Log Observation Tesol
- Submitted by: catty
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- Category: Arts
- Date Submitted: 05/10/2011 02:23 AM
- Pages: 5
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The two aspects of teaching that will be focused on are classroom arrangement and student grouping, which will be considered as one aspect, and monitoring. Each teacher observed, has a class of different level consisting of adults; T1 has the ‘Elementary’ level while T2 has the ‘Lower Advanced’ (LA).
CLASSROOM ARRANGEMENT
During the observations, I learnt that seating arrangements is an aspect worth considering due to its relevance to student interaction, which also depends on the tasks. T1 set up a horseshoe arrangement whereas T2 had students sitting separate tables, otherwise known as ‘café style’ arrangement (Gower et al.,1995, p23). In their writings, Harmer (1997, 2007), Gower, Phillips and Walters (1995) and Scrivener (2005) praise ‘horseshoe’ and ‘café style’ arrangements due to the possibility of greater student interaction and the fact that they encourage cooperation and learner autonomy.
For both arrangements, there was no obstacle between the students and the whiteboard, situated in front of the class. Moreover, there was enough room for ‘traffic flow’ and movement. For example, at the beginning of T1’s lesson, the students had to obtain information from other students (App.1), who were not their immediate neighbours. In T2’s café style arrangement, there was also ample space for students to walk to one side of the class where T2 had stuck the examples of modals of possibility for them to read.
According to Gower, Phillips and Walter (1995, p22) and Scrivener (2005, p88), the horseshoe arrangement is the most suitable in English classes as it allows direct interaction, ‘face-to-face’ contact between the students as well as between the students and T1 and thus resulting in a more natural interaction between students. I believe that this is also achievable with café style arrangements.
STUDENT GROUPING
For pairwork, T1’s students worked with their neighbours and groupwork was done in threes. T2 had already divided the students into groups of...
CLASSROOM ARRANGEMENT
During the observations, I learnt that seating arrangements is an aspect worth considering due to its relevance to student interaction, which also depends on the tasks. T1 set up a horseshoe arrangement whereas T2 had students sitting separate tables, otherwise known as ‘café style’ arrangement (Gower et al.,1995, p23). In their writings, Harmer (1997, 2007), Gower, Phillips and Walters (1995) and Scrivener (2005) praise ‘horseshoe’ and ‘café style’ arrangements due to the possibility of greater student interaction and the fact that they encourage cooperation and learner autonomy.
For both arrangements, there was no obstacle between the students and the whiteboard, situated in front of the class. Moreover, there was enough room for ‘traffic flow’ and movement. For example, at the beginning of T1’s lesson, the students had to obtain information from other students (App.1), who were not their immediate neighbours. In T2’s café style arrangement, there was also ample space for students to walk to one side of the class where T2 had stuck the examples of modals of possibility for them to read.
According to Gower, Phillips and Walter (1995, p22) and Scrivener (2005, p88), the horseshoe arrangement is the most suitable in English classes as it allows direct interaction, ‘face-to-face’ contact between the students as well as between the students and T1 and thus resulting in a more natural interaction between students. I believe that this is also achievable with café style arrangements.
STUDENT GROUPING
For pairwork, T1’s students worked with their neighbours and groupwork was done in threes. T2 had already divided the students into groups of...