When faced with a disconnect between second-language acquisition in classrooms and evidence from related research, who is responsible for bridging the gap? Implementing practice-based research may be the way to go, according to Masatoshi Sato, a professor of applied linguistics at Universidad Andrés Bello in Chile.
Sato — a graduate from McGill University with a PhD in educational studies and co-director of TESOLgraphics — emphasized the need for a more collaborative mindset in his recent lecture at Binghamton University titled “Benefits and Challenges of Connecting Research and Practice: The Case of Second Language Education.”
Assistant Professor Lieselotte Sippel from Harpur College’s Department of German and Russian Studies invited Sato to Binghamton to speak about his newest research.
“He’s a distinguished scholar in the field of second-language acquisition,” she said. “He has been working for years to find ways to bridge the gap and work more collaboratively together, teachers and researchers.”
Sato learned English as a second language, but did not feel as though he was learning how to effectively communicate.
“What I was learning, I felt it was more like history, science or whatever it is, to understand and memorize facts,” he said.
Now, his work centers around instructed second-language acquisition (ISLA) research in classrooms to help teachers facilitate their students’ second-language development. He is also co-author of a textbook with Shawn Loewen titled A Practical Guide to Second Language Teaching and Learning.
One of Sato’s goals is to transform findings from ISLA research into teaching practice by encouraging a dialogue between second-language researchers and teachers. However, when policymakers implement curricula based on research findings, a lack of communication between researchers and teachers could lead teachers to lean back on more traditional methods that their own teachers had used.
On the other hand, Sato highlights how the lack of communication on researchers’ end isolates them and leads to distrust from teachers.
“Researchers are standing at the top of the ivory tower,” he said.
These ideas prevent the ability to work toward the common goal of enhancing student learning. While many teachers want to engage with research, as Sato’s survey shows, they struggle to find the time.
“I think it’s unreasonable to expect teachers to voluntarily access research and incorporate it into their teaching,” he said.
In addition, researchers who come into the classroom for the first time expecting teachers to apply their research often create a bigger divide, as teachers are less likely to trust someone who hasn’t been in the school before.
“Maybe the problem is the researchers,” Sato said.
In another survey study, Sato asked a range of researchers — most of whom previously had been teachers themselves — what their goals were. All aimed to progress students’ second-language development but also wanted to make sure their research was being used by teachers. However, one of the main issues that researchers face is the rise in publication culture across universities.
“This idea that you need to get published or perish is invading everywhere in the world,” Sato said.
He believes research has become less meaningful and more about how much you put out. The emphasis has shifted to quantity over quality. This pressure, along with the social status gained from earning a PhD, contribute to conflicting teacher-researcher identities.
So, what is the solution? Researchers collectively agreed that they need to develop a community among researchers and teachers.
“The first thing we need to do is to recognize that both teachers and researchers are fit with different types of professional knowledge and experience,” Sato said.
Researchers and teachers share a common goal of enhancing student learning, and they all have different skillsets to offer toward furthering that goal if they work together.
While teachers have the ability to effectively instruct students, researchers are equipped with research experience that allows them to figure out which teaching approaches work best.
To be more collaborative, Sato promoted his idea of practice-based research, as opposed to the previous research-based practice. Researchers can work in the classroom with teachers and students without having to give up their careers.
“When researchers follow this framework, they can not only work with teachers and contribute to society, but also they can publish it,” Sato said.
Researchers can start by asking teachers what their pedagogical issues are and pose theory-based questions around those issues to promote research that would be most beneficial to teachers.
“Teachers, not researchers, are the ones who are knowledgeable of what kinds of intervention would work with their students,” Sato said.
When this type of collaborative research becomes more widespread, teachers may be more trusting of the findings, allowing for second-language acquisition research to be disseminated to the whole world.
Sato encouraged all those interested in collaboration to join his platform TESOLgraphics, where researchers and teachers can communicate effectively.
The most challenging part is how to make the experience mutually beneficial, he said: “By considering the different professional demands and rewards systems, I think we can be more empathetic towards each other’s jobs and realities. We can work together toward a common goal.”