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Observation Notebook
Phase 1 – Introduction
Westergaard for the Language House TEFL demonstration series. The students appeared
to be high-beginner level ESL adults. Although the lesson was constructed primarily
around the Audio-Lingual Method – “an oral-based approach… [that] drills students in
the use of grammatical sentence patterns” – instructor Westergaard still showed several
Firstly, the instructor set the tone of the lesson and his expectations of the students
early on in the video. He showed enthusiasm right at the introduction, and used gestures
variety of gestures and movements to illustrate the words’ meanings. Westergaard kept
individual student. When a student showed hesitation, he encouraged her by repeating the
Additionally, instructor Westergaard also made ample use of pair- and group-
work activities. He prepared worksheets that appeared to be appropriate for the students’
level, and arranged groups himself when necessary. By monitoring each group as they
worked, he was able to identify errors quickly and address them as needed. After each
student-centered activity, he brought the focus back to the front of the classroom for
a group and focusing on individual needs or questions. Although most of the lesson
consisted of phrase-repetition, towards the end of the video, he allowed his students to
vocabulary learned that day in one large, interactive dialogue exercise that mimicked a
natural conversation between native speakers. In this way, the students were challenged
to use the new vocabulary in realistic settings, with guidance only as needed.
One aspect of the lesson that may benefit from further reflection is the approach
he used in addressing mistakes that were made multiple times. Part of it may have
stemmed from the root of the Audio-Lingual Method, but it seemed as if most of his
did not appear to explain the context of the words themselves. Moreover, although he
remained fully engaged with the students at all times, the enthusiasm that he started with
was no longer present in the last section of the video. With that said, Westergaard still
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