Reconceptualizing language teaching: an in-service teacher education course in uzbekistan

SECTION 6.1
Classroom Observation
“There are three principal means of acquiring knowl-
edge… observation of nature, reflection, and experimenta-
tion. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; 
experimentation verifies the result of that combination” 
(Diderot, 2018).
GOALS
By the end of this section, you will be able to…
A) read through an Uzbek language teacher’s microteaching lesson 
plan (for the final exam) and decide what to observe and how to observe 
the lesson;
B) explain and identify the differences among observations, inferences, 
and opinions;
C) observe an Uzbek language teacher’s ten-minute microteaching 
lesson by taking hand-written notes;
D) discuss what you observed from the lesson and what you can learn; 
E) identify common problems in conducting a classroom observation 
of language students; and,
F) understand how to write-up a classroom observation report.
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
This section will introduce you to the basics of classroom observation. 
Although many teachers feel classroom observation is an easy task, we will 
show that it is far from it! There are three steps to being a successful observ-
er: first, know what you want to observe before you enter the classroom 
– observe with a purpose; (2) understand differences between your obser-
vations, inferences, and opinions; and (3) reflect on what you learned from 
the classroom observation.
Think about the following:
1) Can classroom observation be a learning tool for teachers? If so, 
please provide an example?

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CHAPTER SIX: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION, FEEDBACK, AND LANGUAGE TEACHING
ACTION
Read through a language teacher’s 10-minute microteaching plan 
from Chapter 5, and decide what to observe and how to observe the 
lesson. In doing so, please write down three questions you have for the 
teacher, three aspects you want to observe, and three ways that you plan 
on observing those aspects. 
KEY CONCEPTS
There are three key concepts in classroom observation that many prac-
ticing language teachers often get confused with: observation, inferences, 
and opinions. 
• Observations: the act or practice of noting and recording facts and 
events, as for a scientific study; the data so noted and recorded (i.e., 
the results of the observational act); a comment or remark based 
on something observed. 
For example, you went to a language classroom to observe how 
a language teacher uses communicative approaches to teach 
spoken English skills. However, when you observed the class, you 
noticed the teacher talked most of the time and only a couple of 
students spoke in English. Your observations notes could look like 
the following: Within the 45-minute class, the teacher talked for 39 
minutes and only 2 students out of 30 spoke in English. Thus, ob-
servations are based on facts. 
• Inferences: decisions or conclusions based on something known; 
ideas derived by reasoning; decisions arrived at from known facts 
or evidence; logical conclusions or deductions. 
For example, we can infer ‘something’ from the observation stated 
above. We can infer that the teacher does not understand the com-
municative approach to teaching spoken skills. We could also infer 
the following: because 2 students out of 30 talked in English, many 
of the students do not know how to speak in English.
• Opinions: beliefs not based on absolute certainty or positive knowl-
edge, but on what seems true, valid or probable to one’s own mind; 
evaluations, impressions, or estimates of the value or worth of a 
person, thing, idea, etc. 
For example, we can have opinions based on observations and in-
ferences. My opinion on the above observation and inference is the 

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RECONCEPTUALIZING LANGUAGE TEACHING
following: I believe the quality and quantity of the students’ learn-
ing how to speak in English was affected negatively. What makes 
the statement an opinion is the evaluative language of ‘I believe’ 
and ‘affected negatively.’
The main differences among observations, inferences, and opinions: 
• Inferences are based on principles or observations. Opinions in-
clude an evaluative attitude, often, and may be made independent-
ly of (and sometimes even contrary to!) available data.
ACTION 
Decide which item in the examples below illustrates an observation, 
an inference, or an opinion. 
Example 1:
A. There was a great social climate in this classroom.
B. The students seemed comfortable raising questions and making 
comments.
C. During the first ten minutes of class, each student took at least one 
self-initiated turn.
Example 2:
A. The teacher was probably trained in the audio-lingual method.
B. The teacher corrected every oral error by immediately modelling 
the correct form. 
The teacher’s treatment of the students’ oral errors was very heavy 
handed.
Example 3:
A. The man in the black jacket was extremely upset.
B. The man in the black jacket frowned a lot, never smiled, raised his 
voice above normal conversational levels several times and at one point 
burst into tears; I think he was really upset about something.
C. The man was wearing a black leather jacket, white t-shirt, blue 
jeans and blue and white Nike sneakers. He leaned over the counter as 
he talked with the store manager and never smiled. The conversation 
lasted six minutes and on five occasions he raised his voice above normal 
conversational levels. At one point, 4 minutes and 30 second into the 
exchange, he started crying and audibly sobbing.

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CHAPTER SIX: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION, FEEDBACK, AND LANGUAGE TEACHING
ACTION
Now, since you can discern the differences among observations, in-
ferences, and opinions, please watch a 10-minute video clip of a micro-
teaching lesson and take appropriate observation field notes. After you 
have watched the video, please consult one or two teachers with your 
observation notes.
REFLECTION
What did you learn from observing the 10-minute microteaching les-
son? What were some things that you liked; what were some aspects you 
could improve upon? Please use your observation field notes to make the 
necessary claims. 
TASK