Reading sources and academic freedom as determinants of trends in English language teacher research in Egypt: an interview-based study

Little attention has been given to investigating the experiences of teacher researchers while undertaking their studies. In an attempt to explore what accounts for the stereotyped and imitative trends in the studies conducted by English language teachers in Egypt, the present study has explored how they select research topics and the factors influencing their research orientations and processes. The study used semi-structured interviews with 25 Egyptian teachers who were doing MA and Ph.D. studies in TESOL. It was found that they view good language teaching research as either testing the effectiveness of instructional techniques or evaluating textbooks, though most of them opt for experimental research due to its practical nature. The study also revealed that reading sources and academic freedom are the two main determinants of research trends in this context. Apart from the association found between the teacher researchers’ perceived academic freedom and the type of literature they read, the following three other factors also accounted for the relative variance in such freedom: (a) the stage undertaken in the research, (b) the number of supervisors available or assigned and (c) the research degree registered for. The article concludes with discussing the implications of these results.