Creation and uptake of language classroom research

Abstract

The “First JACET Summer and English Education Joint Seminar” held at Kyoto in August 2018 had a classroom research theme framed by the following three questions: Why revisit classroom research now? Who are the practitioners? How might we approach classroom research now? This paper explores these three questions about language classroom research by raising some of the key issues in the English language teaching field about publication (engagement in research) related to practice and the uptake of ideas in published research (engagement with research). A primary focus of this paper is on the relevance to classroom practitioners of articles published in prestigious journals in the ELT field. The paper concludes with suggestions for closing the gap between what researchers write for consumption and what second/foreign language teachers want to consume in terms of research on teaching.