Teaching research methods in EFL classrooms at the University of Basra : a constructivist-based inquiry

Abstract EN

This conceptual research work mainly reviews the nature of research methods across the academic departments running English programmes (language and literature) at the University of Basra (BU).

The main research problem is that these institutions, particularly, the Department of English - faculty of Arts, barely value or place stress on the significance of Academic research cross curriculum/course subjects and its impact on the socio-economic sustainability and intellectual improvement.

Teaching of academic research at this department emphasises only the technical aspects of research, ignoring the argumentative and the rhetorical dimensions implied.

The current paper, however, does not intend to invalidate the existing teaching methodology nor does it deeply analyse the research college curriculum/textbooks.

It rather presents theoretical foundations of the most widely-cited research pedagogy; it aims at remodelling the research methods taught at this department by virtue of direct and indirect experience and observation; and it advances/proposes pedagogic approaches for the notion “students as researchers”, or as “co-researchers”, as Miller and Walkington call it respectively (2007, 2015).

This paper also discusses the challenges in teaching what, how and when research is conducted and suggests practical solutions for this most neglected research loop.

Moreover, the current paper seeks to create a profound notion of the interconnection between research, teaching and learning.

The researcher, thus, conducted a constructivist-based inquiry to examine the nature and implications of academic research by reviewing the departmental research requirements and the actual teaching hours, revisiting the research practices and policy, and putting forth a conceptually/theoretically-based research pedagogy that could be possibly useful to this department.

The proposed pedagogical frameworks following this constructivist inquiry could provide impetus for the Department of English to rethink, remodel and restructure the teaching practices of research methods and bring new philosophical insights for the research students and for the faculty as well.