ELT in Practice EDUM135

Observation task 1: Giving instructions

Observer: __________________________ Date:____________________________

Student No: _______________ Level:___________________ Length:_____________

The objective of this task is to observe the instructions the teacher gives during the lesson and complete the table. For each skill, decide how successfully it was achieved,
and write your questions and comments for post-lesson discussion in the right-hand column of the table. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbRxBPY1vsc)

Instruction-giving skills Clear? Comments

Not very clear? (questions, examples)
Unclear?
Signalling start of activity (creating a silence ) Not very clear Overall, the teacher did not give a clear starting signal
except for the one time he used his hand gesture in the
last activity (19:15’). He could have used signaling
phrases such as “Okay, let’s begin”to indicate that he had
finished his instruction. However, this did not cause any
troubles in the class.
Use of simple language Clear
Use of short sentences Not very clear Overall, the teacher used relatively simple and short
sentences to give instruction. For example: Take a piece
of paper, write down a few jobs, etc. However, in the
controlled practice activity (12:15’), his instruction was
rather wordy (“when I give you this paper and you read
the sentence like this one a something is a person who
goes into space and you need to remember or from your
notes what is a correct answer”). He could simply have
said “Choose a suitable word to fill in the gap”.

Logic and clarity Clear The teacher started by explaining his instruction and then

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gave example or modelled the instruction with a student.

After that, he asked concept-check questions to make
sure students understand his instruction. He also broke
down instruction for activities that have several steps.
Use of target language Clear
Voice quality Clear The teacher spoke clearly with appropriate pauses and
stresses at important words.
Eye-contact Clear The teacher demonstrated good eye contact with the
class as a whole and with individual students
Mime, gesture, body language Clear The teacher used hand gesture and body language
effectively during both instruction-giving and teaching.
For example, he used hand gestures to invite students to
answer his questions, to create a silence, to demonstrate
his requests (pointing to his ear when he said “listen”).
Repeating instruction in a different way Clear
Not stating the obvious Clear
Use of visual aids Clear The teacher made use of pictures and powerpoint slide in
giving instruction and teaching new vocabulary.
Demonstration rather explanation Clear The teacher gave example and modelled his instruction
with students.
Checking understanding Clear In every activity, the teacher asked simple concept-check
questions after he finished explaining.
Signalling end of activity Clear The teacher signaled end of activity by hand gestures and
phrases such as “Okay”.

Lesson Observation Evaluation

1. In your opinion, which three elements made it successful?

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2. Which elements made it less successful?

3. What are the most important factors for you personally when giving instructions? Why?

Personally, I think that the factors that are important when giving instructions are:

1. To have the total attention of all the students.

2. CCQs to be sure that all the students understood the instructions.
3. Visual aids with the instructions there, because students tend to forget instructions.
4. A good voice quality, to be sure that everybody listened.

4. What will you incorporate into your own teaching after doing this observation task? How?

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