Practitioner Research:
Exploratory Practice workshop
University of Leicester School of Education
MA Applied Linguistics and TESOL / MA TESOL Continuing Professional
Development
24th February 2014
By Yasmin Dar
The ELTU
University of Leicester
6 Principles for Inclusive
Practitioner research:
The ‘what’ ‘who’ and ‘how’ issues
1.
Focus on quality of life as the main
issue.
2.
Work to understand it before thinking
about solving problem.
3. Involve everybody as practitioners
developing their own understandings.
4. Work to bring people together in a
common enterprise.
5. Work cooperatively for mutual
development.
6. Make it a sustainable enterprise.
PLUS two practical suggestions to keep
going indefinitely:
a) Minimise the effort involved.
b) Integrate the work for understanding into
normal pedagogic practice.
My MA dissertation
• The learners and the course
• Sharing the research
ESOL Class in an inner city area of Leicester
• Pre-intermediate level
• 2.5 hours twice a week
• 6 adult learners
• Settled in the UK
• Countries of origin: India, Iran, Somalia, Egypt
My research questions:
1. Is there a mismatch in language teaching and learning
expectations between my learners and me in my ESOL
classroom?
2. Why are my learners not taking responsibility for
their language learning?
Normal classroom activities: Pairwork , group work
Speaking task with questions for collecting data
1. Is it important for you to pass your speaking exam? Yes No
2. How do you feel about your speaking exam? Ok Not ok
3. Does your teacher tell you to practise at home for your speaking
exam? Yes No
4. Do you practise speaking English at home? Always Yes No
Sometimes
5. Do you think practising in the classroom is enough to pass your
exam? Yes No
My learners’ perceptions
All six said yes for question 1.
For question 2, all answered ok.
All said yes to question 3.
All said sometimes to question 4.
All said yes to question 5.
Group discussion task
Topic: Likes and dislikes
Why do you like to learn English in class and
dislike learning English at home?
Topic linked to the discussion part of the
speaking exam
Students are expected to use language to talk
about their likes and dislikes.
Understandings for research question 2 revealed the
complicated realities of learners’ lives
“My husband, he does not like English for me to speak
at home. He is strict as well with my daughter. He says
speak English at school and at work but not inside
home.”
“My children laugh at me if I try to speak with them in
English. They say: ‘mum you can’t speak good English’
and keep laughing at me every-time, so that is why I
don’t talk in English at home.”

Not all puzzles are problematic.

Not all teachers are comfortable to admit
that there is a ‘problem’.

Puzzles from: long term concerns,
learner questions, direct prompt.
Practical guidelines for using EP
(Allwright and Hanks 2009)

Choose an issue that is ‘puzzling’

Ask yourself ‘why’ questions to reduce the
emphasis on looking for ‘solutions.’

If change is needed, it would be based on
understanding the underlying issues that have
been explored.
Workshop (20mins)
1. In a small group agree on one classroom puzzle that you could
explore by using the principles of EP.
Use the ‘poster’ chart paper and different coloured pens to
identify:
• a classroom puzzle to explore in your teaching context;
• normal classroom activities for collecting your data
2. Display your posters on the wall
• Read each others posters
• discuss / give each other feedback on the puzzles that have
been identified in the posters
Practitioner Research using Exploratory
Practice:
If you do decide to use EP, please let me
know 
yd19@le.ac.uk
http://yasmindar1.wordpress.com/
Miss Yasmin Dar
References and further reading
Allwright, D. (2003). Exploratory Practice: rethinking practitioner research in language
teaching. Language Teaching Research, 7(2), 113-141.
Allwright, D. (2005) Developing principles for practitioner research: The case of Exploratory
Practice. The Modern Language Journal 89 (3), 353-366
Allwright, D. & Hanks J. (2009) The Developing Language Learner: An introduction to
Exploratory Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Dar, Y. (2008) Unpublished MA dissertation An Exploration of Puzzles in an Adult ESOL
Classroom in Leicester University of Leicester.