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Omar Horner
TESL 557-Reflective Teaching
Observation Task 2
Grammar as Lesson Content (Task 4.4)
Ethnographic Record- Below, you will find a series of notes I took while observing a lesson at
Ogoe Middle School on February 25, 2014. These were used to analyze communication
breakdowns and how these breakdowns were repaired by the teacher. Also, these notes were
used to examine the place of grammar in a lesson and how the teacher presented grammar to
the class.
Classroom notes:
Teacher is in class talking to students and preparing papers when I arrive. Teacher asks
students to stand and does the standard English greeting. Students return the greeting in
unison and sit down. Teacher says a number and students stand up to play criss-cross game.
Teacher reviews by asking students questions from previous units. *Breakdown1* Teacher has
students open book and has students repeat new vocabulary words from text. Teacher plays a
CD while students follow the dialogue in books. Students repeat the dialogue in English.
Teacher explains that the dialogue incorporates polite questions using “Can.” Teacher asks
students to translate the dialogue into Japanese. Teacher says “senoshiro” and the students
know what student is to speak next. First student translates. The next student attempts to do
so. *Breakdown 2* Students continue to translate. Some succeed but another struggles.
*Breakdown 3* Continue to translate. *Breakdown 4* Teacher discusses family relationships.
Students repeat the dialogue recording in various fashions: with book, without book, by
memory, one character and the other, faster, etc. Students are working on pronunciation and
speed. Students stand and read dialogue aloud. After much practice, teacher introduces a
game. Students must say the response to the dialogue at the correct speed. If they are correct,
they can choose if their row or column will sit down. *Breakdown 5* There is much laughter
and enjoyment as the game is played. The game is played a long time. Students switch to
other half of dialogue. It goes smoother. Finally game is finished and students do some
dictation exercises. They listen to a CD and write the sentences. Afterwards, they translate
them. Teacher asks students to stand up and gives the standard dismissal. Students repeat in
unison and class is finished.
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Lesson Breakdowns (Task 4.5)
What Happened?
Source of Breakdown
Language used for repair and
negotiation
The student said, “I
studying English,” and
forgot the to-be verb. The
teacher thought the
student could self-correct,
but she was unable to
recognize the error.
The teacher demonstrated present
progressive tense on the board and
noted the “to-be” verb before the
-ing verb. The student was able to
say the statement correctly. This
also demonstrated a common
mistake to the class.
Japanese is a low context
language, so in Japanese,
you would not add the
“me” in the question, “Can
you help me with my
homework?” It would be
understood from context.
The teacher wrote the English
sentence on the board and
demonstrated how different indirect
objects could be utilized in the
sentence to change meaning. He
then translated the sentence
correctly.
The word “right” in English
has different definitions
but the only definition the
students knew is the one
involving directions.
The teacher had to stop class to
demonstrate the different meanings
of “right.” He demonstrated the
correct translation on the board.
In Japanese, there is a
word for come, and there
is a word for go; however,
their understanding of
these words is different
than our own. It is a
common problem.
The teacher translated the different
words come and go on the board and
demonstrated them by giving visual
meanings and English sentences in
context.
Seriousness
Breakdown 1
Student mispronounced an
answer and the teacher
wanted her to self-correct,
but the student could not
figure out the mistake.
Minor
Breakdown 2
While translating
sentences, the student
forgot to add “me” in the
Japanese sentence. The
class did not understand
why the student’s
translation was incorrect.
Minor
Breakdown 3
Student translated the
word “right” incorrectly in
the sentence “I’m busy
right now.” Student
defined it as a direction.
Minor
Breakdown 4
A student translated a
sentence that had the word
“come” as the word “go” in
Japanese.
Minor
Breakdown 5
As expected, throughout
It was difficult for students
this game, there were many to pronounce English
breakdowns.
words in normal speed.
The teacher would stop the CD and
allow another student to try while
the previous student reviewed.
MinorBreakdowns
were expected
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Reflection
My observation was conducted in a sixth grade middle school class in Ogoe, Japan. The
student population was a homogenous, Japanese-speaking, group who had been studying
English in an EFL context for 1 year, with possibly a few more years of English study in
elementary education; however, most students would be at similar beginner levels, as exposure
to English would have been relatively consistent throughout their study. In this particular class,
motivation is mostly instrumental, based on passing tests, as there is little need for English
communication in the community.
The purpose of this observation was twofold:
1. To analyze “the place of grammar in a lesson” and “the teacher’s views about language and
language learning,” (Wajnryb, 85).
2. To analyze “the language used to negotiate and repair meaning” when a breakdown in a
lesson occurs, (Wajnryb, 88).
Though this is only one lesson out of many that have focused on the use of the modal
“can,” this situation, which involves polite questions, would be indicative of the teacher’s
general approach to grammar. First of all, the entire lesson was focused on the grammatical
form, and, in particular, a short dialogue. Secondly, the lesson began with grammar translation
methods, but was followed by memorization and repetition as in the audiolingual method. It
would seem that the teacher’s approaches involved working on two opposite sides of a
spectrum: complete focus on meaning, followed by complete focus on speaking. There was no
creative or varied use of the grammar structure and it remained tightly controlled until the end
of class.
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The lesson breakdowns were particularly interesting because they usually involved very
slight, bottom-up mistakes that did not influence meaning very much. Most of the breakdowns
in this class were at the word-level. Many times, breakdowns that could have been quickly
corrected were explained through a small mini-lesson that the teacher decided to use to
address particular problematic areas for the class. In other words, it seems like the teacher
used breakdowns to clarify meaning and aid student comprehension. From this perspective,
especially since all of the breakdowns were minor and there was plenty of time in the class,
breakdowns were actually a resource. However, in a tightly-packed lesson, or if there was a
scheduled test, breakdowns may have been more problematic. In a 50 minute class, an
estimated 20 minutes was spent on explaining breakdowns. Though the teacher could easily
correct many of the breakdowns using the students’ L1, he usually chose to give longer, more
abstract explanations combined with L1 use. This was probably done to help the students
remember.
Observing this class, I learned that the native-speaking Japanese teacher’s strengths lie
in his ability to quickly translate and explain meaning; however, the problem with this ability
lies in that fact that students may not actually acquire the skill to speak the language when the
meaning becomes the focus. To correct this deficiency, a strong emphasis is placed on
repetition and speaking. The speaking was given context by placing the target grammar in a
dialogue. It might be possible to further practice this grammar form by allowing students to
experiment with the language and create their own polite questions using the word can.
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The breakdowns aspect of the class was of particular interest as it involved a native
Japanese-speaking teacher as opposed to my situation, a native English-speaking teacher. As
imagined, there are many breakdowns in my class involving communication. However, I would
consider the breakdowns in my class to be more detrimental to flow as they would involve
more top-down misunderstandings as compared with the word level breakdowns in the
Japanese teacher’s class. The breakdowns in the Japanese teacher’s class provided opportunity
for correction and even lessons, but in my class, they are far more frustrating and difficult to
overcome. In either case, breakdowns provide insight into problems with communication and
language learning. With the correct procedure and management, breakdowns can provide
valuable second language input. Additionally, teachers should anticipate lesson breakdowns
and prepare themselves to adapt, and in all cases, stay calm and look for alternative
communication strategies before the breakdown becomes a major problem.
References:
Wajnryb, R. (1992). Classroom observation tasks. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.