Observation in the Classroom

Classroom observation is a means of doing research into what occurs in classrooms by systematically observing and keeping records of classroom events.Classroom observation plays very important role in teachers’evaluation and development.Summative and formative functions are the two main purposes that classroom observation serves.Three steps are involved in the classroom observation.Preparations are made before the observation.Various observational techniques or tools are used to collect data during the observation.Reflection and feedback are needed to improve classroom performance and competence.

TOWARDS AN OBSERVATION SCHEME FOR THE MIDDLE SCHOOL EFL CLASSROOM

This article aims to structure an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom observation scheme (OS). The writer presents the basics and bases of the OS, followed by an analysis of the focuses of the OS. In conclusion, the writer holds that middle school EFL teachers, teaching coordinators and teacher researchers might find the OS to be an efficient tool with which to observe Chinese middle school EFL classrooms, especially in terms of student development and teachers' professional development.

A Longitudinal Study of the CET Washback on College English Classroom Teaching and Learning in China： Revisiting College English Classes of a University

With the aim of investigating the longitudinal washback of the innovated College English Test （CET） on College English （CE） classroom teaching and learning and ascertaining what changes the test innovation has brought to CE in China, this study compares CE classes of a university in 2003 with those in 2009 through classroom observations, supplemented with interviews and questionnaire survey. The results indicate that the CE teaching model remains nearly the same before and after the CET innovation, but obvious changes are observed in terms of semester teaching plans, teaching content and teaching methods. It seems that the CET innovation is one of the main factors contributing to these changes, which, however, may also be attributed to other factors such as The College English Requirement, curriculum design, the use of CET results, teachers＇ individual differences, and students＇ English proficiency.

Classroom Questioning Tendencies from the Perspective of Big Data

We are now living in an era of big data.From the perspective of data analysis of classroom questioning,the paper chooses three districts in City B that have significant differences.These are educationally developed District D,less developed District F,and developing District M.The study uses the stratified sampling method to choose from three different groups of teachers,namely novice teachers,competent teachers,and experienced teachers,by way of video case analysis,the Item Response Theory(IRT)model method,and the inductive and deductive method,to analyze the characteristics of teachers’classroom questions.It was found that:(1)In terms of open questioning,all three districts with their different levels in educational development need to improve open questioning levels among their experienced primary school teachers.In middle schools,novice teachers’open questioning tendency is significantly lower than that of qualified and experienced teachers;(2)From the quantitative study of three kinds of tendencies,the lowest level of the three tendencies in the classroom questions is problem-solving;(3)In the three districts,the experienced and qualified primary school teachers in the developing district has a prominent advantage in raising critical and creative questions,while in the middle schools,novice teachers generally have a lower level than qualified and experienced teachers in raising critical and creative questions.The results of the big data analysis enable us to draw a conclusion about teachers’value orientation regarding questioning in class.At present,they pay attention to the local value of classroom questioning,but ignore the overall value;pay attention to the instrumental value of classroom questioning,but ignore the objective value;and pay attention to the superficial value of classroom questions,but ignore the underlying value.

THE VALUE OF CLASSROOM OBSERVATION

An analysis of the value of classroom observation for both the teacher being observed and the observer. 1. Introduction I have been a teacher for nearly two years. I did not like classroom observation until a week before. It hasbeen teaching practice on an advanced teacher training course that has made me change my mind. Now I want to be observed when I have difficulties or want to try something new. Here I shall discuss the

Communicative Language Teaching in a Chinese University Context: Beliefs and Practice

This paper reports communicative language teaching （CLT） in a university context in China. It examines the classroom observations of five English language teacher participants to reveal how CLT is applied in their English classes. Two of the five participants, Ms. Lan and Ms. Shan, who claim to be strong supporters of the CLT approach, and who teach the same Comprehensive English Reading Course with the same textbooks, are selected in particular for detailed comparison and analysis in order to show similarities and differences between them in line with the principles of the CLT approach. The findings of this study show that the gap between what the teachers claim to be doing and what they actually do reflects not only their misconceptions about CLT, but also manifests the various challenges confronting them in adopting CLT in their English classes.

AN OBSERVATION OF EXPLANATION STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR TEACHING

This study aims to explore explanation strategies used by a teacher in the context of grammar teaching. Two instruments for collecting data, i.e. interview and a multi-category observation scheme, were used here. The distribution pattern showed that the level of cognitive complexity manifested in the teacher's explanation strategies is determined both by complexity of the grammatical structure dealt with in class and by the level of the learners' language proficiency level. It is hoped that this study can serve as the first step in the process of discovering which explanation strategy embedded in what sort of structure can benefit the understanding of the goal concepts.