An Action Research Into Conducting Computer Laboratory Classes More Effectively In Language Teaching

Merve Gocmen, Turkey, ID CLEaR2016-315;         Action research has been put forward as a way to promote professional development of novice teachers or teachers at an early period of their career. It is stated that if these teachers address a classroom-related problem to enhance their teaching, they do not only focus on a real life problem but also have a chance to develop professionally. Recently, to address classroom related problems, Anadolu University School of Foreign Languages (Eskisehir, Turkey) started to use workshops to gather ideas and practices from instructors. One of the workshops dealt with computer laboratory classes, which have been problematic, both because of instructors’ lack of interest to promote and the learners’ negative attitude towards them. In the workshop, the instructors were asked to share the techniques they had applied in their laboratory classes that made these classes more effective and meaningful for their learners. At the meeting, 10 best practices were compiled and sent back to the all of the LAB instructors. The researcher incorporated these practices into their regular teaching and observed what difference they made on the students’ learning. As a strong believer of action research paradigm by means of professional development, the researcher has decided to turn this into an action research. In this study, observations related to different techniques and students’ points of view collected through group interviews with them will be presented. The reflections from the study are going to help other teachers who would like to incorporate computer laboratory classes into the curriculum.

keywords : education, teaching, computer, laboratory, language, technology, techniques