Tam Shu Sim

Systematic research on English language teachers' perceptions of research has not yet shown whether or not ‘teacher research’ is acceptably understood and carried out in institutions of higher education worldwide. Moreover, understanding cross-cultural (mis)conceptions of and barriers to research is an important initial step in promoting teacher research engagement. This article explores perceptions of teacher research held by 68 university lecturers (38 Iranians and 30 Malaysians) teaching English at graduate and undergraduate levels. Data was collected using questionnaire surveys followed by focus group and electronic interviews. The participating lecturers reported their views on the nature of research, their levels of reading and doing research, and their reasons for research engagement. Comparative analyses of their response frequencies indicated that common perceptions of research were more in line with traditional views of research in both subgroups. Low research engagement by doing and moderate engagement by reading was reported by teachers from both countries. Time limitations and lack of skills were reported as the most frequent barriers to teacher research. A series of Chi-Square analyses comparing the two contexts indicated significant differences in how lecturers saw good teacher research and how they were affected by different de-motivating elements of their institutional research culture. The findings indicate that socio-cultural contexts affect research perception and have valuable implications for the curricular promotion of teacher research in English Language Teaching in institutions of higher education in the targeted institutions