Natalie Brentano

C & T 491
Dr. Cho/ Dr. Peter
17 June 2015
Week One Observation Notes
B Level observation notes Language Use:
What kind of language is used? What are some features of that language? What are some
differences in the exchanges between different participants? What about non-verbal language
use?
Teacher to Student:
The co-teacher translates what is said by the teacher, Dionne. In order to ensure that students
understood what was presented. As Dionne speaks in English, she makes sure to emphasize
certain syllables in words, or stressing letters that students have trouble with. She also will
speak very loudly, and over enunciates certain words. Both teachers, Maren and Dionne will
break down words into syllables, to make sure the students are saying each word correctly.
Maren and Dionne also keep their words very basic, to ensure that all the students
understand, in addition to making gestures or facial expressions that help the students
understand better, or gain a better sense of the word.
Student to Teacher:
Generally, the girls would use broken English, but many of these girls were confident in their
one word or broken answers. Korean is mainly used between the co-teacher and the students.
Many, if not a majority of the students, would become very embarrassed and giggle or they
will smile because they don't understand what was being asked of them.
Student to Student:
One, brave student from each class is designated as the translator, thus the girls who are not
understanding will look over at the translator and wait for them to explain, despite having a
co- teacher. I've noticed that many of the girls will converse in Korean between themselves
because they're afraid to make mistakes, and when someone does make a mistake, the other
students laugh in a kind of judgmental way. The girls will use the simplest form to answer,
but despite they are able to converse between one another quite effectively.
Some of the techniques I've observed in class for:
Listening practice:
The students will reply to questions that are asked directly towards someone, other times they
will nod to indicate that they've understood. Another thing that is common among Maren and
Dionne is that they will ask questions about the material that the students have learned, by
making students review new material.
Speaking Practice:

The students would answer questions, they would review conversations together as a class
and in pairs. They would also have role playing activities that forced them to speak, despite it
being off a card. Additionally, Maren would call some random students to the front of the
class to read their statement or passage they wrote.
Reading Practice:
The students would read the PowerPoints, a script or a card with the phrases that were
intended for speaking. Writing Practice: The students were learning how to use abbreviations
and learned how to take notes while taking pretend phone call messages. They would also
create their own dialogue, and they would write one to two sentences about their strengths
and weaknesses.
How is student's comprehension assessed and corrected?
The students have homework that is due which reflects upon their past lessons, and they
would review their strengths and weaknesses from the past lessons. Additionally, both
teachers would point out what the students were doing right and gave positive feedback
immediately.