How a Teacher Education Program Through Action Research Can Support English as a Foreign Language Teachers in Implementing Communicative Approaches: A Case From Taiwan

Abstract

Communicative approaches have been a dominant paradigm in foreign/second language teaching since the 1980s. However, they are not widely accepted by teachers in many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts. The current study adopted an action research approach to study classroom practice in a Taiwanese EFL secondary school, to identify and solve any problems arising. Three volunteer teachers and their 90 students were involved. The results suggest that the teachers’ limited understanding of the approaches seemed to be a dominant factor and further suggest that some commonly cited obstacles in the implementation of communicative approaches result from the teachers’ lack of understanding. This investigation gained insights into how teachers can learn and can be supported from the five cycles of action research. These experiences may provide a useful reference for practitioners and teacher education/development programmers in a variety of contexts.