VALUES EDUCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION: CLASSROOM BASED ACTION RESEARCH

One of the main purposes of any university is to prepare students for a wide range of professional tasks and future success. Accordingly, developing the human and social potential of learners is a necessary component of a holistic and well-integrated education. This is not an exception in the context of English language learning and instruction in higher education. Indeed, as any other educational setting, ELT (English Language Teaching) involves a wide range of values which influence both the teaching and learning processes. This paper describes a six-month classroom based Master’s Action Research project I conducted as an EFL (English Foreign Language) teacher at the UV (University of Veracruz) in Mexico. It emerged from critical reflection upon my own practice. I realized that I seldom promoted values intentionally. As a result, my habitual practice was incongruent with current institutional goals. To that end, I carried out and evaluated actions aimed at nurturing values in a more conscious way throughout an EFL 1 course at the UV. Before undertaking this study, a preliminary investigation was conducted in order to establish a baseline. The study progressed through three cycles of action in which a multiple perspective approach to collect and analyze data was employed. The results of this piece of research were analyzed across three different dimensions: a) teacher role in promoting values, b) strategy development, and c) activity development. The overall results indicated that this action research positively impacted students’ development in the area of values as well as bringing about changes in my teaching practice.