discussion paper

For the Working Group: Richard Donato, Carine Feyten, Frank Medley, Jr., Deborah Parks, Marcia H. Rosenbusch, Sharon Wilkinson

As we move toward becoming a nation that offers foreign language learning for all students, we continue to face questions about instructed second- and foreign-language acquisition, delivery systems, classroom practice, assessment, and professional development. In order to achieve credibility with our stakeholders and to influence policy and planning, we must present empirical evidence from well-designed research studies that directly address these issues. It follows, therefore, that our research mission includes the monitoring, description, and evaluation of programs and practices, and the effects of such programs upon student learning and achievement. To this end, our research should embody a variety of methodological tools that are well suited to the important questions we ask as a profession of language educators. The results of our effort will not only inform the field and the public at large, but they will also provide the needed and welcome dialogue among those in the profession. We maintain that, although research is an overarching need in all areas of our current professional conversation, we cannot wait until all debates are settled concerning the "best" research or paradigm for investigating the questions before us: such a stance is paralyzing and counterproductive. We agree, therefore, that research must be on going, dynamic, and encompassing of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Furthermore, we must encourage public and private funding for both basic and applied research.

Current and future research in our field must be open to divergent points of view, methodologies, and practices that both enrich the dialogue and question current and future paradigms. Although we have much anecdotal evidence that informs us, we must continue to observe, test, describe, and disseminate our ideas and findings. Through systematic, longitudinal studies of our practices, we will be in the best position to argue our case to stakeholders who make and control the policies that guide us.

Research Community
Research can be the catalyst that will bring the various cultures represented in our field together to build a community of inquiry composed of our many voices. To this end, we could create a culture that provides space, both virtual and real, for all of us (pre-K-16+ students and faculty) in a community that values and respects research efforts. Taking into account contextual considerations, we could provide for vertical and horizontal interaction (i.e., mentoring, dialogue, and contacts) between and among us.
In creating a research community we could:

• prepare all pre-service and in-service teachers at all levels (pre-K-16+) to carry out action research.
  

• set up a systematic mentoring process (possibly online) for research projects and other professional development activities.
  

• encourage junior colleagues (students, beginning teachers, and untenured assistant professors) to participate in research as a means of professional development and communicate to the profession the importance of such activity.
  

• set up a national network of senior research mentors for untenured assistant professors who are isolated geographically or symbolically. Mentors could list both their expertise and their interests. Recognizing that mentoring is both vertical and horizontal; senior research mentors could include practitioners from all levels of the pre-K-16+ continuum who have the experience and willingness to participate.
  

• set up a national network of experienced researchers who are willing to work with/mentor pre-K-16+ teachers on action research. As stated above, "experienced researchers" is an inclusive term.
  

• set up a mechanism whereby this community of inquiry can easily conduct dialogue about professional cultures, beliefs, and contexts, and where members of the community will actively listen to each other.
  

• set up a national database of pre-K-16+ practitioners who are willing to participate in action-based research.
  

• set up a mechanism whereby available data can be linked to researchers and vice-versa.
  

• set up a formal mechanism to ensure that K-16+ teachers engage in reflective thinking in their short and long-term plans.
  

Agenda

Without being prescriptive or restrictive, we need to describe current research and disseminate both research results and research personnel to the profession at large as we identify future areas of inquiry. Given that research questions are always linked to larger questions and issues, we recognize that the topics listed here for discussion by our colleagues are inextricably connected to one another.
In setting a research agenda we could:
In general:

• lobby private and public funding agencies to fund research that reflects professional priorities.
  

• identify and make public a research agenda (e.g., the implementation of standards) through the establishment of well-focused, researchable topics that will unite pre-K-16+ faculty in action research projects.
  

• establish research programs that examine and explore whether foreign language learners can do what we expect or have claimed they can do.
  

• review research agendas established in the past and organize relevant findings and ideas.
  

• incorporate into research the voice of teachers and students in classroom descriptive narratives (e.g. narrative research with pre-K-16+ students and faculty).
  

• establish a mechanism for providing input by all stakeholders (e.g. students, faculty, community, policy makers) on desired research projects.
  

• build on English as a Second Language research and explore its connection to foreign language education.
  Language learner:
  

• design and conduct longitudinal studies to document cumulative achievement of children in early language programs.
  

• research the effects of early language learning on cognitive and attitudinal development.
  

• design and implement longitudinal studies that focus on describing and defining the emergence of second language skills at the intermediate and advanced levels.
  

• research new perspectives on outcomes assessments: content, definitions, etc.
  

Language practitioners' experiences

• research the effect of policies, mandates, and local contexts on language learning outcomes.
  

• research the effect of scheduling configuration (e.g., block scheduling), sequencing, and physical settings on language learning outcomes.
  

• gather data on multilevel classes, multiple entry, and multiple intelligences.
  

• research classroom discourse and its effect on learning.
  

• provide studies and comparative data on existing curricular models/outcomes at all levels.
  

Technology

• gather data on the efficacy of technology (e.g. digital modes, distance learning) with respect to language learning.
  

• gather data on the various contextual factors related to the use of technology.
  

• describe the ways technologies are being used or could be used in teaching foreign languages.

Access

We recognize that access to research findings involves not only the availability of data, willingness to pose questions and seek answers but also the availability of funds, time, and a participatory culture. Furthermore, access must be available to existing and future raw data (e.g., data collected by a school district) as well as to existing and future findings (e.g., published studies or unpublished reports).
To enhance access, we could:

• establish a fund for financing research fellows to analyze existing data.
  

• compile a database/web interface of model curricula and materials.
  

• identify currently available, searchable databases
  

• establish a center for the interpretation of existing data and aggressively seek funding for such a center.
  

• establish a technological, searchable database on worldwide foreign language projects according to level: pre-school, elementary, secondary, post-secondary.
  

• establish a formal and systematic way of analyzing available data collected by pre-K-16+ teachers.
  

Dissemination

Dissemination of research findings is vital if we are to have a voice and a place in our nation's educational future. Whether we perceive our stakeholders as students, colleagues, community leaders, political figures or others, it is imperative that we provide them with accessible information and concrete data on programs. Additionally, as with any profession, we need to demonstrate to stakeholders the value that the foreign language profession places on research activity. We must find ways to disseminate our research activity and findings to a wider audience.
To make sure that our research efforts become part of the national conversations at all levels, we could:

• explore new avenues of research dissemination such as popular print and broadcast media as well as other technologies.
  

• encourage foreign language journals to publish studies that address the national research agenda in special issues or special sections of current issues.
  

• encourage researchers in foreign languages to seek dissemination outlets in professional media and research journals outside the immediate field.

  
  RESEARCH
  Synthesis and Significant Additions from the Board of Reviewers Comment

• There is no discussion of how the national language centers established by the federal government might be utilized.

• There is little emphasis on making research "readable" for the average classroom teacher.

• Research is the umbrella that will bring us together, if anything does.

• These suggestions are leading foreign language educators into the "technology trap" and should be carefully considered. Our humanistic, literary, and cultural purposes (the anthropological kind) are neglected.

• There should be some mention of the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) and the data that will be available to researchers based on the first National Assessment of Education Progress for foreign language in 2003.

• Within the research models presented there does not seem to be a place for research about literature, including literary criticism, cultural studies, or cultural criticism.

RESEARCH
Additions from Delegate Assembly and the New Visions Focus Session
1999 ACTFL Convention

I. National Research Center
Establish a National Research Center in order to

• provide better access to data and findings
  

• enhance collaboration and coordination among researchers to avoid the Lone Ranger syndrome
  

• select, prioritize and promote research topics that are vital to the field
  

• establish a national research agenda
  

• provide standards for different types of research: qualitative versus quantitative, for example

II. Dissemination of Research
Enhance the dissemination of research through the following activities:

• Provide more venues for oral presentation of research such as alternatives to the standard conference presentation
  

• Provide alternatives for written presentations about research through technology (Internet and Web sites)
  

• Influence journals to publish articles "outside the box"
  

• Create special collaborative volumes / books between and among the professional organizations

III. Post-Secondary Research
Enhance post-secondary research through the following activities:

• Broaden what "counts" for promotion and tenure
  

  • Professional organizations should develop and endorse a statement about types of research and how it should be judged

• Establish a "research standard" endorsed by the professional organizations
  

• Provide released time, reduced teaching loads, and better rewards for research
  

• Increase the rewards for mentoring research for junior faculty in their research activities
  

  • Such mentoring should count more than general service

IV. K-12 Research
Enhance research activity for K-12 teachers through the following activities:

• Make the understanding of research a part of pre-service teacher development
  

• Reward K-12 teachers for reading research-based publications
  

• Reward K-12 teachers for engaging in research
  

• Establish and publicize guidelines for action research
  

• Provide professional development training in how to read research
  

• Provide professional development training in how to conduct action research
  

• Allow K-12 teachers to establish areas / issues / questions for research to be completed by post-secondary faculty members