Approaches to language teaching course

Class observation guide

Lecturer: Loraine Galván Zúñiga

Find a context in which you can develop at least two observations and complete the following steps. (APA
style is required).

1. Context - Institution
Name of the institution
Location
Private or public institution
Kind of institution (kindergarten, primary/elementary school or high school, institution of continuing
education)
Physical setting and resources of the school
Community population (number of students)
Socioeconomic status of the population

2. Class (Group you are working with)

Grade
Students (size, age, gender distribution; cultural, ethnic, social-economic and racial backgrounds; physical
and learning disabilities in case there are any)

3. Experience
Describe (in detail) what happened during the development of the class (from beginning to end)
Is there an existing curriculum and syllabus? (Include a brief description of their main principles: pedagogical
model, theoretical orientation to language and language learning, method or approach of language
teaching, content, standards)
Number of weekly hours devoted to English
Expected level to reach (Common European Framework)
Teacher’s level of proficiency -Teacher’s certification

4. Reflection towards the class

Roles
What was the role of the teacher during the class?
What was the role of the students?
To which method or methods do you relate these roles? Why?

Interaction
How was the student-teacher/ student-student interaction?
How were the feelings of the students dealt with?
To which method or methods do you relate these types of interaction? Why?

View of language
What was the role of the native language for this class?
What was the role of the target language and its culture?
To which method or methods do you relate these perceptions? Why?

Skills
What skills were emphasized in this lesson?
How were the skills (previously mentioned) reinforced in the class?
To which method or methods do you relate the skills emphasized? Why?

Materials
Which materials or/and resources did the teacher use for the development of the class?
Were these materials appropriated for the goal of the lesson?
Approaches to language teaching course
Class observation guide
Lecturer: Loraine Galván Zúñiga
How was the setting (students’ arrangement, classroom decoration, classroom atmosphere, rules and
routines; technology available; grouping patterns or not, scheduling issues that impact teaching and learning
process etc.) of the classroom for this lesson?
To which method or methods do you relate the aspects of materials observed? Why?

Techniques
What techniques did the teacher use during the class? Explain them and categorize them according to the
methods studied in class.

Assessment
How did the teacher close the lesson?
Did the teacher evaluate the students at the end of the lesson? How?
How did the teacher respond to students’ errors?
To which method or methods do you relate the aspects of the evaluation observed? Why?