Abstract:

The present research has as main objective the design and implementation of a theoretical proposal based on research Macroprojects, which intend to facilitate the development of research at distance in the undergraduate EFL program and contribute to the development and assessment of research, as part of the academic components offered by the curriculum. With this, research becomes a more meaningful process, giving students the opportunity of having a first-hand experience as well as acquiring the necessary research competences.

Within the process of observation, reflection, and constant self-evaluation, the Licenciatura en Lengua Extranjera Ingles (LLEI) proposed changes in the different academic spaces, and the research field is not the exception. Hence, students and teachers have the opportunity to reflect on their own practices and those contextual factors that affect the process of teaching and learning. Consequently, the research team has been implementing didactics of research in favor of developing meaningful research projects. Professors have implemented methodological changes in the courses of the research field, which are framed within the curriculum of the program and the School of Education at VUAD. In concordance to this fact, the research field teachers proposed the figure of the Macroprojects design as a strategy of research to enable students to learn about how to carry out a significant EFL research proposal.

To implement the new methodology, it was necessary first to re-think the research courses of the LLEI program, their focus, objectives, and competences. The courses before this implementation were based on competences and the achievement of students in terms of their proposal. The process could be understood as deductive, which made some students fall behind and require more teacher attention. With the new methodology, the objective of the courses focuses only on competences, and students are expected to comprehend the process to be followed while implementing their proposals, which makes this an inductive process.

These competences and this methodology have been implemented and the research group has boosted the teamwork with all the Professors in the program (both national and regional) to make the project feasible and coherent, and to have everybody participating of the design of protocols and strategies, besides working on presenting students with the new approach to research at the LLEI. Due to this implementation, participants’ roles have become more relevant and active. Professors and students are now part of a research network, in which the professor is not the center of knowledge, but it is created collaboratively according to the realities and possibilities of the participants.

With the implementation of research Macroprojects, an innovative methodology of EFL research didactics emerged, that has Professors working together with students in developing research competences by being with them in the process rather than by directing actions towards developing a research project. In this way, students develop research competences progressively through following the research courses that make part of the curriculum. These competences include reading, comprehending and synthesizing relevant literature connected to the research interest; coding and categorizing data by following the Subproject protocol procedures; and analyzing, interpreting, and concluding the study.

Keywords:

Macroproject, Subproject, Microproject, research protocol, didactics, EFL research, research, distance education, research network, language teacher.