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  • Observation 2 - Field Notes

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    Quan Nguyen
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    The observer watched a group discussion activity in an intermediate English class of 10 students aged 12-15. The activity focused on brainstorming ideas for writing a blog post expressing opinions. Students were divided into 3 groups of 2-4 students each, with "weak" students paired with "strong" ones. Most students were engaged in the discussion, though some seemed worried about the topic. Students used formulaic expressions for opinions like "I think" and "I feel" during the discussion. Some struggled with vocabulary and linking ideas when expressing opinions. The activity helped build confidence for weaker students and familiarized all with the writing topic.

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    Observation 2 - Field notes

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    The observer watched a group discussion activity in an intermediate English class of 10 students aged 12-15. The activity focused on brainstorming ideas for writing a blog post expressing opinions. Students were divided into 3 groups of 2-4 students each, with "weak" students paired with "strong" ones. Most students were engaged in the discussion, though some seemed worried about the topic. Students used formulaic expressions for opinions like "I think" and "I feel" during the discussion. Some struggled with vocabulary and linking ideas when expressing opinions. The activity helped build confidence for weaker students and familiarized all with the writing topic.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    11 views6 pages

    Observation 2 - Field Notes

    Uploaded by

    Quan Nguyen
    The observer watched a group discussion activity in an intermediate English class of 10 students aged 12-15. The activity focused on brainstorming ideas for writing a blog post expressing opinions. Students were divided into 3 groups of 2-4 students each, with "weak" students paired with "strong" ones. Most students were engaged in the discussion, though some seemed worried about the topic. Students used formulaic expressions for opinions like "I think" and "I feel" during the discussion. Some struggled with vocabulary and linking ideas when expressing opinions. The activity helped build confidence for weaker students and familiarized all with the writing topic.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 6

    OBSERVATIONAL FIELDNOTES

    Setting: VUS
    Observer: Tran Van Doan
    Role of the Observer: complete observer
    Time: 6h30
    Date: 08. 08. 2020
    Length of the Observation: 1h30’
    Focus of the observation

     Students’ involvement and interactions during group discussion

     Students’ use of formulaic expressions to give opinions

     Students’ difficulties when expressing opinions

    Description of students

    1. Number of students: 10

    2. Age: 12-15

    3. Level: intermediate

    Context of the lesson

    1. Time of class: 6h30’

    2. Topic(s):Writing: A blog post expressing opinion

    3. Placement of the lesson within the unit of study: Unit 2: 2H: Writing: A blog
    post expressing opinion

    4. Aims and objectives:

    - To practice writing skills, past tenses, narrative writing


    - To help students improve formulaic sequences in giving opinions

    Page 1 of 6
    - To use concept checking questions and simple instructions to review
    lessons

    5. Materials used: Student Book (Solutions 3rd edition); Slides; handouts

    Description of students’ group discussion

    1. Activity sequencing

    + When does the discussion take place?

    At the beginning of the lesson

    + How does this activity fit into the lesson?

    The activity assists students brainstorm new ideas as well as get familiar
    with the writing topic

    2. Student grouping

    + How many groups are there? 3 groups

    + How many students are there in each group? 2 groups of 4, 1 group of 3

    + How are groups assigned? ‘weak’ students with ‘strong’ students

    3. Duration of discussion:

    + Preparation time: 7 minutes

    + Discussion time: 8 minutes

    4. Role of the teacher: complete observer (sometimes helps with the


    translation)

    5. Students’ behaviours (Fill in the most accurate option and give more
    details)

    How many students are:

    Page 2 of 6
    ⃝ Off task: 10

    ⃝ On task: 0

    If they’re off task, what are they doing?

    How many students are:

    ⃝ Hesitant: 2

    ⃝ Enthusiastic: 10

    ⃝ Struggling: 2

    ⃝ Other (Specify)

    The discussion focuses on:

    ⃝ The topic assigned

    ⃝ Non-academic topic(s)

    How are students interacting with each other? Are there any notable non-verval
    behaviors?

    Students are all engaged to the activity properly. Some show the excitement for the
    prizes, some seem worried about the topic.

    6. Students’ use of formulaic expressions to give opinions (Add a mark


    next to each expression every time it is used, total up after the observation)

    I think…√√√

    I consider…

    I find…

    I feel…√√

    Page 3 of 6
    I believe…√

    I suppose…

    I presume…

    I guess…

    From my point of view…

    From my perspective…

    As far as I’m concerned…

    As for me…

    My view is that…

    My impression is that…

    My opinion is that…√√

    I would say that…√√

    I hold the view that…

    I have no doubt that…

    I am certain that…

    It goes without saying that…

    Other expressions (Specify below if any)

    It seems to me that ….. √

    Page 4 of 6
    What difficulties do students have when giving opinions?

    + Ideas and content:

    Vocabulary and the reasons for their ideas

    + Language use:

    Some express their opinion in short sentences only. Some can link the ideas
    together using conjunction words.

    + Other:

    Students often turn to Vietnamese when they discuss due to lacking of relevant
    words.

    Reflective notes

    (Any insights, emerging themes, notable events, unexpected outcomes, etc.)

    In the second observation, the observer thinks that:

    - All students are encouraged to join the group discussion. Some students
    even show their excitement for the prizes.
    - They all work together. Some are too nervous as the teacher says he will
    ask for all the group’ s members answers that they write down the
    explanation for their choices
    - The formulaic sequences in the handout are pretty helpful that it reminds
    the learners about the need of using these phrases when giving opinions
    - In the pair work activity, only a few students use these opinion expression.
    They prefer to give direct answer to the questions in the tasks.
    - Group discussion makes some weak students become more confident
    because they have got ideas for the topic.
    - Some still struggle using these expression, they prefer to read the phrases
    from the handout.

    Page 5 of 6
    Page 6 of 6

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