Student Name: Mahra Al Qassimi

Username ID: H00330597

Course Code: EPC 2403
Course Name: Practicum 2a
Course Teacher: Antoinette Wiseman & Aisha Al Teneiji
Task Title: Chit Chat

Observation Table:
Reasons for speaking in the classroom
Class: English KG 2
Number of learners: 24 students
Length of lesson: 45 minutes
Teacher observed language: English
Learning goals: Learning letter sound /T/
Materials used: Letter T flashcards and phonics song
Reason for speaking

Learner A:
Rayan

Learner B:
Omar

Learner C:
Widad

Learner repeats word / phrase

after teacher whole class

EEA

AE

EE

Learner repeats word / phrase

after teacher group / pair

Learner repeats word / phrase

after teacher individual

EEE

EEE

Learner answers direct

question from teacher

EE

EEE

Learner answers open

question from teacher

Learner asks teacher a

question

EE

Leaner asks a partner in

paired work activity

Learner answers a group

member in group work activity

Learner answers the teacher

informally

EE

10

Learner answers peer

informally

11

Other reason for speaking

12

Other reason for speaking

EEE

AA

Reflections on Observation Task 1: Chit Chat

What was the most common reason for speaking?
Learner repeating a word/phrase after teacher whole class or individually.
What was the least common reason for speaking?
Learner repeats word/phrase after teacher group/pair.
Were there any boxes with no ticks?
Yes, there were no learners answering a partner in paired work activity.
How much of the lesson was spent on the teacher using Teacher Talk, in your
opinion?
40%, for example, when the children would misbehave while shes teaching a
lesson, she would make hand gestures or use a picture of a sad face that would
instantly tell them how shes feeling.
Do you feel it was an appropriate amount of talk? Why/ Why not?
Yes, she asked students questions and communicated well with them, and tried her
best to make the classroom more student-centered.
What do you think is an appropriate sequence of interaction patterns?
Group or paired activities. For example, theres a student, Sara, who enjoys
welcoming the students to class and doing the morning circle. Sara took the place
of the teacher and the students responded with positivity, this can be very
productive for the children.
Now consider how much Arabic was used. Do you think it was used
appropriately?
Yes, the teachers stick to the rules. For example, in English, the teachers including
the MST and students are only allowed to speak English. Even the Arabic teacher
tries her best to communicate with them in English, which encouraged the students
and increased their use of English by time.

Reflection for Bonus Points

B. Why is it important to think about using English or varied purposed in the
classroom? For example, not just for giving an example, but also for
correcting, for praising, for everyday uses, like asking for help, or asking to
borrow something?
Its important to use English for varied purposes in the classroom. My fellow
teacher-students and I made the mistake of speaking in both languages, English
and Arabic, with the students. During the end of the first week the teachers
confronted us by saying wait, why are you talking to the students in both
languages, when youre supposed to speak to them in English only. We were also
told that despite them just starting to learn English, if you speak to them using
simple words, they wouldnt have much trouble understanding. The purpose of
using English in the classroom in all cases, helps improve the childs education and
his or her English.