Die Verzahnung von Theorie und Praxis in der Aus- und Fortbildung von Fremdsprachenlehrkräften ist ein zentrales Thema in der fachdidaktischen Forschungsdiskussion. Diese Studie untersucht, ob und inwieweit Aktionsforschung, d.h. die systematische und datengeleitete Untersuchung der eigenen Unterrichtspraxis, die professionelle Entwicklung von Englischlehrkräften unterstützen kann. Die Ergebnisse der Studie zeigen, dass Aktionsforschung Lern- und Entwicklungsprozesse auf verschiedenen Ebenen anregt. Nicht nur kognitive, sondern auch soziale und emotionale Faktoren spielen dabei eine Rolle.

This qualitative-interpretative study investigates a cohort of twelve English teachers enrolled in the M.A. programme ,E-LINGO - Teaching English to Young Learners'. The aim is to explore if, how and under what circumstances classroom action research, a core component of the programme, can foster teacher learning. Since the participants have different educational and cultural backgrounds and various levels of professional experience in the field of language teaching, they offer different perspectives on the object of research. Data from multiple sources are triangulated and interpreted to elicit indicators for learning and development in the form of critical learning incidents. The results suggest that not only cognitive, but also social and affective factors constitute the complex process of teacher learning.

Autorentext

Nora Benitt lehrt Didaktik der englischen Sprache und Literatur an der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen.

Klappentext

The education and professional development of foreign language teachers is a challenging endeavour - for the (student) teachers themselves as well as the teacher educators involved. This study investigates a cohort of 12 English teachers enrolled in the M.A. programme 'E-LINGO - Teaching English to Young Learners' in a qualitative-interpretative study. The aim is to explore if, how and under what circumstances classroom action research, a core component of the programme, can foster teacher learning. Since the participants have different educational and cultural backgrounds and various levels of professional experience in the field of language teaching, they offer different perspectives on the object of research. Data from multiple sources (semi-structured group interviews, learning logs, portfolios and observation notes) were triangulated and interpreted to elicit indicators for learning and development in the form of critical learning incidents. The results suggest that not only cognitive, but also social and affective factors constitute the complex process of teacher learning.