Field note of Action Research

General thoughts on Action Research

I like action research even though I have never heard about action research until taking an action research course at graduate school. According to Craig (2009), action research is “common methodology employed for improving conditions and practice in classrooms and in other practitioner-based environments such as administrative, leadership, social, and community settings.” The research is conducted in the environment that a teacher can involve as a practitioner and researcher. Teachers are required to take an active role in the environment being studied because it is considered a field-intensive process. As a language teacher myself, there are many problems and concerns that I have in my class. It allows researchers (teachers) to examine problems, reflect findings, and apply them to improve their practice, and even the process of the research can be utilized for teaching development. Teachers do not need to focus on research, but on students and their practice. I do not have a lot of time to try other research methods, but action research is very time-efficient, researcher-friendly and directly related to teacher’s practice.

Ideas as a result of my action research

The action research I conducted was to see how Japanese teachers can improve their practice when teaching characters (Hiragana & Katakana). Due to the complexity of the Japanese language writing system, it has been a big burden on my students to memorize those characters in such a short period of time. Since my classes have already been finishing the Hiragana, only will my study now focus on how to study the Katakana. As a result of my action research, I found that taking time for students to practice in class and review each other works was very effective. I still need to research what kind of assignments and class activities can be utilized though. When we are doing Hiragana, I used matching game for 20 minutes at the end of class, which rules were students finding a card of hiragana with the same hiragana read by me. I didn’t use the same game this time, but instead, I did dictations in order for my students to get used to the sounds of the Japanese. I felt like fun games with more interaction would be able to encourage my students more.

Suggestions based on my findings

When I was studying the English alphabet at junior high school, it was such a pain to be quiet with having anything to do, because I’d already known all of them. While my classmates were practicing and completing charts or any works, I was waiting after completed them quickly. The same things are always been able to seen in my classroom. Some students can finish their work very quickly because they are already familiar with the materials while other students are still working on. Thus, teachers have better prepare extra works for those students. Actually, I tried before, providing extra work for students who finished the Hiragana chart quickly. It was a pair work, so they could interact and teach each other. Motivating students to complete their homework.