Creating Effective Student Focus Group: A Guide for English Teachers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Focus groups as a research method can help teachers get a better picture of students in Englishspeaking classrooms in sub-Saharan Africa. This guide outlines best practices for conducting focus groups and making decisions that take into account the linguistic and cultural diversity as well as realistic concerns such as time and resource constraints that are common in sub-Saharan African educational settings. The approaches outlined will help English language teachers collect a large amount of qualitative data while addressing the regional challenges.