The Sample Report Description Report 1 on Lesson 72, J2, Class A
(September 26, 2009)
The observer: Student teacher: XXX (中文名), Group 2-3 in Class 06 (1) The topic: The teacher’s view of language learning
………………………………………………………………………………………… It seems that Class A teacher holds the “interactional view of language” according to what she did in this lesson (the conclusion).
According to Richards (1986), in the “interactional view of language”, language is “a vehicle for the realization of interpersonal relations and for the performance of social transactions between individuals” (the explanation of what “interactional view of language” is).
In this view, EFL teachers does not only focus on the structure and function of language but also what Ss may personally experience in the cognitive, social & affective process of language learning, e.g., the interpersonal knowledge/ skills like how to perform the negotiation or interaction in real communications (what the EFL teachers often do if they take the view).
……………………………………………………………………………………….. From what Class A teacher did, it is not very difficult to see the following factors in an interactional view of language (the reason why we draw this conclusion):
1. The teacher did not just emphasize the structure (e.g., how to say, read or write the new words… to know the new grammar rules… in the text) or function of language (e.g., how to invite people for lunch) but what Ss might personally experience, e.g., the Ss were asked to invite some “guests” from other groups for a real lunch talk in the school canteen.
2. By personal experience, Ss could not just learn how to say, read or write the invitation notes or menu (in “the cognitive process”) but also acquired some interpersonal knowledge/ skills like how to start the conversation with the “guest” or “host” politely when inviting people or responding to the invitation (in “the social process”) with interest & strong motivation (in “the affective process”) to learn the language.
It means the Ss in Class A were learning English by performing a real social transaction with their peers personally. (The above are the facts we found from classroom observation)
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The notes about Description Report
It is very clear that the report consists of two interdependent parts: “description” & “observations” (from the 2 broken lines).
In the part of “description”, we often write as follows:
Step 1: The conclusion of the problem (the teacher’s view of language) you are going
to discuss. It is the “topic sentence” of the report.
Step 2: The related theories: what people have talked about the problem (e.g., the
“interactional view of language”); it is just like the “literary review” in paper writing.
Step 3: The reason why we draw conclusion in terms of the facts that we can find
from the sample lesson. It is the evidence that will support our conclusion (with analysis, inference and related discussions).
And in the part of “observations”, what we often describe is as follows:
1. The facts in relation to the problem you are going to discuss: e.g., what Ss may experience personally (the Ss are asked to invite some “guest” from other groups for a real lunch talk in the school canteen).
2. The facts to explain or analyze the problem, e.g., if you emphasize the cognitive process, just describe how Ss say, read or write; as for the social process, how Ss acquire the interpersonal knowledge/ skills like (how to start the conversation with the “guest” or “host” politely when inviting people or responding to someone’s invitation for lunch); as for the affective process, you have to talk about the Ss’ affective factors, e.g., interest or motivation of learning.
In a word, we should not just copy the facts that we can see from observation, but to analyze and infer what the facts mean according to our own understandings.
