English language teaching research partnerships awards

As part of our work in English, we seek to establish links between policy, research and communities of practice between India and the UK. To stimulate innovative research and encourage classroom-based action research in English language learning and teaching, we launched the ELTReP Awards in India in 2013, in line with a similar award scheme in the UK. The ELTReP Award scheme in India has now been replaced with the Action Research Mentoring Scheme but continues to run in the UK as the English Language Teaching Research Award.

The ELTReP Awards were essentially for small or medium scale research projects and can be viewed as seed-funding for bigger projects. However, ELTReP Awards were not meant to support or contribute towards formal M Phil or PhD work.

The purpose of ELTReP Awards were to:

• Facilitate and strengthen the production of high quality research from India relevant to the Indian ELT community. 
• Document innovative classroom practice in India using rigorous action-research methodology.
• Improve access of ELT policy makers and professionals worldwide to high quality and relevant research from India and the UK. 
• Facilitate and encourage the establishment and maintenance of active research links between ELT professionals and policy makers in India and the UK. 

Any person resident in India and professionally involved in English language teaching with an affiliation to an educational institution in India. 

This scheme is not intended to fund PhD studies or similar research leading to an academic degree.

The British Council was particularly interested in research within the following areas:

• Learning and teaching of English for Young Learners
• ICT and new technologies in ELT
• English teaching in bi-lingual and multilingual contexts 
• Teacher education and training
• English language testing and assessment and applications of the Common European Framework of Languages
• English language programme evaluation
• English for development: Social, economic, political aspects of English, education, and language teaching.

There was a requirement for a clear research output in a form that could be shared publicly and without cost throughout the world (see the resulting research papers here). In addition to this output, researchers were encouraged to publish further outputs elsewhere, for example in peer-reviewed journals and at conferences.

The research must not have already taken place or be under way.

Funding was agreed for a maximum initial period of one year. This scheme was not intended to fund the field work of PhD candidates or similar research leading to an academic degree. We define research as original investigation undertaken in order to gain knowledge and understanding.

The following criteria were employed in the selection of awardees:

• The potential impact of the research on ELT practice.
• The relevance of the project and research output to ELT professionals.
• The quality of the research design and the qualifications and experience of the researcher(s).
• The amount of funding requested and proportion of funding from other sources.
• The proposals contribution to the aims of the scheme, including international research collaboration where appropriate.
• Linking proposed research with UK ELT practice, professionals and institutions is highly desirable, but not an essential criteria.

A panel of external ELT specialists and British Council staff evaluated each proposal against the criteria described above and with regard to realism of project costing. An interview was requested in certain cases.

Awards were made for amounts starting from GBP 200 up to a maximum of GBP 5000, payable in INR.

The award recipients were:

1. Santosh Kumar Mahapatra, Assistant Professor at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Hyderabad Campus - Using CEFR based Bilingual Rating Scales to Improve the Writing Ability of ESL Learners: A Multiple Case Study
2. Amol Padwad, Associate Professor and Head, Department of English at J. M. Patel college, Bhandara - Developing as Researchers: Promoting Teachers’ CPD through Engagement with Research
3. Chikkala Swathi, Assistant Professor at Department of English, GITAM Institute of Technology - Visakhapatnam, Current oral language assessment in professional colleges - Impact on student performance
4. Shahila Zafar, Senior Assistant Professor at English School of Social Sciences and Languages, VIT University, Vellore - An Empirical Study on the Efficacy of Project-Based Learning (PBL) Approach on Technical Writing Skills
5. Chanchala Tiwari, Assistant teacher at Tapsi Singh High School, Saran, Bihar - Assessment of ICT Implementation for ELT by English Language Teachers in Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools: An Evaluation Study in Bihar
6. Khaleeq Ahmad, Vice Principal at Tughlakabad village, New Delhi - The role and impact of CBSE ASL in enhancing speaking and listening skills of the students in Delhi schools with special reference to CEFR
7. Manisha Anand Patil, Head of the Department of English at Y.C. Institute of Science, Satara - Anxiety as a barrier in the English Language Learning: A Case Study of B.Sc. III Students from Maharashtra
8. Padmini Boruah, Associate Professor at Department of ELT, Gauhati University, India - Investigating ELT practitioners' perceptions of Self Learning Materials (SLM) development as an effective CPD activity

The award recipients in 2014-15 were:

1. Kirti Kapur, Associate Professor at NCERT, New Delhi - Assessment Practices in ELT in India: An exploratory study on the applications of the Common European Framework of Reference 
2. Anil Sarwal, Associate Professor of English DAV College, Chandigarh - Inspiring teachers: Case studies of English teachers in northern India who generate long-term motivation
3. Subhra Sarita Samal, Teacher at Binjharpur High School, Orissa - Phonological Awareness training for learning to read in early ESL contexts: a study of young learners in rural Odisha
4. Jayati Chatterjee, Assistant Professor (Linguistics) at English And Foreign Languages University, Shillong - The Impact of English Language Testing Practice on Indian ESL learners: A Study
5. Deepty Victor, Adhoc Lecturer at Patna Women's College, Patna - Comparative study of Teacher Educators under Bliss Project
6. Sudipta Singha Roy, Assistant Teacher at Gayeshpur Netaji Vidyamandir, West Bengal - Exploring Theatre in language learning in ELT in L2 environment with special reference to Govt. Aided/Sponsored Schools in West Bengal
7. Vijaya Lakshmi Mandava, Associate Professor of English at Gudlavalleru Engineering College, Andhra Pradesh - Teaching Lexis to young learners through comics
8. Shammaa Ashok, Learning Designer at Roots Learning Initiatives, Tamil Nadu - Learning Trails : New ways to be and belong in ESL classrooms
9. Bhanu Shankar, Head of Luxor World School, Chennai - Shared Reading Strategies to improve listening, speaking and reading skills in young learners between the age of 4 and 8
10. Deepa Kiran, Founder of Story Arts India, Hyderabad - Scope for teacher development through using storytelling in English Language classroom
11. Maruthi Kumari Vaddapalli, Professor at Raghu Engineering College, Visakhapatnam - Self-Regulated Strategy Development for Improving Letter Writing Skills of Engineering Students
12. Murali Krishnan Thekkeppatt Raman Nambisan, Associate Professor at MES College Marampally, Kerala - The Role of Translation in Second Language Learning With specific reference to Specialized Technical Courses
13. Jeena George, Teacher at L’ecole Chempaka International School, Kerala - Diary writing as a vocabulary building activity for English language learners
14. Kuheli Mukherjee, Assistant Mistress at Sakhawat Memorial Govt Girls High School, Kolkata - The effects of teacher written feedback on ESL learners’(14-16 years) writing skill development in state run vernacular schools of West Bengal

The award recipients for 2013-14 were:

1. Shobha KN, Velammal Engineering College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu - Word Wall Media as a strategy for Vocabulary Enhancement
2. Sujata Noronha, Bookworm, Goa - English Teaching in multi lingual contexts through a library program
3. Barasha Borah, Christ Jyoti Sr. Secondary School, Nagaon, Assam - English Skills required for employment in Assam
4. Seemita Mohanty, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Odisha - An assessment of the English language needs of tribal youth of urban Odisha and identifying the barriers experienced by them in their language learning
5. Balantrapu Kalyan, Gudlavalleru Engineering College, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh - Towards a viable Model of Continuing Professional Development for ESL Teachers in India
6. Sutapa Chakravarty, Chinsurah Deshbandhu Memorial Girls’ High School Hooghly, West Bengal - Application of Howard Gardeners theory of multiple intelligences in the English-second language classroom in Government-aided schools in West Bengal
7. Krishna Dutta Deka, District Institute of Education and Training, Jorhat, Assam - An exploratory study to understand the nature of present formative evaluation measures practiced in Elementary Schools and to assess its impact on the improvement of teachers' ability to teach a second language with special reference to Dibrugarh, Dima Hasao, Kamrup and Barpeta districts of Assam
8. Ramanujam Meganathan, National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi - An Exploration into English Language teaching in multilingual Indian contexts
9. Mizo Prova Borah, Guwahati, State Council of Educational Research and Training, Assam - English for beginners in multiple mother tongue classroom contexts in the primary schools in the district of Goalpara in Assam
10. Digambar Ghodke, S.N. Arts, D.J.M. Commerce and B.N.S. Science College, Sangamner Ahmednagar, Maharashtra - A Study of learning strategies in ELT Classrooms by the Monolingual and Bilingual learners (With reference to Marathi Medium Primary Schools in Maharashtra)
11. Madhuri Modugala, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, Karnataka - Including Learners in the process of material selection
12. Robert Slattery, Hazaribag Jesuits Education Society, Hazaribag, Jharkhand - Teaching English Grammar in Hindi medium schools in Jharkhand