Investigating EFL High School Algerian Teachers’ Views about Method-based Pedagogy and their Conceptions of Research

Abstract

This small-scale study tries to investigate the views and attitudes of Algerian EFL high school teachers towards the usual claims about method and their awareness of the significance of research as an alternative to method. The concept of method prompts my interest for it is the aspect dominating the language classroom, yet teachers seem skeptical of its usefulness in addressing classroom practice. In addition, classroom realities trigger my attention to the notion of research as a potential alternative. In fact, many educationists have been interested in this area of research and they emphasize that a change is necessary. Four research questions were raised around a major one to address these issues and two research tools were used: teachers' questionnaire and inspectors' interviews. A sample of twenty-two Algerian EFL high school teachers from different places was randomly chosen to respond to the questionnaire, and the interviews were conducted with four EFL high school inspectors from three different districts in Algeria to try to have an idea about distinct places. The analysis of the results revealed that the participant teachers do not fully believe in method, which paired up their assertion regarding the absence of a best method. In addition, the participants show a moderate level of reading academic research, which they think, partly promotes their professional development. As for teachers' voices in designing ELT, the participant teachers are rarely invited to take part in such decisions. And inspectors revealed that the reform is made by specialized committees; mainly university teachers. Concerning conducting research, the sample showed a moderate attitude towards being research-engaged. They welcome the role of teachers as researchers though they appear to be lost about how this will work in practice. The findings also revealed that learners are better engaged in the research process being partners in the teaching/learning process. The contribution of this study might be knowledge-increasing in the sense that they highlight EFL Algerian high school teachers' views of the usual claim about method and expand the research to news areas; the move towards a more teacher -research approach as an alternative