Development Of Research Capabilities Of Chinese TEFL Academics Through Action Research

This study traces the journey of a teacher researcher's involvement in a research project, during which she changed from an isolated teacher to a responsible change agent, and finally to a teacher educator. The author identifies the constraints TEFL academics encountered in their engagement in and with research in the Chinese context, the contributing factors being their discrepancies in pre-service and in-service education programs as well as cultural barriers. These salient factors have prevented academics and professionals from interpreting what's happening in the classroom. This study elaborates that AR (Action Research) as epistemology and methodology promotes the development of TEFL (Teaching English as Foreign Language) academics'research capabilities.The action plan in the present study was designed to entail three cycles concerning developing teachers'research capabilities. The first cycle, or FOAR (First Order Action Research), illustrated author's engagement in and with research. In the process the author felt as if empowered to put ideas into action, which led to the improvement of students'learning outcome, as well as the improvement of organization and school. The second cycle, SOAR (Second Order Action Research), involved a total of six volunteer participants in a six-month implementation of a cooperative learning program, in which the author tried to work out an approach to deal with constraints in-service teacher encountered as a facilitator. In performing that duty, the author's incompetence and other constraints caused this cooperative learning activity to end as a failure in a sense. Nevertheless, the insights derived from this activity directed the author to the third cycle, or the second period of SOAR. She tried to find solutions to discrepancies in pre-service education programs. In a Master program, the author instructed a nine-week research-oriented course entitled Language Teaching Theories and Practices to twenty English major postgraduates. The course put special emphasis on value of teacher research, or action research, and its relationship with language teaching, aiming at change from epistemology to methodologies. The student teachers were guided, through a series of planned in-class and out-class activities, to internalize the implicit conceptions, and to turn them into explicit operationalized strategies. A positive feedback was attained, which has confirmed the importance of research education for in-service and pre-service teachers.In terms of data collection and analysis methods, this study is of qualitative research, which matches the research questions raised, though a quantitative study on a questionnaire was included. The data were obtained and collected from regular meetings, reflective writings, journals, emails, formal or informal interviews and questionnaire.The main conclusions drawn from this study are that Action Research helps empower the participants'involvement in and with research. Secondly, in the process of creating research culture, the importance of establishing equal, friendly and even personal relationships among those concerned is identified. Finally, the vitality of research education is highlighted. The implications of the study for in-service and pre-service TEFL academics, educators and educational administrators are discussed.