ACTION RESEARCH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP: SAUDI EFL TEACHERS INTORUDUCED TO MULTIMODAL COMPOSITION PEDAGOGY

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to conduct an action research by proposing a Multimodal Composition (MC) pedagogy professional development workshop to Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in The Saudi University (TSU). The dissertation aimed to: (a) introduce the MC to the Saudi EFL teachers to explore potentials of adapting MC in their settings, and (b) assess the effectiveness of the workshop in promoting the implementation of the MC pedagogy. An online workshop was conducted in the TSU through a one-day online design workshop and 8 EFL teachers participated. Qualitative data was collected through multiple resources. Pre- and post-surveys included the same open ended survey questions to: (a) compare the information about the teachers’ familiarity, and understanding of the MC pedagogy to assess the effectiveness of the workshop, and (b) to elicit detailed information about participants’ perceptions and willingness of using MC in their English writing classroom. Besides the pre- and post- surveys, the study included a during-workshop focus group to generate rich discussion about teachers’ perceptions on using the MC pedagogy in the Saudi EFL classrooms. Findings of the study suggest that the MC pedagogy can be applied to the Saudi EFL context using different approaches for different purposes. The findings also show that Saudi EFL teachers find MC useful for their students. Thus, finding suggested that Saudi EFL teachers need to practice using the MC pedagogy as meaning making to make rhetorical consideration. The data suggest that future MC professional development in the EFL context can design workshops that include more explanation of the importance of meaning making through multimodal composing. Findings also show that the action research is an effective methodology to conduct professional development workshops in research studies in the EFL Saudi context.