Interim Report for an action research - Assignment Example

Interim Report for an Action Research Table of Contents Interim Report on Action Research: Improvement of Practices in Teaching a Second Language to Non-Native Speakers 3
A. General Inquiry Idea/Purpose of the Action Research 3
B. Formulated Questions 3
C. Data Collection Methods/Plan 4
D. Observations 4
E. “Correct Me” - My Evolving Teaching Technique 4
References 6

Interim Report on Action Research: Improvement of Practices in Teaching a Second Language to Non-Native Speakers
A. General Inquiry Idea/Purpose of the Action Research
My chosen arena for research is the classroom where students who are non-native speakers of the Arabic language apply themselves to learning Arabic as a second language, under my tutelage. The purpose of the action research is three-fold. One purpose is to be able to understand just how the learning of Arabic affects the overall level of interest and achievement of the students. A second purpose is to find out what the significance of learning Arabic is, for the students wanting to learn. What do they get out of the whole exercise? Why do they want to learn Arabic? How does learning Arabic impact their education and life outcomes? The third purpose of the action research has to do with the ways that I can personally improve the process of teaching Arabic as a second language to students who are not native speakers of Arabic.
B. Formulated Questions
I formulated several key questions tied to my action research.
1) How am I to teach my students the most important Arabic language skills worth learning?
2) How can I most appropriately teach Arabic as a second language, and what techniques and teaching styles are most suitable?
3) In what ways can I improve on my techniques, methods and processes as far as teaching Arabic as a second language is concerned?
4) What strategies are best suited for teaching Arabic as a second language?
C. Data Collection Methods/Plan
The key data observation method is observation from the field, with my classroom as the field of observation, and my students and myself as the subjects of the study, relative to the learning and teaching of Arabic as a second language to non-native speakers.
D. Observations
From the observations with another teacher of the Arabic language, Qassem, I am able to find out that there are several shortcomings at present with regard to the way we teach Arabic as a second language. These shortcomings are not failures in themselves, but are areas for improvement, derived from daily experience. These observations have led me to craft a new teaching method that I will call “correct me”. The details of that new and evolving teaching technique follow in the next section. The new technique hopefully is able to cover Arabic language learning in its various aspects: reading, speaking, writing and listening.
E. “Correct Me” - My Evolving Teaching Technique
The “Correct Me” teaching method is straightforward, but involves a keen interest in student learning, and an alert presence. At the heart of it is an intent listening and a willingness to give oneself to the students so that they may learn. This technique has two aspects. One aspect involves me making real-time corrections to student mistakes in speaking and writing Arabic. The technique involves an alert presence so that the teacher is able to spot mistakes. The second aspect involves students forming groups, and being present to one another as they converse and write in Arabic, correcting their peers as they make mistakes. For feedback, my intention is to survey students at the end of a class to find out how they find this new teaching technique: if they like it, if they are benefitting from it, and what they can suggest in order to make the technique better.

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