Conclusion & Reflection

The last section of this paper will discuss the limitations of this study along with looking

at the value it served to the educational field. The reflection component will address how this

survey has been of value to me and helped me grow as an educational researcher.

Limitations

The main limitation of this study is the small sample size. The generalizability of this

research would be increased with a larger participant pool. I would also like it to be more

balanced between men and women, as well as include more adult ESOL instructors not from the

United States. I also think a major limitation of this study was not being able to conduct the

follow-up phenomenological interviews in person. As a participant observer, I would have liked

to have been able to observe nonverbal cues and other unspoken elements of communication

during the interviews.

Value

As an educator, I truly believe that making change starts with impacting one individual. I

know that this study positively impacted Jacob, the male adult ESOL teacher I chose to conduct

a follow-up interview with. Jacob described the following method to address the affective

domain of adult ESOL learners:

on your role sheet have a little have a little box for each student for just giving them a

complement. Make sure that you do it even if you think you always do it to that student.

Make sure that every student gets at least one complement within a ten day period.

(Personal Communication, 2017)

I found this interesting in it of itself, as it was detailing an external manifestation of interpersonal

empathy. However, Jacob proceeded to follow his comment by saying, actually, I havent done
that in a while. That would be a good thing for me to start doing again (Personal

Communication, 2017). To me, this shows that this survey was of value to at least one of the

participants because it prompted personal reflection that is geared towards enhancing his

teaching practice. Also, I see the fact that 100% of participants were willing to conduct a follow-

up interview as a sign that these questions were of some value to the participants. If they did not

enjoy talking about the content, I doubt they would have agreed to go more in-depth with me.

In terms of adding to the educational literature, I think that these preliminary findings

have the potential to pave the way for future exploration into the affective dimensions of

teaching and learning. Perhaps other abstract concepts, like empathy, or the affective domain,

will be studied through in-depth case study analysis in the future. My hope is to have more

studies like this specifically within the field of adult ESOL instruction. I think this is necessary

because this study revealed that the affective dimension is very important to adult ESOL

teachers. Now is the time to go more in-depth about how to illustrate those concepts in more

tangible ways to promote further development of adult ESOL instruction and andragogy.

Reflection

This was an amazing way to end my program at the University of San Diego. My interest

in the affective dimensions of teaching began my second semester here, and I had no idea that

my program would come so full-circle by having my final capstone research project delve deeper

into one of my favorite aspects of teaching and learning.

This process took me from a student and educator to an educational researcher. I have

such a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding the process of conducting data that

yields valid and helpful results. Learning about the different types of interview questions and

practicing the art of crafting non-leading probing questions will help me significantly in my
teaching. I think creating those interview questions along with thinking of probing questions on

the spot will help me ask more effective questions in the classroom.

I also feel more confident in my ability to approach a phenomenon that I do not

understand. Before this process, it was quite scary and intimidating to begin an inductive

exploration. I had no idea what results were going to be yielded, and the unknown is always a bit

nerve-wracking. However, I now feel more equipped with effective research tools to approach

educational and social phenomena that I want to know more about. This was an extremely

beneficial process that helped me grow as a student, teacher, educational researcher, and whole

person.