Creating a collaborative ESL classroom through teacher leadership : a case study in Guizhou Province, China

This research looks into collaborative learning with teacher leadership in the ESL classroom of Guizhou, China. The phenomenon, purpose, research methods, main results and conclusions of the study are provided in the abstract. Under the phenomenon of New High School Curriculum Reform Program in China in 2004, all Chinese schools are trying new teaching methods to improve students’ English level. The purpose of the study is getting a better understanding of collaborative learning with teacher leadership in the ESL classroom. Qualitative research is applied to collect the data from the Chinese school. The research data is collected through two questionnaire surveys (open-ended questionnaires), one is for teachers, and another one is for students. The results of this study mainly indicate how to create a collaborative ESL classroom through teacher leadership. The results include some reform changes, teachers and students’ attitudes, advantages and disadvantages, barriers, the ways of utilizing collaborative learning with teacher leadership, and many advices from teachers and students. The central contribution of the study is that the researcher made an investigation of collaborative learning with teacher leadership in an undeveloped ESL classroom of Guizhou, which has Chinese characteristics. Limitations and recommendations of the study are also summarized