2013 Action Research in ELICOS Program
| Research theme | Participants & projects | Publications |
Research theme
The focus for the 2013 Action Research in ELICOS program was on the teaching, learning and assessing of speaking. In particular, through action research the program aimed to identify effective classroom interaction practices that enhance and integrate speaking skills development and take into account the assessment of learner progress and/or achievement.
Addressing speaking needs and monitoring and assessing the progress of learners in developing speaking are key areas of interest identified by staff at English Australia member colleges.
Research theme subtopics
Below is a list of issues that are related to the topic.
Teaching speaking skills and strategies
• developing specific speaking skills (eg pronunciation, discourse management, spoken genre production)
• scaffolding classroom interaction to enhance speaking skill/strategy development
• exploring learner responses to specific teaching approaches (eg task-based, genre-based)
• designing materials and resources for speaking development
• monitoring task effectiveness for speaking development
• exploring technology for teaching/assessing speaking
• linking classroom activities and assessing progress
Learning speaking skills and strategies
• raising awareness of individual speaking skills and needs
• self-assessing speaking outside the classroom
• identifying personal goals for monitoring progress
• enhancing speaking participation in the classroom
• developing cross-cultural awareness of different spoken varieties
• developing metacognitive awareness of strategies for speaking development
Monitoring and assessing speaking
• exploring learning oriented assessment in speaking
• identifying the impact of formal speaking tests on learning
• preparing students for speaking tests/assessments
• incorporating appropriate speaking assessment tasks into classroom planning
• exploring the relationships between teaching speaking and testing speaking
• designing speaking tasks that feed into assessment
• exploring ways to balance exam preparation with general speaking development
We encourage Directors of Studies/academic managers to select some of these issues for a focus of professional development for their college.
Participants & projects
The following teachers were selected by the program Reference Group to participate in the 2013 program:
|
Simon Cosgriff |
Curtin English, WA |
Harnessing formative feedback for oral skills development |
|
Tim Dodd & Selena Kusaka |
La Trobe Melbourne, VIC |
Using Web 2.0 synchronising technologies to provide better feedback on spoken academic 'texts' |
|
Martin Dutton & Arizio Sweeting |
Institute of Continuing & TESOL Education, University of Queensland, QLD |
Preparing students to answer connected speech questions on the Cambridge English TKT Knowledge About Language Module |
|
Angie Nazim & Emily Mason |
UNSW Global, NSW |
Preparing students for a spoken academic presentation in six hours |
|
Becky Steven & Jessica Cobley |
UWA Centre for English Language Teaching, WA |
Using Web 2.0 technologies to enhance speaking fluency |
|
Jennifer Wallace |
English Language Company, NSW |
Encouraging students to autonomously diagnose and resolve their grammar problems in speaking |
Back (L-R): Jenny Wallace, Selena Kusaka, Tim Dodd, Jessica Cobley, Becky Steven, Emily Mason, Angie Nazim, Simon Cosgriff, Martin Dutton
Front: Anne Burns, Katherine Brandon, Arizio Sweeting
Publications
Click here for a PDF summary of action research outcomes from the 2013 program.
Click here for full research reports published in Cambridge English Language Assessment's Research Notes 56.
Hard copies of both publications are available at no cost from the English Australian secretariat, easec@englishaustralia.com.au.
For more information about the projects please contact English Australia Professional Support & Development Officer, Katherine Brandon.
