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4.3StudentActionsinDetailTheinstructorwhodesignedthistaskisarelativelynewinstructor,whohadbeenwithOPELT,herfirstEnglish-teachingjobafterfinishinguniversity,foroneyearatthetimeoftheobservation.Thisinstructorwasworriedthatsomestudentswerenotengagedintheclass,andwantedtotryanddeterminefirstofallwhetherornototherinstructorsnoticedthesameissue,andifsowhethertherootoftheproblemwasinthedifficultyofthetasksusedinclass,thecontentofthetasksusedinclass,orpotentialotherfactorsshewasmissingwhileteaching.Thetaskwasrelativelycomplex:eachobservingteacherwastaskedwithobservingasinglestudentthroughoutasinglepartofthelesson.Observerswereaskedtotakenoteson:１）Studentinvolvementinthetask２）Studentbehavior３）StudentresponsestotheinstructorObserverswerealsoaskedtoanswerthefollowingholisticquestionsaboutthestudent'sbehavior:１）Isthestudentinvolvedinthetask?Dotheyfocusontheclasswork?Theteacher?Otherstudents?Somethingelse?２）Whatdoesthestudentdoduringthelesson?３）Howdoesthestudentrespondtotheteacherorthecontent?Doesthestudentshowunderstanding?４）Whatotherfactors(motivational,mental,physical,etc.)canyouobserveaffectingthestudent?Theinstructorlearnedthefollowingfromtheobservationtask:First,thatmanyofherstudentsweremoreactivelyinvolvedinthelessonthanshe,lookingattheclassonlyholisticallyastheteacher,hadrealized.Theobservinginstructorsfoundthat,ingeneral,althoughthestudentssometimeslettheirattentionwander,andalthoughsomestudentshaddifficultyinterfacingwiththeclass,onthewhole,studentswereengaged,involved,andactivelyrespondingtotheinstructor.OneoftheprimaryissuesseemedtobeacommononewithJapanesestudents,ageneraldifficultyin"reading"theirbodylanguageandfacialexpressionstodetermineiftheyunderstandclassroominstructions,materialortasks.Experiencedteachersnotedthat,intheiropinion,mostofthestudentsdidunderstandthematerialbutweresimplynotshowingthatunderstandinglyasactivelyastheymighthave.Intheensuingdiscussionoftheclassandtheobservedinstructor'steachingmethods,otherinstructorsbroughtuptheirinterpretationsofspecificissuesthatmayhavebeeninterferingwithsomestudents'activeinvolvementintheclass,andideasforstrategiesabouthowtodealwithsimilarsituationsinthefuture.Theinstructorfoundthisdiscussionveryhelpful,andagainhassaidthatsheisactivelyincorporatingsuggestionsbroughtupinthediscussionintoherlessons.4.4NumbersandPatternsofTeacherInteractionwithStudentsTheinstructorwhodesignedthistaskisanexperiencedteacherwhohasbeenteachingEnglishinJapanfor10years.UnusuallyforOPELTinstructors,however,hedoesnothaveformaleducationintheteachingofEnglishasaForeignLanguageandhadneverbeenexposedtotheideaofafocusedobservationtaskofthesortusedinthisprogram.Forthisreason,thefirsttimethisinstructorwascalledupontodothelessonobservationtask,heelectedtodesignataskwiththeaimoflearningabouttheprocessofdesigningandcarryingoutafocusedlessonobservation.WorkingtogetherwiththedirectorofOPELT,heselectedafairlyfundamentaltypeofobservationtaskforhisfirstobservation.Thetaskhechosewasatasktotrackthenumbersandtypesofinteractionsbetweeninstructorandstudents,andbetweenstudentsandstudents,intheclassroom.Observersweregivenaseatingchartoftheclassandnotedeachtimetheinstructorinteractedwithastudent,andeachtimeastudentinteractedwithanotherstudent.Observersalsonotedwhethertheinteractionwasprimarilyone-wayortwo-waycommunication.―22―DavidR.Laurence