Observing a Class Learning Reading and Writing - Assignment Example

Report on room Observations This report is about the observations in es teaching English as a second language. It focused on the teaching strategies employed by the teacher as well as the student interaction during the classes. The classes observed had different lessons. One class was learning about grammar and punctuation while the other class was learning about reading and writing in the English language. Much learning was derived from the observations especially when supplemented by research, as will be presented in this report. Task: Observing a Class Learning Reading and Writing The class observed was a small group of men, four of whom are Arab and one is Chinese. The teacher stays in front of the class with the board next to her so she has access to it whenever she needed to write something to point out to the class. The format of the class is mostly the teacher asking questions and the students are expected to answer. When a student answers, she would usually feel the class for some agreement or disagreement and ask “Everybody happy with that?”. The teacher addresses each student by his name and looks directly in their eyes. She uses tag questions to check if they really understand. She seems to be sensitive of their comprehension and is eager to clarify things which may confuse them. This is very important with learners of a foreign language, as it is difficult to advance to a more complex topic unless the basic knowledge is established. The lesson observed was on Reading and Writing in English. The lesson was on the use of time linkers and some language structures that the students were asked to analyze. After asking the students to choose the right time linker word for the sentences on the board exercises, she would ask them what it meant to see if they understood the sentence. She gives an example and asks the students to give their own. Sometimes, she gives an example that is not familiar to the students and then she struggles to explain it. It is quite difficult for a teacher to explain something so commonly used to her to students who still find the language strange, but she needs to find ways for them to understand it clearly. Another lesson for the day was on punctuation. She taught the class to identify punctuation symbols. She explained what the symbols are for. She singled out one student who seemed to have a problem with the use of a comma and asked him to work on it more. After the discussion, she would ask questions about it to check if the students understood the lesson. Every time she catches a student making a mistake, she writes it on the board so they can correct it together. The teacher seemed to employ the Audiolingual method (ALM). This method aims for the learner to actually speak the language. ALM is firmly grounded in linguistic and psychological theory, mostly behavioristic ones by Skinner. That is why conditioning and habit-formation models of learning are incorporated with mimicry drills and pattern practices of ALM (Brown, 1987). Lightbrown & Spada (2006) agree that language learners do not simply internalize a great list of imitated and memorized sentences” (p.183). They need to learn ways on how others will be able to understand them better. In the class observed, the teacher was tactful in correcting the students when they made a mistake by writing it on the blackboard or by immediately correcting the mistake verbally. This is to remind them to use the language properly and is vigilant to correct errors when they are made so that the students are aware of them and become conscious enough to avoid them next time. Lyster & Ranta (n.d.) welcome feedback from teachers when students commit errors. They claim that it depends on their pre-negotiations. Feedback-uptake sequences engage the students more actively when they have negotiated that they need to correct a form in the language and know that they may be provided signals to assist them of the correction of the mistaken form. Providing feedback as part of a negotiated sequence, however is possible only when the learners already possess an adequate level of proficiency in the second language. Of course corrections from the teacher should be nonthreatening and potentially useful in making the students think deeper in learning the task at hand. Translating dictionaries were used by the students, but she encouraged the use of English dictionaries instead of Arabic (majority of the class were Arabs). She approved of students using pocketbook dictionaries but questioned those who used their mobile phones claiming they had a dictionary application installed in it because they may just use checking the dictionary as a reason but in fact they may be checking their email or texting. That is the downside of the availability of technological gadgets in class. They have multiple uses but they can be distracting. In terms of student interaction, there seemed to be a segregation of cultures in the class. The Arab men speak in Arabic every chance they get ex. (when the teacher went out of the classroom or was busy checking some papers). The lone Chinese man seemed withdrawn and did not socialize with his classmates. The class seemed to be very formal and serious and the students’ attention kept wavering. This may be due to the passive activities that the teacher uses, the lack of understanding of the language on the part of the students or the cultural differences among the people in the room. The Arab students usually talked together in their own language, leaving the lone Chinese student out of place. That is why he sat quite far from the Arab men’s group. In order for the learning to be sustained, interesting activities should also be employed such as collaborative projects or the use of fun games or other strategies that are meant to make the learning memorable. These strategies will encourage student interaction and engage them in participation no matter what culture they come from. On another day, the class observed was smaller but still studied topics in reading and writing. The class was doing exercises from the board and they were doing it number per number. The teacher called on the students individually. It was evident that the teacher dominated the session because the students were usually unresponsive or inattentive. Although the teacher tried hard to gain their attention by engaging them in the discussion and giving positive reinforcement when they respond to her, she seemed to be struggling in making them more cooperative. When interviewed about her work as a language teacher, the teacher shared that the students do not talk to her unless she engages them. She said she can sit for an hour quietly in class and no one would approach her to talk. Perhaps this was because the students were not yet confident in speaking English and were intimidated to talk to her privately for fear that their English skills may be judged by an expert. She was also dismayed that the students do not always attend class or were usually late. In one session, two students came in late. One was 15 minutes late and another was an hour late. For both students, the teacher reprimanded as they need to come in on time next time. To learn a second language, students need to complete the whole course and not miss any session as much as possible. It is important to stress the attendance requirement in the classes because English learning students are faced with daunting tasks in their journey to mastering the English language. Echevarria & Short (n.d.) enumerate the tasks and skills these students have to learn. “Using English, students, for example, must be able to read and understand expository prose such as that found in textbooks; write persuasively; argue points of view; and take notes from teacher lecture. They must also articulate their thinking skills in English—make hypotheses and predictions, express analyses, draw conclusions, and so forth.” These students need to integrate their emerging knowledge of the English language with the content knowledge they are studying so as to complete the academic tasks related with the content area. However, they must learn how to do these tasks by generating the format of an outline, negotiating roles in cooperative learning groups, interpreting charts and maps, and the like. Short (1998) emphasizes that the combination of three knowledge bases namely the knowledge of English, the knowledge of the content topic and the knowledge of how the tasks are to be accomplished, comprises the major components of academic literacy. Task: Observing the Teaching of Grammar The class began with the teacher checking out who did their homework. She wrote the agenda for the day on the board. It was to guide the students accordingly on what to expect so that they are more organized. It was written that for that day, these are their tasks: 1. Check and discuss homework on Present Perfect Continuous Tense. They need to talk about their life timeline from the past until the present. 2. They will talk about the difference in language use when writing in formal and informal ways. The teacher directed the attention of her students on the board and asked them to analyze the sentences and check for errors. One or two students would respond to her when called and they attempted to analyze the sentences. They did that number per number. Whenever the students make a mistake, the teacher does not make a big deal out of it so as not to embarrass him. She would say “that’s interesting” and call on another student to help give the correct answer. This way, the students do not get de-motivated. She also asked the class to do exercises for the lesson on their own. She would go around and check their work and point out if they made mistakes. She does not directly tell them but asks them to find them themselves but she gives some clues. The students’ life timeline was discussed. One student’s time line was posted on the board as an example. The teacher focused on when they started to learn English during their lifetime. The essence of learning for the adult learner is meaning. When learning takes place, the element of meaning is built into the whole experience. Ellias and Merriman (1980) concur, “the truly humanistic teacher respects and utilizes the experiences and potentialities of students”(p. 125). He gets his cues from his students in order for his class to be more productive. This implies that the adult educator should always consider that adult learners bring with them their own worlds of past experiences, knowledge and skills, along with personalities they have formed all throughout their lives. These should not be threatening to an adult educator’s competence and knowledge, but rather, he or she must take the opportunity to maximize the learners’ backgrounds to introduce further and deeper learning (Ryan, 2009). Use of the students’ life timeline was an example of deriving meaning from the lesson as applied to their personal experiences. It was observed that the students still seem unresponsive and it is the voice of the teacher that dominated the discussion. Some students seemed bored and kept checking their phones to the dismay of the teacher. The fact that the rules of the English language may not be meaningful yet to the students is already a cue that the teacher needs to make it meaningful by adding more learner-centred activities that are relevant to them. Employment of more content that interesting to the students will attract and sustain their attention. For example, discussing about food, cars, hobbies or any other topic that the students are into using the English language will surely be welcome. Several reasons may be argued in the incorporation of content in learning a second language. Firstly, content is rich in opportunities to develop knowledge that can be interesting and relevant in different subject areas. Secondly, students have the opportunity to apply new skills learned in terms of language functions as they practice the new language in understanding, discussing and reading and writing about the lessons. Still another reason is that students become more motivated when content is included in the lesson rather than merely learning the language. Finally, teachers are able to use various teaching and learning strategies in teaching the second language if content is incorporated in the lessons. Content-based instruction meets goals for both learning language and content and does not sacrifice linguistic skills for focusing on content knowledge (Stoller, 2004). The strategies used by the teacher for this observed class enabled the students to reflect on their own lives to plot in the timeline. Discussing their personal timelines to each other broadens everyone’s perspectives. The importance of activities that encourage the exploration of alternative personal perspectives, problem-posing, and critical reflection will advance learning, but also it is a commitment made that makes a good critical thinker is to always seek the truth with objectivity, integrity and fair mindedness. Bibliography Brown, H. D. (1987) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, 2nd Ed. NJ: Prentice Hall Regents Echevarria, J. & Short, D.J. (2011) The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Retrieved on 06 May 2012 Ellias, J.L. & Merriam, S.B. (1980) Philosophical Foundations Of Adult Education. Krieger Pub Co Lightbown, P.M. & Spada, N. (2006) How Languages Are Learned. New York: Oxford University Press. Lyster, R. & Ranta, L. (nd.), Corrective Feedback And Learner Uptake. SSLA 20, 37–66. Ryan, L.J. (2009) Adult Learning Satisfaction and Instructional Perspective in the Foreign language Classroom, Dissertation, University of Missouri. Stoller, E. (2004) Promoting the acquisition of knowledge in a content based course, In J. Crandall & D. Kaufman (Eds.), Content-based instruction in higher education settings (pp. 109-123). Alexandria, VA: TESOL.. Read More