Debra Aronson

TASL 501
Assignment 3b Observation Tool for SLA ASL Class

Observation:

Results:

Student engagement: Students

are actively engaged in the
activity (focused, paying
attention).

Students actively engaged and watched

the teacher. The teacher started and
continued through the class using the
target language. At times, the students
were looking down and the teacher
knocked on the desk to get their attention.

Questioning: Students ask

questions when they dont
understand.

Students were shy and timid about asking

questions. As the class went on, students
felt more comfortable asking questions in
the target language. At times, it appeared
that they were pretending to understand.
Teacher said, if you dont understand, tell
me.

Teacher feedback: Teacher is

giving corrective feedback
throughout the class.

Yes. Teacher gave immediate feedback to

students when they signed incorrectly.
However, during their quiz, I noticed a few
students making mistakes and the teacher
not pointing them out. I didnt see the
teacher writing down notes while they
were signing, so will the students learn
what they did wrong?

Teacher feedback methods:

What method of feedback is being
used?

O Explicit XX Recasts
XX Clarification
Requests
O Metalinguistic O Elicitation
O Repetition

Students Response to
feedback?

Students were receptive to feedback and

mimicked the teacher when she showed
them the correct signs.

Use of expression: Students

using proper facial expressions to
match their dialogue, feeling
confident.

Very few students used facial expressions

when signing. The students were
concentrating more on getting the signs
right and not focusing on their facial
expressions.

Communication with Teacher:

Students are using the target
language as a means to
communicate when
asking/answering questions. In
ASL class, students try to use
survival signs instead of speaking.

In the beginning of class, a few students

broke up into groups and started using
their voices. Once the teacher reminded
the students to lock their voices, they did.
Occasionally during the class, the students
used their voice to answer the teacher.
When the students used their voice, the
teacher responded in sign, instead of
forcing the students to ask in sign.
Students spoke, teacher signed.

Communication with fellow

students: Students are using ASL
to communicate with fellow
classmates during activity time.
Are they voicing/whispering?

When the students broke up into groups,

they used ASL to communicate the
majority of the time. Occasionally, though,
they whispered to each other, using their
native language.

Volunteering: Students are

volunteering to present language
skills. Is the teacher selecting
students?

Students didnt really volunteer. When the

teacher asked them to come up to sign
their time sentences, she numbered
them so they knew when it was their turn.

Time: Are the students given

enough time to answer questions?

Yes. The teacher is patient and gave the

students adequate time to think about
their answers, encouraging them to ask
for help.

Learning Time: Are students

given enough time to absorb the
new lesson before the teacher
moves on?

The teacher moved onto another activity

and I think at first the students were a
little lost, as the teacher had to explain a
over and over what to do. There was no
example given on the smart board.

Assessment: Teacher assessed

the performance of the class
based on the lesson, either by
evaluation, observation,
homework, etc.

The quiz given to the students was

expressive. The students took turns
signing 5 sentences about time to the
class while the teacher observed. The
students were not sitting in a U shape,
so it was very difficult to see the students
and the other students couldnt always

see each other. A quarterly test will be

given in a few days; the teacher reminded
the students.
Critical Thinking: Students
thought about what they learned
and applied to the real world.

The students did not connect what they

learned to the real world. Although, they
will now be able to use time when having
a conversation within the Deaf
Community.

ACTFL: Teacher covered which

Standards of Foreign Languages?

XX Communication O Culture O
Community
O Connections O Comparisons

ASL Level II Class

Nyack High School
Observation: November 4, 2015