Africa ELTA Classroom Research Mentoring Program

Africa ELTA is committed to enhancing the quality of English language teaching and learning in Africa. Towards this goal, Africa ELTA organized a pre-conference event (PCE) in Abuja on August 8th, 2019, in collaboration with the IATEFL Global Issues Special Interest Group (GISIG) and Research Special Interest Group (ReSIG). The PCE aimed to introduce the idea of classroom research to attendees and encourage them to conduct research in their own classrooms and schools. The event included a series of workshops by African and international speakers to give attendees hands-on experience and share with them the basic tools to conduct classroom research.

Following the success of the event, interested teachers were invited to join the Africa ELTA Research Project Group. The project was run by Africa ELTA in collaboration with the IATEFL ReSIG in 2021 and involved teachers from different African countries each working with their students and other colleagues to develop contextually appropriate solutions to specific classroom challenges through research in their classrooms, schools, and EFL communities. Communication within the group was mainly through a WhatsApp group and a Yahoo discussion forum set up for the purpose. In addition, a series of webinars were organized by the ReSIG to support teachers through the different stages of research. Africa ELTA and ReSIG mentors worked closely with the participants and supported them during the process of their research. The final product from the 2020 Program is a joint publication by IATEFL ReSIG and Africa ELTA on this link.

The second round of the program is run entirely by Africa ELTA and includes mentors from among Africa ELTA international and African members. Stay tuned for more information on this project as it is unfolding.