Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions of language instructors regarding the concept of “research”. 150 instructors working in a preparatory school of a foundation university which has established a research unit participated in this study. Participants completed the prompt “Research is like…because…” by focusing on one metaphor about research. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to figure out the perceptions of research and whether they differentiate according to participants’ experience in his or her profession, experience in conducting research, frequency of doing research, having a graduate degree, and participation in research unit. Content analysis was used to analyze the perceptions of the participants. Data collection is in process. The findings of the study will show the perceptions of language instructors about doing research and the factors affecting those perceptions. The results will provide valuable suggestions and implications for teacher education and professional development in terms of the importance of conducting research as a language instructor.

Keywords:

Metaphor, research, perceptions, language instructors.