Teacher Investigations of ELT Practice: Ace Action Research 2018

In 2017, the University of Oregon welcomed the first cohort to its Advanced Certification in ELT (ACE) program. Educators from more than 20 countries exchanged ideas, formulated teaching philosophies, analyzed and revised the courses they teach, developed skills in an area of specialty, and planned an action research project.

In this volume, we are pleased to present eight articles reporting on action research projects completed by ACE alumni in 2017 and 2018. In action research, teachers use techniques such as surveys, observations, and document analysis to systematically collect information within their own teaching context. The process begins with reflection to identify problems or issues that affect the classroom. This kind of reflection is central to teaching, and so is the practice of reading or discussing these issues to identify possible solutions. In action research, teachers take the further step of planning for systematic data collection before, during, and/or after the implementation of their proposed solution. The collection and analysis of this data allows action researchers to move forward with greater confidence as they adopt their solution into regular classroom practice, or further refine their ideas for another round of research. It also allows action researchers to share their findings with other teachers in reports like the ones in this volume.

-Beth Sheppard and Andy Halvorsen, Editors