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CLASSROOM OBSERVATION AND PRACTICE LANGUAGE TEACHING

Classroom Observation and Practical Language Teaching

Stepanka Narovcova, 610669
Chemnitz University of Technology
WS 2019/2020
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CLASSROOM OBSERVATION AND PRACTICE LANGUAGE TEACHING

Abstract

This paper provides a reflection of my work placement in connection with observations

and teaching methodology theory. Firstly, I introduce my four students participating in my

course “Conversation B1+” which took place in December 2019 at language school Slune in

Brno, Czech Republic. In the following parts are mentioned the highlights of my practice in the

field of Creating a lesson plan, Giving instructions, Maintaining a good rapport and Feedback

and correcting the errors. In each chapter can be found the theory which I followed while

teaching or my personal experiences from observations of lessons given by Mrs Spranger,

Modafferi and Mr Birnstein in November 2019. In appendix is provided an example of my

lesson plan including materials for my students.

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Description of the course and students

The name of the course I taught is “Conversation B1+” organized by a language school

Slune every Monday and Wednesday 13:00-14:30 (except for some additional changes

according to students’ needs). There should have been 6 students participating on the course

but at the end only 4 of them came. I was informed about it in advance, so I was able to change

my lesson plans according to the smaller amount of the students. My students were 4 ladies

working in the company where the course is held. They have been learning English for 7 years

at this language school and their level was between B1 and B2. Their aim is development of

their conversational skills, grammar and understanding.

Creating a lesson plan

I prefer to start every lesson with a short warm-up activity which is either connected to

the topic from the last lesson or something completely new. This activity takes between 5-10

minutes to welcome the students in my lesson. The rest of my lesson plan I created according

to Morrison’s Unit Approach. According to Morrison, as well as Herbart, there are five main

steps involved while lesson planning. These are called Exploration, Presentation, Assimilation,

Organisation and Recitation (Singh, 2007, p. 80).

Firstly, as a part of the exploration, I tried to explore what the students already knew

about the topic, what was their interest and general abilities concerning the topic. During this

process I created my strategies of presenting the subject material to the students (Singh, 2007,

p. 80-81). While the next step – Presentation - me, as a teacher, got more active than the students

because I needed to present them the grammar/topic/vocabulary. While Presentation I also

tested how much information the students could “grasp” (Singh, 2007, p. 81).

The third step, Assimilation, is the stage of studying and deeper understanding of the

topic. The aspect which I like about this stage from Professor Morrison is that every student
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has a sheet where they write their difficulties and doubts which the teacher tries to help with. I

used this method for example when I taught my students passive voice. They understood the

theory but sometimes felt unsure while completing some exercise. They wrote down their

doubts about particular sentences and I could explain the rule once more on these chosen

sentences.

The next step is Organisation which is meant for reproducing the material unit in writing

without any more help of book or notes. The final stage of Unit Approach is called Recitation

which is reproducing the knowledge in speaking (Singh, 2007, p. 81). For these stages I used

both entertaining activities and exercises in the coursebook or worksheet.

An example of my lesson plan can be found in the appendix.

Giving instructions

I was not sure whether to use the second or the first language while giving instruction

about some activity or a game. In the past years, I witnessed confused students due to my

wrong/unprofessional explanation in English, so I decided to read something about it before

this teaching practice. According to Sowell, the opinions about this problem differ. She

mentions two sides – giving instructions as a situation that warrants the use of mother tongue

(Atkinson 1987 in Sowell 2017, p. 11) or the necessity to use the second language immediately

while starting to learn the language, so they understand the language not only as a subject in

school but also as means of communication (Gardner 2000 in Sowell 2017, p.11).

As I have not taught these students before, I did not know how well they can follow

instructions. Firstly, I started with an easy activity described in English. My students followed

me without any problem. After I changed the rules to make the activity a bit more difficult, they

nodded to understand but the activity did not go well, so I had to give the instructions once

more, and also translate some parts into their mother tongue at the end. I agree with Sowell
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(2017, p. 11) who mentions that these situations occur when students are too comfortable with

instructions given in their own language and therefore, they are not able to understand the ones

in the second language. Scrivener (2011, p. 66) suggests usage of short clear sentences which

are familiar to the students. I have seen this while observing Mrs. Spranger’s lesson. Although

her students were beginners, they could follow her instructions because they were short, clear

and familiar to them. I also learnt that if I write the instructions down and follow my notes, as

Scrivener (2011, p. 66) suggests, my sentences stay as short and as clear as I would like them

to be.

I tried to give the instructions in English and made an agreement that my students will

tell me immediately if they do not understand some part. Sometimes I had to use the first

language after explaining in English which was a bit time consuming, but I think it helped them

to improve their listening and connection of the language with their actions. I also implied the

Total Physical Respond while giving instructions which was also very helpful because I could

see immediately if the student understands (for example while describing the warm-up activity

Catch the ball which can be seen in the appendix).

Maintaining a good rapport

A month before I started to teach, I experienced an observation of Mr Birnstein and Mrs

Modafferi. The relationship between them and their students was very natural and friendly. Mr

Birnstein made an atmosphere in which the students were not afraid to say any of their opinions.

He once sat behind the desk among the students and taught from there for a while which could

also give them a friendly impression of him. Mrs Modafferi expressed her care about the student

many times and I could see that she knows and remembers a lot information about them. It was

obvious that she really listens to them and is further interested.

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According to Ramsden (2003, p. 74), rapport consists of knowing the students, their

learning styles and using the relationship with them to teach at a more natural/personal level.

This is what I have seen at my observations and it inspired me for my lessons as well. Although

I did not know the students, I remembered their hobbies and prepared questions about it for the

next lesson. I could see that they are glad to speak about something they like and got more open

about it because the saw that I really care – that my questions are not only to train the grammar

and vocabulary. In the future when I have my own class for a longer time, I would like to focus

on this as well because to me it seems like a little detail that matters a lot.

Kalhori (2014, p. 155) mentions that teacher-student rapport effects students’ learning. Teacher

should have in general sense of humor, enough knowledge to teach and willingness to answer

questions.

Feedback and correction of errors

These two aspects are put together because in my opinion, they are tightly connected. If

the teacher gives a clear friendly feedback which rather encourages the students to speak,

students will not be worried about speaking with possible mistakes and the discussion will

always flow.

I experienced this with Mr Spranger. Her feedback was very helpful and in a friendly way, the

students did not get the impression that they did a mistake. They tried to say their sentence and

knew that a mistake can move them forward thanks to the support of Mrs Spranger. They

automatically corrected themselves after she mentioned the correct version. For example:

Student: Can I write it at the blackboard?

Teacher: Sure, you can write it on the blackboard.

Student: Aha, I will write it ON the blackboard.

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It is better than interrupting the situation by correcting and explaining the right version. I copied

Mrs Spranger’s style and I felt that this style of feedback improves the whole rapport in the

class because students learn from their mistakes without much noticing.

I also focused on correcting mistakes in the written form. Before I corrected the short

essays of my students on the topic ,,Shops closed on Sundays”, I read some articles about

strategies for correcting the errors in written form of English.

As Iseni (2011, p. 66) states, it is not ideal to correct all the mistakes as students can feel

discouraged when they receive a paper full of red notes. It is more effective correct the errors

selectively which means focusing only on certain types of mistakes – verbs, articles, etc.

Mistakes can be either corrected directly, by a symbol, so the student should correct it

himself or a full self-correction can be implied. Self-correction takes more time but can be also

very effective. The teacher finds common mistakes, mentions them at the beginning of the

lesson and encourages the students to find them. The students can discuss their issues with him

and find a solution together (Iseni, 2011, p. 66-67).

While my practice, I used a combination of correcting by symbols and self-correction. I

corrected only specific mistakes which were unique and did not repeat. The mistakes which

repeated (it was maden, tenses, zero article with uncountable nouns, etc.) should be found by

the students (who were only four, so it was very easy to supervise).

Conclusion

To conclude, the combination of observations, practice, theory and reflection at the

same time is very helpful for teachers-beginners including me. After my 3 observations, I learnt

what is important to focus on while teaching and what should I study to know why and how. I

started to observe also my teachers while teaching me as a student. I began to gather ideas and
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CLASSROOM OBSERVATION AND PRACTICE LANGUAGE TEACHING

creative ways of teaching and stopped to be just a student - I focused on getting the inspiration

while I can.

I have also seen lot of interesting research, books and articles about teaching and that made me

feel more positive because although I must train myself on my own, I can still proceed and get

a help from some of these sources.

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References

Iseni, A. (2011). Language Testing in Asia 1: Assessment, Testing and Correcting Students'

Errors and Mistakes. Springer International Publishing. Retrieved from

https://doi.org/10.1186/2229-0443-1-3-60.

Kalhori, Z. (2014). Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences (vol.136): The Relationship

between Teacher-Student Rapport and Student s Willingness to Cheat. Bandar Abbas,

Iran: Islamic Azad University of Bandar Abbas. Retrieved from

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814037872.

Ramsden, P. (2003). Learning to teach in higher education (2nd ed.). London, England:

Routledge Falmer.

Scrivener, J. (2011). Learning teaching: The essential guide to English language teaching (3rd

ed). Oxford, England: Macmillan Education.

Singh, Y. K. (2007). Teaching practice: lesson planning. New Delhi, India: A P H Publishing

Corporation.

Sowell, J. (2017). English Teaching Forum: Good Instruction-Giving in the Second-Language

Classroom (Vol 55). Washington, USA. Retrieved from:

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1156495.
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CLASSROOM OBSERVATION AND PRACTICE LANGUAGE TEACHING

Appendices

Lesson plan 4th December 2019

Topic: Passive
Aim: Revision of the passive voice
Level of English: B1
Time: 90 min

1. Warm up – 7´
2. Passive – introduction - 5´
3. Passive – present simple/continuous - 10´
4. Passive - past simple/continuous – 10´
5. Exercise – 23´
6. Video – 10´
7. Speaking activity – 10´
8. Pronunciation practice – 15´
9. Homework

1. Warm up

Beach ball

Before the lesson I write several questions on a volleyball ball. Students keep throwing and
catching the ball till I say stop. The student holding the ball needs to reply to the question
which is the closest to his thumb. (I have seen this activity at my secondary school).

2. Passive introduction

Firstly, I show the students one sentence in Czech which does not sound well – Nikdo mě
nepozval na narozeninovou oslavu = Nobody invited me to the birthday party. This sentence
already has two negations – “nikdo” – never and “nepozval” – did not invite. Then I ask if
someone has an alternative maybe in the passive since it is our topic for today.

In Czech it is more common to say I wasn’t invited to the birthday party – Nebyla jsem
pozvaná. It uses the passive form and sound much better. That should show the students that
the passive is sometimes inevitable and very useful.

3. Passive - present simple/ continuous

I ask students if they know how we build the passive in present simple. If they do not know,
I’ll write an example on the board and let the student induct which pattern is used. After that
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they can tell me their own examples. If they do not know, I write some verbs on the board for
an inspiration.

4. Passive – past simple/continuous

The same I do with the past tense.

5. Exercise

Firstly, we try together describing pictures using passive voice in past and present tense and
compare it with active voice.

Retrieved from: https://www.kinbox.com/the-10-minute-tidy-up-that-will-transform-your-family-life/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/528750812481500637/
https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/doodle-boy-drive-toy-car-vector-23061503
https://friendlystock.com/product/family-decorating-christmas-tree/ 14.2. 2020

To practice the written form, students get following exercise and work on it on their own.

Rewrite the sentences into the passive voice and vice-versa.

1. Cows produce milk and bees produce honey.

_________________________________________________________________
2. Somebody scratched the door.
_________________________________________________________________
3. My friend took a picture of me.
_________________________________________________________________
4. Help! Somebody stole my purse!
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_________________________________________________________________
5. BMW cars are made in Germany.
_________________________________________________________________
6. The man wasn’t seen.
_________________________________________________________________
7. Was the phone invented by Tesla?
_________________________________________________________________
8. The tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” was written by Shakespeare.
_________________________________________________________________
9. My mom decorated the whole living room.
_________________________________________________________________
10. New employees are hired every year.
_________________________________________________________________
11. When I got home, the match was watched by my whole family.
_________________________________________________________________
12. Oh no! My lunch was eaten by my cat!

6. Video

Students watch a video about ethically produced clothes, they should answer following
questions using passive voice:

How is this kind of clothes produced?

By whom is it made?
Which cloth is used?
Who was selected a new boss of Sarah?
How are the clothes transported to Europe?
Where are the clothes sold?
How well are the clothes sold?

7. Speaking activity

Speed dating

Student sit or stand in 2 lines and each has always 1 minute to answer a question or talk about
a topic. After both speak, one of the lines moves forward and it creates a new pair.

1. Electro cars
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2. Waste of food
3. Climate change
4. Have you ever had a deja-vu?
5. Have you ever seen a ghost?
6. What means education for you?

8. Pronunciation practice

Czechs often mix pronunciation of d and ð. I explain the difference first and then show the
pronunciation on examples. Students should repeat after me.

Then they try to read following words with a correct pronunciation:

D - pronounced like the Czech one

daisy - day - deal - deer - different - dinosaur - dolphin - down - dress - duck – during -
already - body - condition - consider - idea - ladder - model - order - product - study - today –
under - bad - bed - child - feed - find - God - good - hide - include - mood - need - old - side –
wood
ð - the tongue is on the teeth, not on the hard palate
than - that - the - their - them - then - there - these - they - this - those - bother - brother -
clothing - father - feather - further - leather - mother – Netherlands- although - another -
either - neither - other - rather

Also ŋ can be problematic for Czech students because it is rarely used in our language.
However, there are few words which can help the student to understand the sound – Hanka,
branka, angrešt, banka. They can hear that the sound is different from n and is created in the
nasal position.

- the same as Hanka, branka, banka

hang - hanger - hanging – slang - bring - evening - king - morning - ring - sing - singer -
spring - thing - long - song - strong – wrong

9. Homework:
Translate sentences into Czech language.
1. BMW cars are made in Germany.
_________________________________________________________________
2. The man wasn’t seen.
_________________________________________________________________
3. The cake is being backed by my sister.
_________________________________________________________________
4. The book ,,Romeo and Juliet” was written by Shakespeare.
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_________________________________________________________________
5. Was the wash machine being repaired when you came?
_________________________________________________________________

Rewrite sentences using the active voice.

1) The stone was being thrown by a boy.
_________________________________________________________________
2) New employees are hired every year.
_________________________________________________________________
3) When I got home, the match was being watched.
_________________________________________________________________
4) Oh no! My Lunch is being eaten by your cat!
_________________________________________________________________
5) My car wasn’t washed yesterday.
_________________________________________________________________

Summary

ASK YOURSELF:
Can I recognize the passive voice?
Do I know when I should use passive?
Can I use passive voice with present and past simple?
Can I transform active into passive and back?
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Lesson plan focused (only) on listening comprehension 9.12.2019

Topic: Books

Aim: improving listening skills, vocabulary, partly also writing/spelling

Level of English: B1

Time: 45 min

Listening - students will hear an audio from a book shop. A lady is looking for a suitable book
for her daughter.

Pre-activity (10 minutes): students get pictures with different kind of books and cards with
genres. In small group they should match the books with their genre and say what is typical
for them.

While-listening activity 1 (15 minutes): listening, filling in gaps and answering following
questions:

1. Which books does her daughter like 2. Which one did she choose at the end?
and which she doesn’t?

While-listening activity 2 (10 minutes): students make pairs, one will run, and one will write.
Around the classroom there are sentences written describing a famous book. Student n.1
should dictate these sentences to the other should write it down and at the end they try to
guess the book together.

Post activity - discussion (10 minutes): Do you like reading? What is your favourite book?