Observation Report

METHODOLOGY OBSERVATION REPORT
Observation Report: Methodology

Kathleen Hamel
Colorado State University

Abstract
This observation report was written for Methods in TESL/TESL. Therefore, the focus of
this observation report is how the teacher presented grammar points, not an analysis of the
material being presented. As an observer, I was required to accomplish four different tasks
throughout my observations, which can be found at the end of the paper. These observations
provided insight into using different styles of teaching for different types of learners, while also
being aware of the pace and intonation of your speech as a teacher.
Keywords: observation report, methodology, and reflection
Course Description
The class that I observed had 13 students enrolled in an advanced grammar class taught at
the INTO language school at Colorado State University (CSU); the title of the class was
AEAD8403: Advanced Grammar. The INTO language school is where international students go
for an academic English pathway program before their entrance into CSU; INTO is a private
British company that sets up international students with various American universities.
The students came from three different native languages: Brazilian Portuguese, Arabic and
Chinese. Students came from China (1), Oman (3), Brazil (2), and Saudi Arabia (1) with the
majority of the students coming from Kuwait (6). The students varied in age from 18 all the way
up to 26 years old in addition to different amounts of English education, ranging from one year
upwards to thirteen. According to the teacher, the students proficiency level varied; however,
she believed that their grade in class did not reflect the proficiency she felt that they possessed.
Out of the thirteen students, only two were female. The students were able to sit wherever they
wished; although through observation they tended to sit in the same places.
The class met M-F at 8:00-9:20 am for ten weeks. The classroom, where the class was
held included computer access along with technological aid such as different types of projectors
that were computer-compatible. As far as other types of aid in the class, the class textbook was
Understanding and Using English Grammar by Azar and Hagen. Within the syllabus it is also
stated that other handouts and assignments will be posted via RamCT, an educational platform.
There were also guest speakers that came in, although not mentioned in the syllabus; these
speakers seem to have served the students needs outside of their grammar learning.
The goal of class as referenced in the syllabus states: Raise awareness of grammar points
taught at the upper advanced level and equip learners with greater grammatical proficiency for
communicative use in other skill area classes. The objectives listed in order to obtain said goal
are:
Recognizing and comprehending grammar forms in meaningful context
Reviewing rules for usage of grammar points taught at this level
Understanding connections between grammar forms and meaning in both language

production and comprehension
Producing accurate and more complex grammar in various speaking and writing contexts,
including drill-oriented exercises, controlled communication practice, and free
communication application activities
The specific grammar points that students should learn by the end of the quarter include:
Noun clauses
Quoted and reported
Gerunds and infinitives
Conditionals
Tag questions and negative questions
Instructional Procedures
Throughout my observations, it seemed as though the 8am start time for the class seemed
challenging for the students to start on time. So in order to stall the first five minutes or so, the
teacher would often start by asking the class general questions like, How was your weekend?
What did you do? Did anyone have questions about the homework? Once it seemed as though
all of the students were present, the teacher would get started with her lesson plan. This generally
included a review of what was talked about in class the day before or going over the homework,
starting in groups and then eventually engaging in a class dialogue or vice-versa. If there wasnt
homework, there was usually a small quiz administered at the beginning of class; it seemed as
though these quizzes were not only comprehension checks but also ensured that the students
were more likely to do their homework since the quiz material was over problems dealt with in
the homework.
Once the homework review and/or the quiz were completed, the teacher would open up to
the class. This would involve practicing exercises based on the material that was tested/reviewed.
The majority of exercises that were practiced during class time were performed in groups. The
group work consisted of many different varieties. One example included direct exercises from
the book to be worked on in pairs and then reviewed for the whole class by use of the projector.
Another variation included the creation of a poster that included a visual representation in order
to interpret the meaning of an idiom. If group work wasnt started then that would usually lead
way to the presentation of new material. The teacher would open the floor to students if she was
presenting a new topic; the opening of the floor would consist of the teacher essentially asking
the students whether or not they knew the new topic. She would do this by asking directive
questions in order for them to have the potential to come to the correct conclusion. Upon
discussion, she mentioned that this was extremely important; it enables the students to take
control of their learning, something that allows for better comprehension of the topics for
students.
Upon the presentation of new material, the teacher used abundant of different teaching
techniques. Since this was solely a grammar class, the teacher utilized aspects of the GrammarTranslation Method quite often; the rules that were associated with a topic were explicitly given
to students, whether through instruction directly by the teacher or from within their textbook, and
then were practiced in exercises that pertained to that rule (Larsen-Freeman & Anderson, p.19).
Along with the direct explanation of these rules, the teacher would typically supply the correct
answer when students had an error, another aspect of the Grammar-Translation Method being
used.
The majority of class time was spent between these two types of activities, review and the
presentation of new material. Once both of those were completed then the teacher would wrap up
class by generalizing what was learned and assign homework, usually along with the date and
content of the next quiz or test.
Most assigned homework was reviewed in groups, as mentioned above. Group work
seemed to be a key feature in this classroom. More often times than not, group sizes consisted of
two or three people and generally broke up the alike native speakers, although this was difficult
since the majority of the class speaks Arabic. The teacher would pair students up a number of
ways. Sometimes she would allow them to chose partners, usually students would turn to the
person sitting next to them or around them, and other times she would intentionally partner
students up. The reasoning for this forced partnership would be for one of two things: either she
would pair a strong student with a weak student or two students with similar proficiency levels.
In general, if theyre practicing new material, then she typically pairs opposite strengthened
students together (weak-strong) in order to allow for both of the students to be given a stronger
learning opportunity. Since the strong student would have to explain to the weaker student the
difficulties they are having, this would essentially allow for them to be teaching them. This is
also beneficial for the weaker student because it allows for them to receive student driven
informational input and this could allow for a different explanation and could provide a new
level of understanding for the weak student. When the teacher was pairing up students who were
at a similar level, it was towards the end of working on a topic, so that the two students could
push one another, this means that the students were able to challenge one another since they
were on the same playing field. This group work falls in line with the characteristics displayed
in Cooperative Learning. The students did not think of the activity in a competitive manor but
rather cooperatively, the teacher would assign groups with intentionally and finally
accountability and responsibility were shared amongst peers (Larsen-Freeman & Anderson, p.
189)
Involvement in Class
My involvement in the class consisted of attending five of their classes, although nonconsecutively due to the attendance of a guest speaker along with other factors. Initially I started
off simply observing the class and their interactions. I typically sat in the front row so I was able
to see the whole classroom.
During group work, which was a fairly utilized activity, I would walk around like the
teacher and observe while occasionally stepping in for assistance on the exercise that they were
working on. After my observation of these group exercises the teacher asked if I would be
willing to participate in the activities going on. So I was soon able to step in and interact with the
students, as a student. I would participate in activities such as Have you ever? This is when
students ask one-another a set of questions and look for the student that has done said activity,
and write their name down on the assignment sheet. In addition to this type of aid, I was used as
a clarification tool for the teacher when demonstrating certain phrases that native speakers say or
dont say. The culmination of these was the extent of my in-class participation.
Outside of the classroom, I met with the teacher and provided grading assistance to her. I
graded about two out of the three pages of students tests, the third page being a written prompt,
which the teacher felt more comfortable in grading. Initially I was given little instruction about
the way in which the teacher wanted me to grade, however after a couple of tests she analyzed
the method I was using, corrected that and suggested a faster and more efficient method. In
addition to this, I was able to talk with the teacher about the various questions that arose
throughout my observation period.
Personal Reflection
Coming from an adult-driven ESL teaching background, something I found that my
students always had was motivation. The type of environment that those classes were set up for,
only allowed for those types of students in order to truly thrive. My first realization in the
observation of these classes was that: just because a student is learning a language, doesnt mean
they want or care to. I found this to be quite surprising. For the students at INTO I assumed that
they would generally be motivated since they were driven to apply to a school that was not in
their home country, which required many hoops to jump through. However, through discussion
with my observation teacher I came to realize that the way the INTO program is set up tends to
prompt students to an unmotivated stage upon reaching an advanced level. Since my class was an
upper level class, most if not all of the students had already gotten into University; what this
meant is that the reason they are continuing classes at INTO is to maintain their VISA status.
This allowed for smart students (based on the assumption that they got into an American
University as an L2 speaker of English) to feel as though the classes that they are currently
taking arent important, relevant and this tends to lead to bad grades; at one point in the class
even, the teacher mentioned how many students were failing. This led me to wonder, what truly
motivates a student? The desire to learn a language? The need to? When does a student feel as
though they dont really need to learn any more language-focused skills? And most importantly,
as a teacher, what can you do to motivate students?
Through my observations, the teacher primarily used one tactic to try to motivate
students. The way in which this was done was through the discussion of future expectations that
teachers at the University level would have for their students. The tone of the discussion was
usually in a stern, yet realistic manor. She was consistently trying to motivate her students in this
way. If she wasnt using this method to engage the students, then she was using more of a scare
tactic approach. What that means is that she would mention to the class that the majority of the
students were failing and that with their respected levels, it seemed to be absurd that they werent
putting in more effort to pass, or even learn.
Motivation is not the only thing a teacher needs to be concerned with. Creating lesson
plans, grading, and even student-student interactions are something that teachers need to
constantly be aware of. Something else that caught my eye in my out-of-classroom time was the
different types of techniques of grading. From the adult ESL teaching point-of-view, it is
something I rarely came in contact with, so it was a skill that I was extremely unfamiliar with. I
found that I started out like most teachers, in the fact that I was trying to correct every small
detail. I found this to be very daunting and time-consuming. When the teacher came back to
check on me while I was grading she made a great point, dont take more time than the time that
students are going to take looking it over. More often than not students look over the errors, and
toss them aside. So its important to spend time where it truly matters, maybe by using that time
to create more engaging lessons, something that would have a greater pay off with the students.
Creating engaging lessons plans is important, however I found that students that spent
time in class practicing English with one-another was just as (if not more) important. Listening in
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on group discussions allowed for me to first-hand witness the negotiated feedback that goes on
during classroom time- and to be able to view it from more of a student-perspective rather than a
teacher. It seemed as though students who actively participated in the small group tasks allowed
for more discussion of the material, what was right, what was wrong and the reasoning behind
either. This allowed students to better understand the difficult grammar concepts that were being
presented throughout the class. When regrouping into the whole class dynamic, it was apparent
that they were able to comprehend and explain the ideas better than when they just worked on
projects individually.
Overall I found that these observations not only allowed me to see what its like to be a
teacher and all the details involved with being one but also gave me a very important perspective
and thats of the student. It can be easy to loose perspective of what is interesting to students, or
how to present information (that they might consider boring) in a way that is interesting and
engaging to them. The overall goal of a teacher is to be of service to students in their path to
learning English, so its imperative to always be able to keep the students perspective in mind
when preparing for the class.
Classroom Observation Tasks
Task 1: Lesson Phases
#
When/lesson phase
What did the teacher do?
What did the teacher say?
Going over the homework

as a whole class- reviewing
what was previously learned
Clapped and rubbed hands

together.
Okay, ready?
We are going over exercises
26, 35 and 44 which is the
last one in the chapter.
Going over the homework in

small groups
Pointed to different places

in the room directing
students to move around
into groups.
Okay, okay.
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Go over Ex 35 (HW) as a
class
Places the book onto the

projector so its displayed
on the white board.
See that wasnt so bad.
Ex 46
Changes the book page on

the projector.
Okay last exerciseIts

my favorite
Introducing a new topic
Cleans board off and then

proceeds to write phrases on
the board.
Any questions or can I do

something else? No
response.
Okay.
Using a grammar box in

the book to explain a rule
Turns the projector on with

the book displayed on the
whiteboard.
Alright. Okay. Here we

go.
Worksheet
Walks around and passes

out the handout.
Calling out students names

to put into certain groups.
Goes over worksheet as a

class
Turns on the projector

again, with the worksheet
displayed.
Alright, has everyone

finished?
Wraps up class
Writes homework on the

board.
Im going to stop here for

today. Heres the homework
thats due tomorrow.
Reflection
The general patterns that emerged when observing the occurrences of a change within the
class included: physical movement from the teacher, generally by pointing and using hand
movements, as well as certain transition phrases that the teacher utilized to indicate a different
direction of the class. When the teacher wanted to move on to a new topic, she started by looking
at the class, and then scanned over them, in what looked as though she was checking for
understanding amongst the class. After she scanned, she generally asked if everything is OK?
During this questioning, she used hand movements to: point at exactly what she was referring to,
open her palms up to elicit responses from students or would give a thumbs up or down for
12
checking comprehension. If she wasnt asking OK?, then in other observed classes, she would
use phrases such as Moving on now to, Finally, and To summarize
Signposting is used for many different reasons within teaching. It allows the students to
regroup on what was just discussed, allowing the teacher to wrap up and review of the activity.
The closing of the activity tended to allow for comprehension checks amongst the students,
giving fully clarification on the subject and inviting students to ask questions. Even before
comprehension is checked, signposting can be used to indicate examples of the topics presented;
this teacher always provided examples, which is important for students to see how these rules are
used within English. Finally, it indicates to the student that there will be a transition in the
activity of the class and that a new topic will be presented. Maybe this could allow for students
who were unmotivated from the previous part of the lesson to become interested in the next
phase.
Its important to ensure that all students in the class are to stay engaged within the class
period; this alone is a difficult task depending on the attitudes of the students, material presented
and even the day of the week. Signposting can play an important role within keeping all students
interested. It can allow for easy transition between topics, whenever it appears to the teacher that
there needs to be a change made within the class based on the energy that the students exude.
This can allow for a faster pace within the class since it can allow for movement between topics
easily.
However, it can be easy to generalize that students are solely unmotivated by what is
being taught. Its crucial that not too much time is taken up by one activity because over time the
students ability to concentration on the phase of the lesson decreases. Signposting gives the
opportunity to get students back on focus, alert and concentrated on the material being discussed.
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It can also provide the opportunity to know of whats to come. For example, the teacher used
We will be going over this homework next class as a signpost to display the indication of
what would be to come.
Not only can signposting allow for review, comprehension checks and get students
reengaged, it can also provide a transition between topics. These explanations can allow for the
reasoning for presenting material (a) before material (b) and how (a) and (b) are connected. Its
important to explain to students the reasoning behind why one decides to teach specific things so
the student can make those connections within their English learning. If students do not make
these connections on their own another technique that could be utilized as signposting would be
to ask questions as to why the topics discussed are relevant and important.
Task 2: Lesson Planning

Observation
Inference
Discussion questions
Teacher explains cultural

expectations about going to
the doctor.
Students might not know what

health care options are
available at the doctors office
or at the pharmacy.
- Do they get a doctors note as

an excuse for not coming to
class?
- Could this show for another
way of lack of motivation
(mentioned below)?
Reiterates course
procedures, focusing on the
students ability to
resubmit assignments for
credit.
Trying to encourage students

to complete all the work they
are assigned, since some
practice is much more
beneficial than none at all.
Sets up the expectations
within the course: that it is an
advanced level course and her
expectations of them are that
they should be completing
homework and be coming to
class.
- Do the students really not

have enough motivation to
complete assignments?
- Are there other factors that
are contributing to them not
turning in these assignments?
Discusses the common
If there is a consistent problem
- Is important to go through all
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mistakes of the most recent

exam. This occurs both
verbally, and with the
question projected on the
write board and edited with
dry erase maker.
then there is lack of

comprehension in meaningfocused output.
Asking students to fix
problems allows for
negotiation between teacherstudent in addition to studentstudent.
mistakes? Or should one allow

the students to seek out the
answers from purely their
motivation?
Refers back to what was

taught yesterday: gerund.
Practices the gerund.
Its extremely important to use

repetition in order for
comprehension to turn into
fluency.
- How often do you feel its

necessary to repeat a topic in
order for the students to get
it? Is the repeated amount in
relation to the difficulty of the
subject?
Elicits the students to

create sentences and the
reasons of those from the
rules.
Allows for language-focused

learning.
- Are they only recalling the

learned material because its in
a structured way? (Especially
since its displayed in such
manor in the textbook in front
of most of the students)
Acknowledges that
students are enrolled in
INTO for certain reasons
The way the INTO program is

set up allows for this lapse in
motivated students.
- What predictions do the

students have for the university
that theyve been accepted
into? (assuming thats why
they are being lazy)
Pairs students up to work

compare homework
answers
Allows for self-correction

amongst peers, which would
allow for low stress
environment
- Does this provide students to

get all of their
concerns/questions answered?
Goes over student selected

homework questions on the
projector, along with
choosing students to
answer those certain
questions.
Giving visual aid allows for

the difficult areas to be
pointed out and then
discussed.
If students choose the
questions to go over, then
theyre more interested and
motivated to learn about the
topic presented.
If their answering the
questions, that gives a sense of
pride and ownership of their
work.
- Is there another effective

way(s) to go over homework?
- If the students dont have the
full correct answer how else
could you elicit a correct
answer out of a student?
15
Addresses the issue of

students lack of
motivation
Easy to feel frustrated that

students arent working to
their full potential.
- Is it necessary to continue to
reiterate the same point if the
students dont seem to be
caring as much as shed like?
Students take quiz
Necessary to evaluate
comprehension, since this is
an EAP class. Evaluated on
the material that was
previously discussed in class
- What types of questions do

you to prefer to put on quizzes?
Multiple choice? Extended
response? A mixture?
Displays three sentences

on the board, and asks the
students to complete the
sentences with a gerund
(w/out book!).
Seems as if the teacher is

trying to elicit a new topic out
of the students.
- How often do students come

up with rules?
Goes over examples that

were displayed on the
board, if they can or cannot
use the gerund in these
sentences.
Eliciting student responses

allows for an open dialogue
about the new material that is
being presented.
- If some students are shyer,

how do you engage them in the
class discussion?
The class comes up with

the new rule with the
teacher directing this new
realization.
If students come up with the

patterns of the rules, then this
allows for material to be better
understood. Sometimes it
takes direct instruction from
the teacher in order to get the
details of the rule.
- In what other ways do you

present new rules? Which do
you find to be the most
effective?
Explains to the students

that as a teacher she
doesnt like teaching out of
the book.
Important for the students to

know the reasoning behind the
way she teaches in order for
them to know what they can
expect out of the course.
- What do you use the book

for? Homework only? If so, do
you think its necessary for
them to bring their books to
class? Do you see it as a
disturbance in class or aid?
Assigns homework over

the gerund work that was
just discussed.
Practice is important in order

for their comprehensionespecially in such a fast-paced
class.
- Do you usually assign

homework from out of the
book and RamCT? Or do you
utilize worksheets or other
forms as well? Which do you
prefer?
Reflection
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Lesson plan format before the lesson:

My lesson plan prior to the day of class would consist of a lot of details. This would
ensure that if during the time of class, and something changes, I have specific ways of dealing
with such situations. This could include more activities planned than I expect would necessary;
the details allows for material to be skipped when needed, for example when students are
grasping the concept more than I anticipated, and the need to go over material again would be
unnecessary. This is also applicable to the opposite situation. Additional exercises might be
required to discuss material that was presented that could be confusing and unclear to the class.
When preparing a lesson plan, its essential to ask: where would the students ask
questions? Where could the student be confused by the wording of certain directions? These are
more features that I would include within my lesson plan so that the class can flow with ease.
Along with ease, its also important to know how to be able to explain certain topics, which can
be difficult when trying to articulate on the spot.
Format during the lesson:
While every teacher hopes that the lesson will go exactly how they envision when
creating said lesson plan, the realistic one knows that this typically an ideology, and not reality.
Thus during a lesson, its important to know what is working and what isnt working within the
class and to be able to tailor to the needs of the class on that particular day. What these means is
that one would utilize the lesson plan as more of guidelines of how the class will go vs. using
every specific feature that was established in the lesson plan. Its important to be able to be
flexible as a teacher because students will ask unexpected questions, which could then lead to an
entirely different project.
17
Although this change of direction is fairly likely to happen, its also the teachers job to
ensure that these off-topic discussions are relevant to the student and their leaning. So if they are
leading it in a direction that does not allow for productive use of classroom then, then its also
the teachers responsibility to refocusing the class and get back to that general format of the
class.
Format after:
When reflecting upon the class and the activities within it, its essential for teachers to
ask themselves: what worked and what didnt work about it? This allows for the editing of
activities that the teacher thought might work, and didnt. It can also allow for evaluation of the
topics that need to be discussed within the next class period or even the necessity to revisit items
that were thought to have been previously learned.
Task 3: Focus on the Learner
Student
Level
Signs of Level
Teachers Strategies
Mazin
Struggles with thinking in immediate

(real-time) English translation went
asked directed questions
Fixes problem
Musaab
Knows grammar rules well, as displayed

by his knowledge of responding to
questions asked to the whole class by the
teacher, but does not get all of them
right- seems to confuse some
Tries to get him to give an

example of what hes
asking about, in order to
validate his knowledgeends up not letting him
finish his thought and
provides one
Saud
Very good at being able to explain what

he wants to say but struggles with the
words he is trying to use
Often finishes thought for

him, if he wasnt already
interjected by other
students
Abdulaziz
(Aziz)
4.5
Seems to be very confident in his

abilities of speaking English, although he
isnt always providing correct answers to
Questions him to get an

answer out by using very
descriptive grammar rules
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questions when prompted

Fatemah
Knows what she is talking about when

she speaks out loud in class discussion- it
seems to be sporadic, as though she
knows what she knows well but does not
know all of the material covered
Tries to lessen student

stress by joking when she
gets something wrong.
When trying to answer,
doesnt allow for the
thought by the student to
be fully completed
Mobarak
4.7
Had difficultly learning new material,

seemed to continually confusing the
concepts from the new material with the
old
Would correct him,

pointing out the
differences between the
two
Mohammad
Ala.
Talks aloud very infrequently although

seems to understand through receptive
ques.
Very direct when

correcting when mistake
was noted
Mubarak
4.2
Actively participates in class discussion,

seems to give correct answers with
minimal grammatical error
Questions him when he

does get something wrong
Mohammad
Alm.
4.2
Quite during class, only interaction noted

was he go the whiteboard activity
question wrong
Prompted the other

students to fix the mistake
that was made
Saleh
4.5
Seems to be shy in class, doesnt say a

lot. Got an example question correct in a
whiteboard activity
Very little interaction hadreassurance when example

was correct
Matheus
4.2
Has a lot of questions, very curious about

potential examples that could fit within a
certain model
Answers questions, gives a

little negotiated feedback
Mariana
4.5
Rapidly gives examples/answers to most

things discussed within class. Seems to
be very confident in knowledge of the
subject. Answers questions with ease
when put on the spot, even answers
questions when other students got them
wrong
If mistakes are made, then

very directive in the
corrections made
Steven
Not involved in class discussion. Seems

distant, disengaged and disinterested in
the class occurring.
Tries to encourage him to

pay attention, to put away
his phone and to do the
homework
19
Reflection
When teaching a class, I am very aware of the different levels within the classes, even
within the different aspects of learning (speaking, listening, reading and writing). These levels
are most apparent when performing freethinking written responses done by the individual. It
shows the vocabulary that they know and understand, their grammatical knowledge and their
ability to connect these two thoughts, demonstrating fluency. Another aspect of a lesson plan
could display these differences are on-the-spot dialogues. It provides the student a real-time
conversation allowing for them to freely express themselves displaying their productive
knowledge of English and their receptive knowledge of the other persons input.
I find that its important to group students of different levels. This grouping allows for a
display in gap of knowledge for those lower-leveled students and provides an opportunity for a
stronger leveled student to be able to display their knowledge of the subject in a meaningfocused directed output style.
Ways of
Grouping
levels
Expected Outcomes
Sample
activity
Group weak
students
together
I would expect these students to be able to fill in their lapses of

knowledge between one another. If they cannot come to the right
conclusion together then they would receive this information
when discussing it as a class. It would be important to be aware
of their needs, and even asking them if they have any specific
questions.
Cloze
activities
Group
strong
students
together
This type of activity requires the students to push one another.

This can allow for broadening their creative abilities since they
have the capability for negotiation to create this new dialogue. I
would expect their presentation to have little to no pronunciation
mistakes, some grammar errors and the correct utilization of the
more difficult vocabulary presented or grammar points.
Creation of
a dialogue
Mix the
groups
I would expect that mixing the groups in this activity allows for
greater competition among peers, which then leads to more class
participation and motivation in students. The exercise is not too
Running
Dictation
20
challenging for the weaker students and enables them to practice

recalling stored information along with engaging them in a low
stress environment. For strong students, this is also a fun activity
that can push their memory, speech and spelling skills.
Task 4: Giving Instructions
Phase of
Lesson
Instructions
Comments
Going over
homework
Now this is what I want to

doTurn to whoever is
around them and review
your answer
Instructions were answered by students

response
EX 23
Ask two people different

questions from the
exercise?
Only a few students actually asked more than

one person a question. Some students do not
converse, and instead work on the homework
they did not finish. One student does not
understand instruction, which seems to be
associated with respected level.
EX 22
Gave detailed about the

instructions about the audio
recording. How there will
be the example, how times
theyll hear the prompt
(twice) and then goes over
an example
Response well received. Teacher walks around

to check for participation although participation
seems to be more like completeness/correctness
Quiz
Lets close everything and

take the quiz
The students respond to this by putting away

extra materials, like cell phones and books
Introduction
of the
Infinitive
Get paper out for

dictation.
Students have experience with dictation, as they

proceed to get a piece of paper out and prepare
to listen
EX 24
Open your bookTake a

look at ex 24. Read over
directions from the book
and gives the examples
Students actively respond to the examples given
EX 25
We will finish it
tomorrow. What do you
think? Starts giving
examples from the book
Students pick up on this right away although

they were not told the rules/directions. Wonder
if this is a teacher-specific response
21
Reflection
Its important that a teacher thinks about the way in which a task is presented and the
instructions given to complete said task. There are many different ways in which this can be
accomplished. While observing, I noticed the use of visual support through the use of the
projector. This allows for different types of learners (i.e. visual) to be given models and
examples in a conceptual format. Along with the visual support, its imperative to stress details
that important to the directions that are being given.
The stressing details can be presented in a number of different ways. One is for teachers to
provide examples that the instructions allude to. While providing examples, it would be more
beneficial to the students if they can figure out the answer on their own or within a whole class
setting. Teachers can do this by using related examples pulling from past knowledge of the
material. These examples could be done through modeling to the students. This can give them
explicit expectations and allows the student to be able to conceptually visualize all aspects of the
assignment.
Another way that teachers can stress the important details of an assignment could include
the teachers becoming conscious of the pace in which they talk, the articulation of important
terms and also the way they stress (or dont stress) certain words. In addition to the way they say
words, teachers needs to be conscious of the segmenting of phrases and sentences. This allows
for time to check for clarification during pauses. Its essential for teachers to allow for the
opportunity for students to have a chance to ask questions about what is being discussed in order
for them to be able to fully complete the assignment to the teachers expectations.
While giving these opportunities to check for clarification, it would be ideal for the
teacher to move around the room. This movement allows the teacher to be looking at the
22
students, glancing over them to look for those deer in headlight looks. If these looks were
stumbled upon, it would be necessary to ask the student questions to elicit them to ask what they
need clarified. This activity could allow for more effective instruction giving, since it would
allow for complete understanding from the students.

References
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Anderson, M. (2011). Techniques & Principle in Language Teaching.
New York, NYs: Oxford University Press
23

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METHODOLOGY OBSERVATION REPORT