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Researching Applied Linguistics in Language Teacher Education OBSERVATION

المؤلف:  Nat Bartels

المصدر:  Applied Linguistics and Language Teacher Education

الجزء والصفحة:  P2-C8

2026-08-06

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Researching Applied Linguistics in Language Teacher Education

OBSERVATION

One of the most common ways of collecting data about teachers’ knowledge and knowledge use is by observing them teaching (Borg‚ 1998; 1999; Lamb‚ 1995: Grossman‚ 1990; 1991; Calderhead & Shorrock‚ 1997‚ Carpenter et al‚ 1989). While this usually entails observation of school teaching only‚ it may also include observing all aspects of a particular practice such as informal conversation with colleagues on goals for a course‚ discussions with parents or administrators‚ etc. (Dunbar‚ 1995). An alternative to direct observation is to tape classes and then analyze the transcripts (Johnston & Goettsch‚ 1999; Villamil & Guerero‚ 1998). Observation is good for looking at whether teachers really use the knowledge from applied linguistics courses in their teaching practice‚ and also produces data for examining their routines and schemata. However‚ observation can be very time consuming so most researchers limit the number of visits they make and the number of teachers the observe‚ which then raises questions about the generalizability of the findings. One potential problem with observing classes of your students or former students is that they may feel compelled to do things they think you want to see‚ rather than teach the way they would if you were not there (Duffy & Roehler‚ 1986). Therefore‚ it is important to gain the teachers’ trust so that they feel free to teach in any way they wish. You also may be able to get around this by having them observed by a co-researcher who has not been their teacher. For suggestions of how to record data while observing see Freeman (1998)‚ Boglan & Bicklen (1992)‚ and Day (1990).

If you want to investigate the learning of teachers or novice teachers in a particular applied linguistics class or in-service training meeting‚ these situations can be observed as well. If you teach the class‚ you can either have a co-researcher observe your class or record the class and later analyze the transcripts (Southerland & Gess-Newsome‚ 1999; see also Samway‚ 1994‚ for further suggestions).

Using observation data from applied linguistics classrooms can give you more detailed information about what students are really learning in your applied linguistics classes and can also be compared with observation of teaching data to investigate the extent of transfer from the applied linguistics class to language teaching. It is also fairly convenient because‚ if you are the instructor‚ you have to attend the class anyway.

Some researchers use participant observation‚ meaning they use the knowledge they gained as a participant (usually the instructor) in the course (Bailey‚ 1996‚ Ramanthan et al‚ 2001; Belz‚ chapter 20; Bigelow & Ranney‚ chapter 11). Being a participant observer can give you a richer‚ insider perspective on the learning taking place in an applied linguistics class‚ although the researcher may be so preoccupied in her view that important perspectives on the class are ignored. This can be alleviated by including data from other participants in the class‚ taping classes and analyzing transcripts‚ or by having an outside observer to compliment your perspective as participant observer. (See Byra & Karp‚ 2000‚ for descriptions of and guidelines for participant observation.)