Browsing by Author "Mäenpää, Noora"

This thesis examines lower secondary school English teachers’ beliefs and practices on active learning. The aim of the study is to find out how English teachers view active learning and how much active learning methods are used in the English classroom. The study is also interested in what types of active learning exercises are most commonly used and if there are any limitations to the usage of active learning methods. In addition, the study aims to find out how the teachers have seen active learning affect their students, if at all. The data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with six lower secondary school English teachers. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed with qualitative content analysis. This data collection method provided answers to all the research questions. The analysis showed that active learning methods were frequently used by the interviewed teachers. This was due to the teachers believing that they benefit their students as well as themselves as they liked teaching more in that way. The active learning exercises that were most commonly used were games that included competition and exercises that were used for learning vocabulary. The teachers reported some limitations when it came to active learning methods including time restrictions and the mood of their students which can vary. However, these did not limit the use of active learning methods. Active learning methods seemed to be beneficial to the students according to the teachers. They reported that it added to the students’ motivation and could help diverse learners as it gave them the opportunity to learn in a different way.