, ‘suggestions for institutional engender interest and feelings of being
support (e.g., time release and financial support for supported. Overall, in summary, we
teachers) are just pie in the sky’, and arguing that need a massive reduction in the amount
that schools can and should take responsibility for of it that gets hurled in our faces,
‘narrowing the gap’ is simply unrealistic. otherwise we can’t sort what’s relevant
to us from the rest. (survey; South
It is not surprising, therefore, that participating
Korea)
teachers went beyond these understandings in the
perspectives they shared via the qualitative survey
and interview data, presenting a more nuanced Furthermore, once teachers had finally managed
picture in which the institutional constraints on to identify publications of interest from the volume
teachers intertwine with the often-demanding available, reading these papers and articles could
characteristics of much published research, and often demand of their readers more than could be
indeed, with the sheer volume of research and comfortably accommodated; as a Canadian teacher
research-oriented publications available. Many pointed out, for example:
participants emphasized the challenges of the initial
search for research that was particularly appropriate
or useful for their teaching context, for example: Teachers are very busy with marking
and lesson planning and sometimes …
when research [papers are] too long
they might not even start reading.
(interview; Canada)

Results 30
Here, whether a teacher reads research depends Clearly, the discussion above suggests that even
not only on the time they have available but also teachers who are generally positive about reading
on whether reading a particular publication is published research and do seem to overcome most
worthwhile given its length and the consequent barriers to engaging with research publications
effort required to read it. Other participants noted perceive complications and challenges as they first
similar issues: seek out and then read material which they find
relevant and useful. Consequently, many have clear
views about both how research might be brought
Research mustn’t be too long – edible more in-line with teachers’ needs and interests,
chunks are easier to digest. A series of thereby reducing the challenges of the initial search
short articles is easier to fit into a busy for relevant material. And they also hold a range
schedule. (survey; France) of perspectives as to how research findings and
their associated practical implications might be
more effectively presented or disseminated within
the field. Implicit in these perspectives are the
Keeping research to a maximum of ideas that:
three pages … would make them most
easy to digest for busy teachers. • the research agenda(s) for ELT might draw
(survey; Japan) more on teachers’ perspectives and priorities
(i.e., teachers might contribute slightly more in
setting the agenda)
Meanwhile, although many participants reported
• researchers, rather than teachers, might need to
relatively few problems with ‘the language of
reconsider the ways in which their publication
research’ in the quantitative data, the complexity
and dissemination practices meet the needs
of many papers was noted, particular in relation to
of and constraints on a practitioner audience
those teachers whose first language is not English.
(if, that is, teachers are an audience which
For example
researchers are interested in reaching; as
noted in Section 2.2, this is quite reasonably
sometimes not the case).
We know that they have to use that
language in a way but in fact it makes It is to these two issues that our discussion of
it difficult to access, difficult for the data now turns, uncovering the participating
practitioners who access it. It is a teachers’ own priorities for research in ELT to focus
special genre as we know but that upon, before examining their perspectives on how
makes it difficult for the general such research might more effectively be presented
population that actually needs this kind and disseminated within the field.
of research. (interview; Greece)

The final conclusions from the research

should be concise and well written
in language understandable to the
average teacher who is not a native
speaker. (survey; Poland)

Results 31
4.4 RQ3: What topics and issues do more general terms (e.g., which ‘aims to explain what
takes place’ (83.8 per cent), or provides ‘accounts of
the teachers themselves prioritize as
what happens in everyday lessons and classrooms’
potential focuses for research and (72.6 per cent) ) rather than addressing specific
research publications in ELT? teaching problems or practices per se, it is clear
When identifying their own priorities for ELT that this groups of teachers’ general preference
research, participating teachers first identified, was towards research with a strong classroom or
in broad terms, the kinds of research they were practice-focused orientation. It is also evident that
interested in reading before noting more specific far fewer teachers were particularly interested in
topics or issues within English language teaching research which, for example, is experimental, tests
and learning which they thought research should hypotheses, or undertakes statistical analysis and/or
focus upon. examines large volumes of data. These perspectives
align with findings identified earlier in this report,
Table 6 thus illustrates a clear tendency for the vast building upon the reasons for reading research
majority of teachers who participated in this study reported by teachers (Section 4.3.1), and illustrating
to be ‘very interested’ or ‘interested’ in published why respondents reported reading most regularly
research which focus on ‘teaching/practice’, certain publication types and titles (i.e., professional
‘practical teaching problems’ and ‘ideas for using newsletters and magazines, and academic journals
in the classroom’ (91.2 per cent, 89.8 per cent, and with an explicit focus on practitioner concerns such
88.0 per cent respectively). And although slightly as ELT Journal and TESOL Quarterly; see Section 4.2).
fewer participants reported being ‘very interested’
or ‘interested’ in research focusing on classrooms in

Table 6: Participating teachers’ reported interest in research publications with differing focuses, aims and/or goals

interested /

Moderately
interested

interested

interested
Slightly /
not at all

Unsure
Very

Accounts which / in which … (%) (%) (%) (%)

… focus on teaching/practice 91.2 5.6 1.4 1.8
… practical teaching problems are studied 89.8 5.3 2.8 2.1
… suggest ideas for using in the classroom 88.0 6.6 3.2 2.2
… aim to explain what takes place in classrooms 83.8 10.7 4.5 1.0
… research is undertaken by teachers investigating their own classroom/ context 80.5 11.9 5.0 2.6
… results apply to many English language teaching contexts 78.2 12.5 6.6 2.7
…what happens in everyday lessons and classrooms 72.6 15.4 11.0 1.0
… focus on experimental research 60.3 25 14.5 0.2
… a large number of people or classrooms are studied 59.5 23.5 15.0 2.0
… test hypotheses 51.5 27.1 18.7 2.7
… focus on theory/theories 50.1 24.8 24.3 0.8
… examine a large volume of data 42 27.9 27.1 3.0
… use statistical analysis 39.2 28.7 28.7 0.4

This table draws together participant perspectives via their Likert scale responses to 13 statements. It should be acknowledged that
the statements are not mutually exclusive (e.g., studies ‘of practical teaching problems’ can lead to suggested ‘ideas for using in the
classroom’, a ‘focus on theories’ can underpin research ‘involving a large volume of data’ and can aim to ‘explain what takes place in
classrooms’). For presentational purposes, the table merges the two Likert responses ‘Very Interesting’ and ‘Interesting’, and, similarly,
‘Slightly interesting’ and ‘Not at all interesting’.

Results 32
Subsequently, participants were asked to identify up 4.4.2 Classroom management,
to three specific areas which they felt that ‘research
actions and activities
related to ELT should focus upon’. In response, 509
respondents made more than 1,200 suggestions. Unsurprisingly, given what we have already learned
And, although these priorities were unsurprisingly about the teachers’ attitudes towards published
wide-ranging given the number of teachers and research, issues related to ‘the classroom’ emerged
their varied professional contexts and experiences, as a key theme within the data (referenced by
a series of common themes and shared priorities 23.6 per cent of participants). Within this broad
concerning research related to ELT emerged. These categorization, a number of more specific interests
ranged, for example, from a focus on teaching emerged, including classroom management,
the language to focusing on classroom actions the management of learner behaviour, and the
and activities and online learning; and from an effective organization of in-class activities –
orientation towards to learners and an interest particularly small-group work which several
in psychological processes in language learning participants characterized with reference to
to the context and conditions for teachers and communicative activities6. Again, these suggestions
teaching. While a number of more theoretical were often made with reference to the specific
interests were noted, some areas of current contexts in which participants worked, most
academic research and publication were notable by notably in connection to teaching large classes
their absence. and mixed ability groups; to specific age groups,
in particular younger learners; and with regard to
‘underprivileged learners’, migrants and refugees,
4.4.1 Teaching language skills and
and those with low levels of literacy. While 4.3 per
structures cent of respondents made reference, in very general
Around one-third of respondents made some terms, to ‘effective methods’, more specific interests
reference to the teaching of language in their included the potential use of the learners’ L1 in the
priorities for research, and, interestingly, the majority classroom, including translanguaging and bi- and
of these references focused on skills, some teachers multi-lingual classrooms (prioritized by 7.6 per cent
referring to ‘all 4 skills’ (i.e., reading, writing, listening of participants) and issues around error correction/
and speaking), others highlighting one or two of corrective feedback (5.9 per cent).
these areas in particular. Those references to
writing were generally framed in terms of English 4.4.3 Online technologies and
for Academic Purposes (EAP) or English for Specific
technology-mediated learning and
Purposes (ESP), whilst ‘speaking’ tended to be
linked to the wish to read more research into the teaching
development of spoken fluency in the classroom, The role of online technologies in ELT was identified
and also to ‘pronunciation’. Surprisingly, perhaps, as a significant research priority by 17 per cent of
only 22 respondents (4 per cent of respondents) survey participants. Some were interested in finding
prioritized research into vocabulary or vocabulary out more about how technology might facilitate
teaching, whilst only 63 teachers (12 per cent) blended approaches to learning, whilst others
suggested that focusing on grammar or grammar prioritized, for example, distance learning. The
teaching was a key research priority. Reponses potential of apps and social media, both within and
concerning research into grammar teaching beyond the classroom, was of interest. Although data
generally reflected particular concerns or interests for this project was collected online (see Section 3),
(‘e.g., … in EAP contexts’, ‘… with young learners’), which raises the possibility that participants could
although some teachers were interested in research have a particular interest in or access to technology,
which sought to clarify the very practical issue of a significant number of responses indicated a
whether, and how far, to focus explicitly on grammar degree of skepticism or caution about technology-
in the classroom, what kinds of grammatical mediated teaching/learning, and the prioritizing of
knowledge are useful in language learning and so research in this area was not an uncritical call for
forth. That said, in terms of the data as a whole, this teaching tips and techniques, but, often, a request
was prioritized by relatively few teachers. for an evaluation of practical approaches. This focus
may also have been influenced by the timescale for
this research, with data collected during the COVID-
pandemic, when many teachers were experiencing
online teaching for the first time.

6
Although, for the purposes of this discussion, key themes are being dealt with in turn, there are clear overlaps between several
suggestions, for example, this (Section 4.4.2) focus on group-work and communicative activities, and the teaching of spoken fluency
in Section 4.4.1.

Results 33
4.4.4 Other practice-oriented issues teachers. Other individual responses asked for
more research into the links between learners’
A number of further practice/pedagogy-oriented
motivation and mental health and motivation for
research priorities were noted by significant
reading for writing, whilst a number of participants
numbers of respondents. Interest in testing
linked motivation to broader interests in learner
and assessment ranged from teacher-designed
psychology. As well as being linked to motivation,
classroom testing to the implications of international
autonomy and independence regularly co-occurred
tests such as IELTS and TOEFL, including their
in responses alongside technology and the
effects on prior learning (i.e., test preparation and
management of mixed level classes. Other research
washback) and their value to students aspiring
priorities that were each mentioned by just a few
to study in English-dominant Higher Education
respondents included learner/learning strategies,
institutions. Similarly, the use and teaching of
learners’ backgrounds and identities, and learners’
literature in ELT emerged as a focus for a number
differing responses to different types of classroom
of participating teachers. Whilst some made general
activities (e.g., to group and individual work, to
references to ‘teaching language through literature’,
textbook activities and content, and so forth).
the majority asked for more research into ‘teaching
[English language] literature to adolescents/
teenagers’, presumably reflecting the interests of 4.4.6 About teachers
the sizeable number of teachers within the field Although all the research priorities outlined so
working in state-sector contexts in which literature far have clear implications for teaching and
remains a central element of the ‘English’ subject for teachers’ pedagogic practices, there were
curriculum, and which are arguably often overlooked fewer calls for research about teachers per se.
by much current research. Meanwhile, a sizable Interestingly, however, themes which were shared
number of teachers (17.7 per cent) prioritized by significant numbers of respondents included
intercultural communication / competence teachers’ working conditions and, to slightly a
as a key area of interest. Several linked this to lesser extent, teacher motivation. While some
their interest in migration and multiculturalism linked their or others’ lack of engagement in or
(including multilingual classrooms, see above) with research to poor pay and conditions within
and to world Englishes, whilst others focused on their survey responses (see also Section 4.3.3),
practicalities such as its assessment, and links several wrote explicitly of the need to prioritize
between intercultural communication and the role investigations into teachers’ working conditions
of literature in the classroom. Beyond these three over issues relating to continued professional
major areas of teacher interest, however, many other development (CPD), one participant arguing ‘that this
practical/classroom-oriented focuses for research is left to advocacy groups is wrong, wrong, wrong’
were suggested by just a handful of participants, (Ireland, survey). Furthermore, it seems reasonable
for example, the implications for the classroom of to suggest that many of the significant number
learners’ visual and aural impairments; teaching of calls for research into ‘teacher motivation’
low L1 literacy learners; cooperative learning; are actually referring to teacher demotivation,
task-based instruction; understanding the reasons which is likely, of course, to be in part linked to
for and addressing plagiarism; and teaching ‘21st teachers’ working conditions and the associated
century skills’. problems of teacher burnout and wellbeing (also
noted as research priorities by a number of survey
4.4.5 Learner motivation, autonomy and respondents). It is worth noting that, alongside
survey participants’ requests for investigations into
independence
these under-researched areas, some did prioritize
One of the most significant priorities for research more widely explored topics such as teacher
noted by participating teachers was learner development, but perhaps to a lesser extent than
motivation (suggested by 16.7 per cent of the range of current published research in the field
respondents), often noted alongside the topics of might lead us to expect.
learner autonomy and learner independence.
While many references were somewhat general
(e.g., ‘motivation’), several respondents made
specific links to in-class motivation, thus asking
for research into how teachers might address
‘low-motivation students’, who learn English ‘as
part of a wider curriculum’ or who may not ‘value
languages’; again, such views possibly seem to
reflect the priorities of secondary level participating

Results 34
4.4.7 Other issues … and absences That said, however, this summary of teachers’
priorities above goes some way to providing an
The discussion so far provides an indication of the
initial, tentative teacher-led agenda for research
kinds of topics about which significant numbers
and subsequent research publications. Interested
of participating teachers would like to read more
teachers reading this report may find topics which
research. Inevitably, given the total number of
they also prioritize, as well as areas which may differ
suggested priorities within the survey responses,
from their particular interests (via areas included
many other topics were mentioned, albeit relatively
and/or those omitted). Meanwhile, it may serve
infrequently. For example, discourse, pragmatics
as a prompt for reflection and, hopefully, action
and corpora were noted by two teachers each;
for researchers. Yet if (further) research in these
SLA Theory was mentioned six times (although,
areas is to be undertaken and published, how might
of course, many of the priorities above can be
resultant projects, findings and implications be most
connected to or draw upon research into SLA); as
effectively made accessible to teachers? It is to this
we have seen, neither teacher nor learner identity
final question that we now turn.
were reported as particular priorities within the
data (four references in total)7; and, as outlined
above, issues around the teaching of grammar and 4.5 RQ4: How might research
teacher development were referred to, but perhaps publications and findings be made
surprisingly rarely. more relevant and accessible to
It is important to remember, of course, that the English language teachers?
reported perspectives are those of this particular Although the teachers who contributed to this
group of participating teachers; the responses of project were generally positive about research and
another group of language teaching professionals research-oriented publications, the difficulties and
would most likely have produced data with frustrations they experience when engaging (or
some differences in emphasis (for example, trying to engage) with published research have also
it seems possible that a cohort more involved in become evident over the course of the discussion.
teacher training and education might prioritize Thus, their insights into how some of these challenges
more obviously research into language teacher might be addressed often build upon themes already
development, teacher knowledge and teacher seen within this report, alongside a range of further
identity). It should also be noted that, with a limited proposals which arise from the teachers’ own
number of exceptions (e.g., teacher working particular experiences and position(s) in the field.
conditions, teaching learners with visual and/or There are, as ever, evident connections between the
aural impairments), research into most of the areas emergent themes and suggestions now summarised.
identified by participating teachers has actually
been undertaken and published; what seems to be
at stake is the perceived relevance and accessibility
of that research to these teachers, or, put another
way, its perceived orientation towards pedagogic
practice. Clearly, to ask teachers to identify
priorities within a survey of this type is a relatively
blunt instrument, leaving open issues with regard
to the way ideas are expressed by participating
teachers and their subsequent interpretation within
the resultant data. Furthermore, listing priority
areas in this way is very different to formulating
a specific research question to explore via a
specific investigation. Meanwhile, to rely solely on
the perspectives of teachers in the formulation
of a research agenda for ELT does remove the
potential insights and key focuses that others (i.e.,
researchers) might bring to the classroom (see also
Section 2, Introduction).

7
It is possible, however, that ideas and agendas which broadly related to ‘identity’ are implicit in participants understanding of, for
example, ‘intercultural communication’ and ‘the multilingual classroom’. If so, these understandings unfortunately cannot be unpicked
within the data.

Results 35
4.5.1 Physical availability: cost and 4.5.2 Internal accessibility: readership
access and the ‘discourse of research’
Given that the cost of accessing research We have already seen (Section 4.3.3) that the way
publications had already been highlighted by research is presented in writing can be challenging
participating teachers (Section 4.3.3), it was for teachers:
unsurprising that many argued that far more
research needed to be published on a reduced
fee or cost-free (for readers) Open Access basis. Academic research has its own
Journals (i.e., their publishers) and researchers language and rules, so it can seem
themselves tended to be conceptualized as the out of reach to the teacher in the
agents of this process: classroom. (survey; Turkey)

Publishers should make all information Consequently, one participant (of 485 respondents
accessible free online or at least online to this survey question) suggested that teachers
for very little cost. (survey; Japan) should become more adept at reading research,
but argued that individual difficulties had structural
causes in that the low status often ascribed to
teachers meant that they were not trained or
Publish in reputable open access empowered to engage in useful higher status
journals. (survey; Peru) activities, such as engaging with research:

Consequently, while a few participants focused

We have to change teacher education …
on how their institutions might support access
The problem isn’t the researchers. It’s
to research – in terms of time, subscriptions to
how the Anglophone world sees English
research journals, and encouraging a culture of
language teaching professionals. The
engagement – the overall focus on publishers
problem is courses like the CELTA.
and researchers rather than schools probably
(survey; Australia)
reflects teachers’ tacit acceptance that asking for
institutional solutions is, as Kerr noted (2021; see
Section 4.3.3), unrealistic. The vast majority of teachers who focused on this
issue, however, suggested that teacher engagement
Whilst the ways in which journals do business and/
was more likely if the language and discourse of
or the pressures that academic researchers face
research publications was made more ‘teacher
to publish in particular, often pay-walled journals,
friendly’ (many respondents, survey and interviews).
are unlikely to change at any point soon, a number
An emphatic few suggested that:
of teachers called for researchers to ensure that
pre-print drafts were more regularly made freely
available via institutional websites (e.g., Northumbria
researchers should write with teachers
University’s ‘Research Portal’ site) and online
in mind. If you I think that if you are
sharing services such as ResearchGate.net. Wider
writing anything related to education,
knowledge and use of such sites would seem to be
anything that should be happening in a
a reasonably straightforward way for teachers to
classroom, you cannot forget about the
access research publications, and thus, as a teacher
teachers (interview; Chile)
in the Philippines noted, ‘to democratize access to
knowledge’ (survey response).

Results 36
Most, however, recognised that teachers and Thus, whilst many ‘micro-level’ suggestions were also
researchers are audiences with differing needs forthcoming for teacher-oriented publications (e.g.,
and purposes for reading. Consequently, many reduce jargon; less discussion of methodology;
participants suggested that two versions of research discuss findings at the start rather than near the
publications should be prepared, in particular the end of a paper; shorter overall length etc.), several
version, currently perceived as neglected, written participating teachers recognised the substantial
for teachers: challenge to researchers of writing and making
findings accessible for teachers. As the respondent
from the United States cited above also noted:
the scholarly one intended for university
lecturers and other researchers and a
concise one written in simple English How to do this? That’s difficult because
that briefly sums up not only the I don’t know the challenges facing
research but also the benefits/results/ researchers but I would say it needs to
any positive outcomes that may result be a cultural change. In other words,
as a direct/indirect consequence of the researchers need to be ok with turning
research (survey; Malta) down the academia bit in order to
create engaging content (available on
the internet or at events) that teachers
Clearly, this is a challenge for any researcher/ can digest quickly and apply easily.
authors on a number of levels. Firstly, it places (survey)
significant and, for some, possibly unrealistic
time demands on authors; equally, we should
acknowledge again that not all researchers intend
their research to reach a teacher audience; see 4.5.3 Collaborative approaches: before,
Section 2.2). Secondly, it requires researchers during and writing-up research
to know what teachers are looking for within a Clearly, therefore, the extent to which teachers
publication, which in turn might require more are likely to engage with published research
cooperation with teachers or for researchers goes beyond concerns about publications’ cost
to become more integrated with teaching and discourse to issues of teacher-researcher
communities: understanding and collaboration. Echoing Nassaji
(2012) and Sato and Loewen (2019; see Section 2.6),
several participants suggested that collaboration
maybe instead of showing papers to between teachers and researcher, possibly as
your colleagues who are also working co-researchers from the inception of a project
on other research papers researchers to the presentation of its findings, was central
should maybe have a group of teachers to ensuring the accessibility and relevance of
who give feedback. (interview; Chile) ubsequent research publications, for example:

Form partnerships with practitioners …

researchers need to become a part
who can add the “classroom
of the teaching community. These two
experience” part to the research (as
groups are so often separated and
team-work theoretician/researcher and
there is little collaboration between the
classroom practitioner). (survey; Poland)
two. They should intermingle on many
different levels. Research often stays
in the academic abyss but researchers
have to make efforts to simplify their Collaborating with teachers … by a
findings and get them into the hands of longer process of development of
teachers. (survey; United States) activities in partnership with teachers.
(survey; UK)

Results 37
4.5.4 Teacher-researcher communities 4.5.5 Sharing findings: workshops,
and interfaces conferences and social media
Partnerships between researchers and teachers A theme running throughout this discussion is that
are likely to become both more regular and more the teachers reported that they were more likely to
sustainable if, as a number of teachers pointed access and engage with research if it is disseminated
out, collaboration is not limited to single or specific via alternatives to the traditional journal article.
projects, but rather ‘shared communities’ (survey, Effectively summarising the views of many
Spain) and’ interfaces’ (survey, India) are developed participants, a teacher from Canada commented:
and maintained over longer period of time, based
around shared concerns and expressed in mutually
understood language. Thus: Publish it in more creative ways, not
just in dusty old texts and journals.
Publish an info graphic instead, one
it is not necessarily the technical ‘how’s that teachers could print off and put
[the research] going’ or ‘how do I write’. on a wall. Or publish a video, or an art
It’s the wider context of bringing the instalment. In the field of education,
two parties together in the way that qualitative research rules, and that
they talk about each other and the way type of data lends itself to all sorts
they communicate with each other. of creativity in terms of presenting/
(interview; Germany) disseminating it to the public in various
mediums that can have a learning
impact.
In practical terms, many participants suggested
researchers who are interested in orienting their work
towards practice and practitioners should simply Alongside face-to-face workshops and taster
find opportunities to: talk to teachers; work with or talks, videos, webinars and other forms of social
participate in teachers’ groups; attend and present media presentation (including simply publicizing
at teacher-oriented conferences; initiate and/or a forthcoming or current publication) were
take part in discussions with teachers (face-to- highlighted by participants, whilst suggestions for
face or online). And, while many researchers already written texts included 1,000–2,000 word summary
engage in these kinds of activities, the confirmation articles (see 4.5.2, above), and contributions to
that many practitioners find this useful rather than teacher magazines and blogs (including online
potentially intrusive is valuable. platforms such as The Conversation in which
researchers are required to combine, in the site’s
own words, ‘academic rigour with journalistic flair’;
https://theconversation.com/uk).

Results 38
4.5.6 Summaries, digests and collections The range of suggestions for making research
more accessible to practitioners emerge from
As we have seen, many teachers who participated
this project’s deliberate attempt to focus upon
in this study found identifying research that was
‘research-interested’ teachers’ own views, and the
relevant and useful to them challenging, given the
vast majority of responses focus on actions that
volume of publications available. Whilst researcher
researchers and publishers might (or, as most
engagement with the suggested outlets for sharing
respondents conveyed, ‘should’) undertake. In other
their work noted above (4.5.5) could go some way to
words, participating teachers generally felt that,
bringing relevant material more easily to teachers’
in order to bridge the research-practice ‘gap’, the
attention, a substantial number of respondents
onus for change lies with researchers, rather than
proposed the establishment of a wide-ranging
with teachers. Clearly, researchers might respond to
research directory or series of research digests
this in a number of possible ways. Firstly, academics
which teacher could access. Clearly, organizing
and researchers experience their own job-related
and regularly updating centralized directories
pressures, and it is not necessarily straightforward
of research is extremely challenging, although a
to write more frequently for a teacher audience
few participants noted York (UK) University’s online
and/or less frequently for a researcher audience.
OASIS (Open Accessible Summaries in Language
Furthermore, whilst some proposals are relatively
Studies; https://oasis-database.org/about) resource,
straightforward and practical (e.g., discussing
which aims to bring together one-page summaries
findings with teaching communities online via, for
of articles published in peer-reviewed journals8.
example, Twitter or Facebook), others are arguably
Several teachers also pointed out the potential
more idealistic, requiring more deep-seated and
role professional bodies and organisations might
sometimes structural changes within the field
play, a teacher from the Netherlands, for example,
(e.g., the extent to which access to research truly
noting that:
becomes Open Access). Additionally, a lot of the
suggestions have already been adopted by some
within the research community – although perhaps
Professional bodies and/or
with not enough consistency or with enough
management are vital in helping busy
publicity. Finally, and importantly, the teachers’
teachers to become aware of relevant
insights are perhaps implicitly underpinned by a
research. Searching from scratch is
sense that research can and should guide classroom
time-consuming and will never be
practice more closely than most researchers’
everybody’s top priority … Facilitating
are likely to recognize; there remains a differing
this as part of ongoing training would
expectation as to what research is for and can
be valuable. (survey)
achieve in terms of shaping practice. Despite these
caveats, however, these ideas offer practical ways
ahead for those researchers who are interested in
engaging more fully with teachers, and, ultimately,
in bridging the gap between research and practice.

8
Previous wide-ranging directories include the British Council’s own Directories of UK ELT Research, 2005–12;
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/directory-uk-elt-research-2005-2012

Results 39
5
Summary
This project set out to contribute to the For the teachers in this study, certain research and
long-standing debate around the relationship, or gap, research-oriented publications were viewed much
between practice and research in ELT. It focused more positively and accessed more often than
in particular on how and why teachers might (or others, professional newsletters and magazines
might not) engage with published research, and being the most frequently read, alongside online
sought to explore and learn from the experiences blogs and summaries. Of the range of academic
and perspectives of ‘research-interested’ teachers journals dealing with issues related ELT (and/or
working in a range of contexts around the world. language teaching and learning more generally),
The study uncovered teachers’ own perceptions of two were identified as being particularly relevant –
what constitutes a research agenda which is relevant ELT Journal and TESOL Quarterly (other academic
to them, and their insights as to how research and journals were reportedly accessed infrequently).
research findings might be made more available and This was due to these publications perceived focus
accessible to practitioners. Unpacking the various on practice (i.e., on ‘pedagogical knowledge’ or
assertions and occasional over-generalizations ‘knowledge how…’) rather than on ‘propositional
that have often been made about English language knowledge’ (or ‘knowledge that…’); and they
teachers’ attitudes towards and engagement with were identified as being written for a practitioner
research publications, the findings thus add detail audience.
and nuance to the wider discussion.
Unsurprisingly, ‘institutional’ concerns such as cost,
The study found that, while still a minority within time and workload were seen as significant barriers
the profession, significant numbers of English to engaging with published research. However, the
language teachers are interested in reading about relevance and accessibility of publications (including
or learning from research. This is not an uncritical academic discourse norms such as the length
acceptance of all research per se, however; these of papers, the focus on research methodology,
‘research-interested’ teachers tend to be interested over-use of terminology etc.) were of equal
in research which seems to them to be practically concern to most participants in the project.
oriented and aligns with their classroom concerns.
Research is primarily read to inform, develop, or Reading research was also seen as just one pathway
confirm teaching practices. towards professional development, and was part
of a broader range of activities which included
Teachers thus have clear ideas as to what areas of conference and workshop attendance, other forms
research they would find interesting and relevant, of professional training such as webinars and online
and these clearly depend on an individual’s discussions, and conversations with colleagues and
professional context. Whilst a teacher-led research students. Thus, research publications are just one
agenda has clear overlaps with much work in applied in a ‘marketplace’ of competing sources of new
linguistics and other academic fields related to ideas and development for teachers. Consequently,
ELT, differences in focus and/or emphasis include teachers’ insights for enhancing the accessibility
a reported desire for more research into: the of research findings for practitioners tended to
management of learners and learning groups in the move away from ideas of teachers simply reading
classroom; the use, challenges and difficulties of ‘traditional’ journal articles, and instead focused
online technologies in language learning; the role of on innovative and creative ways of presenting
literature in ELT; learner and teacher motivation (and findings through spoken presentations, short written
demotivation); and teachers’ working conditions. summaries, posters, online forums and so forth,
with research projects developed within a truly
collaborative framework in which teachers and
researchers cooperate to set research agendas,
collect data, and co-author and disseminate findings.

Summary 41
Not all applied linguistic and educational research,
perhaps, needs to have an overtly practical
orientation (although some participants in this study
would disagree!), and not all researchers need to
seek out opportunities to talk to, work with, and
write for English language teachers. Yet for those
who do aspire towards greater levels of teacher
engagement with their research, the implications
of this study seem clear. Working both within but
especially beyond ‘the academy’, researchers might
find new and genuinely collaborative ways of talking
to and working with teachers in ways which do
not place additional burdens on teachers’ working
lives. Emergent research agendas would seek to
recognise and address teachers’ practice, problems
and puzzles, with findings shared and disseminated
in ways which are accessible and appealing.

Whilst there is clearly an element of idealism here,

these possible ways ahead do not seem impractical
or impossible. That said, they do raise questions
about the nature and purpose of, and the audience
for, research, requiring new ways of thinking,
particularly for researchers but also, perhaps, for
teachers. However, by listening to and building upon
the views of the ‘research-interested’ teachers’
who participated in this study, we may be able to
develop a more satisfactory relationship between
research and practice, and between researchers and
teachers, within ELT.

Summary 42
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