CLASSROOM RESEARCH
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şehnaz Şahinkarakaş


The aim of classroom research is to understand
what is happening there.
Classrooms constitute a distinct context for
research.
POSSIBLE DRAWBACKS IN CLASSROOM
OBSERVATIONS


Obtrusive Observers:
Any observer in the classroom has the risk of
being an obtrusive observer
-events observed may not be represantative of the
class in its typical behaviour (so data has limited
validity)
 -quality of the lesson may be affected negatively: Ss
may be more interested in the audio recorder or the
observer than the lesson itself.

The Hawthorne Effect
 Named after a study was conducted at
Hawthorne (a branch in an Electric Company). In
the study the productivity of workers increased
regardless of whether or not there were positive
changes in working conditions. They were
happy to receive attention from the
researchers!


In classroom research, the students (and teacher)
may improve or modify an aspect of their
behavior when they know that they are being
studied.
COMMON TECHNIQUES FOR DATA
COLLECTION IN CLASSROOM RESEARCH



Observation data are common in Second
Language research:
We can get in-depth information about types of
language, activities, interactions, and events in
ESL/EFL classes through observations.
There are many different observation schemes
developed by second language researchers
OBSERVATION PROCEDURE AND CODING
SCHEMES



There are many readily available observation
schemes for L2 classrooms (Fanselow, Nunan,
Allwright and Bailey…)
These schemes can vary considerably in their
organization and complexity (simple checklists for
tallying behaviors or highly complex ones for judging
the meaning)
They may be

low-inference (real-time) schemes: behavioral
characteristics can be observed and high levels of
agreement / reliability can be reached.

high-inference schemes: requires judgement
NUNAN’S TALLY SHEET (1989)


Nunan’s tally sheet has low-inference categories.
The categories are for classroom events such as
the instructor’s praise, instructions, and
explanations of grammar points as well as
learners’ questions, answers and interactions
with other students.
FOCUS (FOCI FOR OBSERVING
COMMUNICATIONS USED IN SETTINGS),
FANSELOW, 1977


FOCUS consists of 5 general categories:
Source (Who?)
Medium (Purpose?)
Use (What mediums?)
Content (How?)
Pedagogical purpose of a move
These categories can be adapted to various
settings and participants
TALOS (TARGET LANGUAGE OBSERVATION
SCHEME), ULLMAN & GEVA, 1985

TALOS has two parts: low-inference and highinference

The first part (low-inference)






Live classroom activities: drills, dialogues, translation, etc
Linguistic content: sounds, words, phrases, etc
Skill focus: reading, writing, listening, speaking
Teaching behaviors: drills, narrations, comparisons, etc
Student actions: types of questions asked
The second part (high-inference)

Ratings on a 5-point scale for categories
Enthusiasm
Humor
Negative/positive reinforcement
COLT (COMMUNICATIVE ORIENTATION OF
LANGUAGE TEACHING), ALLEN, FROHLICH, &
SPADA, 1984



COLT is intended to systematically describe instructional
practices and procedures in L2 classrooms.
It consists of two parts:
Part A (real-time)
Participant organization and activities
Topic type, content and control
Part B (post-observation)
Student-teacher & Student-student
interaction
COLT is still an influential observation scheme to be used
in many areas of EFL;
e.g. student motivation, L1 vs L2 use, etc
A SAMPLE OBSERVATION SCHEME ON
FEEDBACK


Using the readily available observation schemes,
it is possible to develop a scheme that would
address your focus of inquiry.
A sample scheme on feedback:

You can determine the frequency of the use of
feedback by instructors and students in language
classes.

You can also compare the frequency of feedback
types, feedback focus and uptake in classes at
different institutions or among learners with
different ages or different language abilities.
POINTS TO CONSIDER WHILE USING OR
ADAPTING AN OBSERVATION SCHEME

a) make sure it is appropriate for your research
goal: your scheme should have a clear focus that
is relevant to the research question. (validity)


E.g. If your scheme focuses on teacher-learner
dialogues, then you shouldn’t be focusing on the
language use in the classroom
b) If there is only one observer in the classroom
(and if it is not video-taped), then only one rater
observes and codes the data. (reliability)
INTROSPECTIVE METHODS IN CLASSROOM
RESEARCH

Introspective methods encourage learners to
examine their own conscious thoughts and
feelings. We can elicit learners’ perspectives on
classroom events
There are many methods in EFL.
 E.g.

Uptake sheets
 Stimulated recalls
 Diaries

UPTAKE SHEETS

Allwright (1987) defines uptake as


whatever it is that learners get from all the language
learning opportunities language lessons make
available to them
Uptake sheets are given to students at the
beginning of the lesson, and they are asked to
mark or note things on which the teacher is
focusing
A SAMPLE UPTAKE SHEET
(BY MACKEY, MCDONOUGH, FUJII, AND
TATSUMI, 2001)

In this uptake sheet, learners were asked to
indicate
a) which language forms of concepts they noticed (e.g.
pronunciation, grammar, vocab..)
 b) who produced the reported items (e.g. learner,
teacher, classmate…)
 c) whether the reported items were new to the
learner


In their study, Mackey, et al. gave these sheets to
the learners at the beginning of class for six
consecutive classes and asked them to fill the
sheets out as they noticed the language forms of
concepts during the instruction
STIMULATED RECALL

In this method, the observer
audiotapes or videotapes a lesson
 then plays the tape to a participant
 stops the tape periodically and
 asks what the participant was thinking at that
particular point of time


Stimulated recall can be used to provide the
researcher with access to the learners’
interpretations of the events that were observed
DIARIES
Diaries can produce useful data. They can be
learners’ or instructors’ diaries
 Learner diaries

Some structure can be provided for the diary entries
 Can address specific points (how well they have
followed the lesson; what is enjoyable, etc)
 Can even be a part of the coursework (or assessment)


Instructor diaries

Generally focuses on classroom experiences,
perceptions about student reactions and learning,
instructional decision making, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKvn0TY4_lA
 (tally sheet)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnw3l21pWIc
feedback

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRMTSlS4gFs
 (feedback)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue4-8y2MfQw
 (sample class-grammar)
