For my first observation, I observed a series of videos of an adult ESL class at a University. The class was a beginner level 1-2 literacy class with 11 students with varying levels of English proficiency. The lesson focussed mainly on clothing words and common dialogue phrases used when shopping.
I thought the instructor did an effective job of facilitating learning throughout the entire lesson as it was extremely interactive. During lesson time, the instructor engaged the students by having them repeat the dialogue she was teaching, and having them offer phrases to incorporate in the dialogue. This constant engagement meant that students were both learning and practicing new language at the same time. She also chose dialogue that was practical for real-world application so students would have a motivation to listen and learn.
The instructor catered to multiple learning styles, and I saw elements of auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning. She primarily used auditory learning as most of the lesson relied on listening to and repeating phrases. She used many visual cues as supplements, drawing pictures, using props, and making physical gestures to convey the meanings of words or phrases. She facilitated kinesthetic learning by doing activities where students had to move around, such as the warm-up activity in which students moved down a line to greet each other, and the dialogue activity in which they had to act out an interaction in a clothing store.
The instructor was constantly assessing learning throughout the class. She did group assessments during her lessons when asking students to provide answers or repeat what she was saying. She asked questions that applied to the dialogue she was teaching to assess what the class knew already. She listened to how the students were pronouncing the words to assess which words were challenging and needed to be emphasized.
Individual assessment occurred in the dialogue activity and in the exit activity. In the dialogue, the instructor was able to hear students speak solo so she could assess their speaking skills. She provided immediate feedback for everyone. In the exit activity, students had to describe what they were wearing, and the instructor could assess the progress of each student. The students also did an individual writing activity which I assume was handed in for assessment, though this is not shown in the video.
Barriers to learning in the class were not obvious, but the instructor’s interview revealed some challenges. She stated that the students have varying levels of English proficiency, so perhaps at times the class is too difficult for some and too easy for others. The instructor mentioned that many students are tired when they come to class because they work during the day, so their fatigue may impede learning. She also mentions that some students have little educational experience in their home countries, so they lack learning skills used in the classroom.
There were many things I liked about the instructor’s teaching that I would like to adopt myself. I thought one of her biggest strengths was her role as a model throughout the class. She spoke very clearly at all times and repeated key words and phrases. She used more repetitions than I would have thought necessary, but it really did seem necessary for the class, so I will have to remember that I should repeat key words and phrases more than I intuitively feel I need to.
Something I noticed in the instructor’s teaching was her attention to cultural subtleties and aspects of communication that go beyond language. When she was teaching the dialogue, I noticed that she was emphasizing that she wanted the students to point when they said “over there.” She demonstrated the action several times and drew a picture of a pointing hand. In the activity, one girl gestured with her head when saying “over there.” The instructor corrected her and made her point. I realized that the instructor was emphasizing the pointing because it is not a culturally universal gesture. I have become aware that I will need to consider use of gestures in my teaching as well.