Classroom Observations - Teacher/Student Talk (31-35)

Teacher Talk/Student Talk

In this part of my observation, I focused on what and how the teacher talks in the lessons and how the students reply to them and overall how they engage with the teacher in the target language.

The first thing that is worth noting is that the variation of teacher/student talk depends on the part of the lesson that is taking place. For example, in the introduction of new vocabulary, the teacher will do the majority of the talking. This is why it is important that the student's language practice is varied and long enough for them to be able to practice and talk in the target language. When it comes to the introduction of new concepts, it is important to ask questions to see if the students understand the concepts. I have witnessed a mix of different methods in which this is done, group answering, when everyone in the class calls out the answers, being one of them. This allows for a general view of student understanding and also allows the students who may not know the answers to learn and practice without pressure. Asking specific students is also a common method to check understanding and also allow the students who would usually stay quiet to speak and practice. This is a good method when there is a larger disparity between the students. 

As I have been able to observe many different grades, I was also able to see the differences between the teacher/student talk in each of them and I have noticed that the older they are, the more the students talk which makes sense due to both confidence and language ability. One thing that I noticed in this was that the teacher didn’t pressure the younger students to speak a lot as they would do so eventually anyway. Of course, she would encourage them to produce at least one or two sentences with a lot of guides, but would not go beyond what they were comfortable with. In comparison, in a grade 7 class, the students prepared short presentations based on their previous learning topic, which they would introduce and talk about in front of the classroom, this was done in groups to still allow for that leeway in language and confidence, but most, if not all of the students spoke in the classroom.

During these observations, I made sure to pay attention to two students and how they talked with the teacher and between themselves. One of these students, let's call them student A was generally a more open, talkative and confident student while the other, student B, was more quiet and rarely offered their own answers. 

Starting with student A, they were someone who always shouted out the answer or raised their hand and is ready to answer the questions, they were often very engaged in the class and always had something to say. They, just like other similar students, can sometimes be overly distracted and sometimes talk with their peers instead of listening or doing what is asked of them. They often speak to their peers in Polish and sometimes try to get away with asking the teacher questions in Polish (only for the teacher to reply or repeat in English). This student can sometimes be disruptive but they often are active, and in consequence, use English whenever needed as well.

Next, student B. I have noticed that Student B is often a lot more quiet and reserved, even when talking to peers, it is either in a quiet whisper or when talking is generally allowed. There are usually two different variants of student B, one who doesn’t understand the topic but doesn’t speak up, or one who does understand and silently does the necessary work. In this case, I witnessed the latter. They are often the stark opposite of student A but because of that, teachers need to pay a lot of attention to them because, due to their quietness, it can be hard to tell if they are doing well or struggling. They can also often be forgotten as the teacher’s attention is more directed towards the more rowdy students. 

However, generally speaking with both students A and B (and everyone in between) the students usually talk to each other in Polish, unless the activity requires them to talk in English (say, in a speaking lesson). However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it may help them figure out the answers to the questions or activity a lot easier when working together. 

When it comes to the teacher, the teacher/student talk is almost always in English. If a student asks a question in Polish, the teacher will either reply in English or ask them to repeat themselves in English (if they believe that the student knows how to ask). When it comes to much harder concepts and ideas, the teacher may sometimes resort to explaining the concepts in Polish so that the students understand and are not even more confused than before.