If possible, arrange to observe a teacher’s class. Ask the teacher to provide a copy of
his or her lesson plan. In what ways does the lesson follow the lesson plan? What
aspects of the lesson are not anticipated by the plan?
2. What classroom management problems have you observed (or experienced) in
language classes? How did the teacher deal with them?
3. Observe a lesson and identify points in the lesson during which the teacher dealt with
off-task behavior. How did he or she handle this? Was he or she successful?
4. Plan a lesson for a class you are familiar with. Describe how you incorporate group
work in your lesson and how you will deal with students who refuse to work in groups.
5. Devise a form that could be used as the basis for evaluating a lesson. Then try it out.
What kind of information did you collect?
6. Review Lewis’s article. Do you think motivation is a serious problem in a second or
foreign language class? How useful is the article in helping you understand the issue
of low motivation among your students? Can you suggest other ways of dealing with
reluctant learners?
7. According to Lewis, what roles do teachers have to adopt in the communicative
language classroom? Do you agree with her? What other roles do you think teachers
should play?
8. Review Farrell’s article. Describe Tyler’s (1969) rational-linear model of lesson
planning. Do you agree that the model is too limiting? In what ways is Yinger’s
(1980) framework an improvement of Tyler’s model?
9. According to Farrell, how important is lesson planning for the success of a lesson?
What happens if a lesson is not going according to what has been planned before?
How easy or difficult is it to adjust or change a lesson plan at the implementation
phase?