Reflective dialogues in negotiating the research-practice nexus: a case study of an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher-researcher collaboration

Abstract

Reflective dialogues between researchers and teachers in Design-Based Research (DBR) projects are often presented as promising opportunities for establishing the research-practice nexus. However, collaborative DBR partnerships in language teacher education remain underexplored. This case study aims to address this gap, exploring how the research-practice nexus is fostered or challenged through reflective dialogues between an EFL teacher and a researcher in a DBR project. Based on data from semi-structured project meetings, informal planning and reflection sessions, and a researcher’s field diary, this study identified collaborative goal setting, the codesign of a lesson sequence, and a multifaceted understanding of the lesson design as central reflective practices for fostering the nexus. At the same time, the study reveals significant challenges for the research-practice nexus, including differing conceptual understandings, asymmetries in roles, and tensions between practice-oriented and research-driven priorities. Practical implications are discussed for future researcher-teacher collaborations within language teacher education.