Action research: A Brief Introduction

This article provides a brief introduction to the concept of action research, as a new genre of educational inquiry. The paper begins with a short history of action research, situating the development of action research in mainstream education, and more particularly in the Iranian ELT context. The article proceeds with a general definition of action research and a distinction between the two general conceptions of action research presented in the literature. Then, it turns to present a general framework for conducting action research. It is hoped that this brief introduction will serve as an initiative aimed at promoting this form of research among Iranian language teachers.