CLASS OBSERVED BY VIANEY

EXECUTION AND MANAGEMENT OF AN ENGLISH LESSON CLASS


Name of the observer: VIANEY AMERICA FRANCO HERRERA. 0725130
LESSON PLAN

DATE OF OBSERVATION: April 8th, 2010
LEVEL OF THE GROUP: Elementary grown up people
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Basic since they are beginners.
LENGTH OF CLASS: 60 minutes
NO. OF STUDENTS: 6 (3 women and 3 men)
AGE: 17 to 55 years old.
TYPE OF SCHOOL: Public School

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Most of the students come from different backgrounds as well as different types of schools. The group is made up of 2 old men, 3 teenagers and 1 mature woman who are interested in learning English in this basic workshop. All like to listen to English music and want to learn this language.

ENVIRONMENTAL CLUES: This class takes place from 5 p. m. to 6 p. m.

MAIN GOALS: It will be a teacher centered lesson class and at the end of the session they will do an exercise of filling in the spaces in order to check their understanding about the topic. Besides, they will be able to give oral directions to others.

ASSUMPTIONS: Prepositions of place are already known by the students


TOPIC: Places in Town & There is- are

STRUCTURES: There’s a (place)…There are (place) …
There isn’t a… There aren’t any…
Is there a... (Place)? Are there any… (Place)? ...,
Yes, there’s a... (place) + Preposition of place

VOCABULARY: Places in Town (hospital, bank, convenient store, school, park, gas station, parking, museum, grocery store, hotel, movie theater, drugstore)/ Prepositions of place (next to, on, in front of, between, across from/ opposite, on the right, on the left, go down)

SOURCE OF MATERIAL: English in mind Student’s book Starter p. 38 & 39.

LESSON PROCEDURE:
10’: Whole class: Ss recall and get oral practice in using places of the town + prepositions of place. Use board drawing of a city map. Elicit where places are. Encourage Ss participation.

10’: Whole class: Ss listen to a dialogue and write names of places on a map. Practice the conversation in pairs.

15’: Pair work. Aim: Further oral practice. Ss improvise to extend the short dialogue and act out the scene. Groups watch each other.

10’: Whole class: Aim: pronunciation of th sounds.

15’: Reading: Students read about the city of Cambridge.

Homework: Ss write a text about their city or town.

CLASS OBSERVED
(MY PERSONAL COMMENTS)

TT GIVES CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS AND MODELS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE USAGE: At the beginning, teacher started with the pre-instructional brainstorming strategy to recall and get oral practice in using places of a town + prepositions of place. He asked Ss to give places as fast as they could. When they did not remember or did not know the word in English Tt mentioned it.

I have learned these pre-instructional strategies are established to activate or to generate knowledge before the pupils improving their connection with the new information; They serves as a leap to the knowledge of the pupils and to use such knowledge as base to create new learning. They foment a clear connection between previous knowledge and the new information to learn by means of an integrating process.

In this case, I will also use this kind of pre-instructional strategy at the beginning of the class. But, maybe the use of newspaper and magazine images or a power point presentation - could have been exploited in the explanation of this topic; since communicative approach also seeks to use authentic resources which make the class more interesting and motivating. What makes me think it is important not to be restricted to a white board or the book.

TT GIVES EFFECTIVE TEACHER/PUPIL INTERACTION (RESPECT, ADDRESSES SS. PROPERLY, MOTIVATES THEM, ETC.): Tt encouraged Ss participation all the time. Tt action zone was determined by everybody because all were nominated to take an active part in the class. There was an effective teacher pupil interaction due to that it is a reduced group. He addressed Ss properly and respectfully. He always used Ss names. Likewise, Tt allowed all Ss equal opportunities to participate therefore his interactional competence was excellent. In spite of the fact that Tt always motivated his Ss he also forced them to participate during the whole class.

I really think that the motivation is not something that a learner has or does not have but rather something that varies from one moment to the next, depending on the learning context or task. But, I am sure Tt attitudes and affective states have influence over the degree of effort that learners make to learn an L2.

During the class I observed Tt forced Ss to participate even though they were not ready to do it yet. For me, when a learner is not ready to talk and we push him it may have a detrimental effect due to he could lose the little confidence he has.

T PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEER GROUP INTERACTION: Tt grouping arrangements (pair work - filling the gap when listening to the CD passage and acting the role play) was right since through interaction between pairs, Ss can be given the opportunity to draw on their linguistic resources in a non-threatening situation and complete different kinds of tasks.

When the group is reduced, a round table is also properly to have more contact with the whole group and everybody could get benefits when dissipating doubts. This way, Tt would not spend too much time with only a couple as he did, unfortunately.

TT DEVELOPS ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE WHOLE CLASS: Tt presented the topic. He made use of brainstorming strategy to activate and generate knowledge before his pupils improving their connection with the new information. (10’) However, Tt spent too much time in this activity; maybe 5’ would have been enough.

Tt made use of a warm up because he “created a positive atmosphere to practice and experiment with the language. Here, he could call the student's attention; he brought back the vocabulary and knowledge Ss
already had learned. He could even anticipate the new vocabulary and structures.” (10’)(1) Nevertheless, it was as if the prepositions came to his mind and he wrote them, instead of preparing them beforehand to have a better structure of the class. I did not see any preparation on his part.

He made a good groping arrangement during the listening and filling the blank activities. Moreover, he spent more time than he expected (20’) maybe due to not preparing the class enough or perhaps because he did not remember the length of the listening passage. I insist, I did not see any kind of preparation.

In spite of the fact that, his activities were varied (brainstorming, listening passage, filling blanks, and role play) he only used four of the six planned items since he considered spending more time in oral practice (around 25’) performing a communicative output activity such as role play, which allowed students to practice at least this ability. Nevertheless, I counted 65 minutes instead of the 60 minutes that considered in his lesson plan. In addition, there was not homework to practice the new structures. Again, I did not see preparation by his part.

On the other hand, I know that “teaching involves making a great number of individual decisions”. (2) These decisions are made before (“planning decisions”), during (“interactive decisions”) and after teaching (“evaluative decisions”). However, I could notice that his planning decisions were made years ago, and he did not worry about preparing his class again. He jumped from one stage to another without having a real connection between the stages.

During the lesson itself, Tt had to make use of interactive decisions and decide how much time he had to add both in listening and oral activities due to the Ss needs. I felt the time spent was not really taken into account and he just wanted to finish the activity with no real objective.

About his evaluative decisions, Tt told me he felt pleased with his labor even though he did not finish his entire lesson plan. Therefore, there was not a wrap-up activity, unfortunately, the class time was over. But I think, how can we feel pleased if we did not convey knowledge correctly? How can we feel pleased if we do not get a real and meaningful goal at the end of the class?

In general terms, I did not like the class, because there was neither a real learning nor a good feedback. Sometimes, I was yawning with boredom because the activities seemed not to have ending.

TT USES A VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES: Teachers, in general, plan activities designed to facilitate the learners’ acquisition and use of the target language. In that context, an activity “is described as a task that has been selected to achieve a particular teaching/learning goal” (Richards: 1996) (3)

I consider that as teachers we use in our class one type of activity more often than another due to its utility and according to our Ss needs. Furthermore, when we are good teachers we worry about the activities we design or prepare in order to develop or maintain in our Ss any kind of motivation they feel. Nevertheless, in this case, the activities seemed not to be prepared or selected correctly by the Tt.

TT USES ADEQUATE MATERIALS AND AIDS: I think he did use the available materials. He used white board, book, cd- player, and cd (from the English in mind Student’s book Starter) because it was easy this way, especially if he did not prepare his lesson in advance. However, I insist that the use of newspaper and magazine images or a power point presentation - could have been also exploited in the presentation of this topic. Perhaps, I would have used a power point presentation. First, I would have pointed out a specific and colorful item once such as a school or a hotel in different parts of a neighborhood, so that my Ss could practice.

TT GIVES SUPPORT FOR UNDERSTANDING: MAYBE YES, but I never listened to him giving support for understanding when realizing the play role, for example. I saw Tt was moving from one side to another and talked with his Ss in Spanish most of time.

From my point of view, in order to give Ss support for understanding our role should be as an assistant, “helping them along”; and as a resource, “being available for information and guidance” (4) Furthermore giving an effective monitoring of learning.

Additionally, when a Tt corrects Ss in oral practice, he should make sure Ss “understand where the mistakes are and how they can be corrected” in order not to make the same mistake next time. (5) But in his case, he never corrected the Ss mistakes. Therefore, they made the same mistake again and again. I am aware that constant correction is unnecessary, but if a learner is not corrected at the third time s/he will think s/he is talking correctly and it is not true.

TT GIVES OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEARNERS TO APPLY THEIR EXISTING SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE: I considered Ss did not provide a previous knowledge of the places. They said the words in Spanish and Tt translated the words. Maybe in a previous lesson I would have given some place words in order to be familiar with them. And then I will also recall those words at the beginning of this lesson. This way I could have said that Ss would apply their existing vocabulary and knowledge.

TT GIVES OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPING ENGLISH LANGUAGE USE. (HOW THE GRAMMAR OR VOCABULARY GETS USED): He gave opportunities for developing English language use. He established the use/ pragmatics of English language, it is to say, when and why is used There is a + place + preposition. Also, when his Ss practiced a short dialogue or when they played the role of tourist and citizen. (social context created by interlocutors)

TT INCLUDES DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO TEACH GRAMMAR:
HE DID INCLUDE DIFFERENT APPROACHES. Traditional Grammar, for example, consists on giving brief explanations about rules and concepts with reference to the structure of language. Therefore, Tt taught the structure of There is a+ place+ preposition to memorize the model and the order of the words (Traditional Grammar).

Besides, syntax is concerned with how individual words are put together to make sentences. Hence, all words are classified into categories such as: Expletive subjects (There), verb (to be- is, are), nouns (places), and prepositions (next to, on, in front of, between, across from/ opposite, on the right, on the left, go down), as he explained.

There was no Ss freedom to predict, guess or generate sentences as in the case of “generative grammar”. But, he paid attention to syntax (structure of the sentences) and semantics (the study of linguistic meaning) Therefore, he also used Generative Grammar, in spite of the fact he wrote in his lesson plan to practice the sound th (phonology), it was not possible due to that the time was up, as I told you before. Yet, I would consider that this activity is a waste of time in the case of a grammar lesson.

In addition, he used pedagogical grammar because it is designed to teach someone; how and when to use a language, as he did appropriately explaining when *there is/there are* are used. Moreover, this kind of grammar is organized according to usefulness and ease of learning. As I explained previously, the topic was easy and it has a real usefulness when a tourist comes to our city and s/he does not know how to arrive some place or if s/he is near the place S/he is looking for.

Also, pedagogical grammar contains chapters which tend to be short and contain very brief grammatical explanations. (Even though, I would consider that apart from memorizing the model, he also gave Ss a brief grammatical explanation in Spanish which, for me, was extremely useful for clarification and instruction). Finally, this kind of grammar is written for anyone who is interested in learning a language and in this case, all the Ss are eager in learning English.

About the communicative method, which is much more pupil-orientated; it is dictated by pupils' needs and interests. I am pretty sure he made a great effort Ss were able to convey their thoughts. But the class was always Tt centered.

On the other hand, I could see that the classroom activities did not maximize opportunities for learners to use target language in a communicative way for meaningful activities. I could also notice that Tt let them talk and express themselves but completely in Spanish. However, I could see Tt generated in his Ss the spontaneity when they tried to answer applying any kind of knowledge.

And the last but not the least, Tt used Deductive/Overt Grammar because Tt was explicit and opened about the grammar of the language. He provided Ss with grammatical rules and explanations. Then, he asked the students to answer a listening exercise. Finally, he asked Ss to perform a role play (tourist and citizen).

About the Deductive and Inductive Methods -- Grammar teaching - of both the overt and covert kind - has a real and essential place in the classroom. Though, the teacher is the only responsible one to decide which approach to choose depending on the age, learning and cognitive styles, social and cultural factors, or needs of his/her students.

REFERENCES:

Hernández, Gerardo & Frida Díaz (2002), “Estrategias Docentes para un Aprendizaje Significativo” 2nd Ed. Printed 2007(p.138-345).Ed. McGraw Hill.

Richards, J.C. and Lockhart, CH., (1996). “Reflective teaching in Second Language Classrooms”. Cambridge: UK. Cambridge University Press. pp.138-160

Pienemann, M (1984) “Psychological constraints on the teachability language”. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 6, p. 186-214

Richards, J.C. and Lockhart, CH., (1996). “Reflective teaching in Second
Language Classrooms”. Cambridge: UK. Cambridge University Press. pp.152

(1)Richards, J.C., and Lockhart, Ch., (1996). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge: UK. Cambridge University Press. p. 114.

(2) Richards, J.C., and Lockhart, Ch., (1996). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge: UK. Cambridge University Press. p.78

(3)Richards, J.C., and Lockhart, Ch., (1996). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge: UK. Cambridge University Press. p. 161.

(4) Harmer, J. (2004) “How to Teach English” Malaysia:, Longman, (p.109)

(5) Harmer, J. (2004) “How to Teach English” Malaysia:, Longman, (p.110)

Celce- Murcia M. (2001) "Teaching English as a Second Foreign Language". Heinle. P. 252

Soton (2008) “Introduction to traditional grammar” Retrieved 16th of March, from: http://www.soton.ac.uk/~wpwt/notes/grammar.htm

Scribd (2007) “Transformative –Generative Grammar” Retrieved 16th of March, from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/240279/Transformative-Generative-Grammar

Tom McArthur (1998) Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language Retrieved 16th of March, from:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-GRAMMAR.html

Glossary of Linguistic (2004) “what is a reference grammar?” Retrieved 21th of March, from: http://www.sil.org/LINGUISTICS/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAReferenceGrammar.htm

Harmer, J.(1987) "Teaching and Learning Grammar". Longman

Aber “Communicative Approach” Retrieved 16th of March, from: http://www.aber.ac.uk/~mflwww/seclangacq/langteach9.html

Schema for evaluating the preparation, execution, and management of lessons taken from: Richards, J.C., and Lockhart, Ch., (1996). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge: UK. Cambridge University Press. p. 96