Observation

Abstract

Just because we work with language doesn’t mean that we walk around with our eyes closed: teachers have to develop keen observational skills as a matter of survival. However, the instinctive deployment of such skills is not the same thing as using them to improve our understanding of the professional world we inhabit, so it is unfortunate that in the TESOL research literature the skills of observation are almost completely overlooked. True, there has been a good deal of work on observation systems, but these have their limitations and cannot offer the rich possibilities that are inherent in freer observation. My focus in this chapter, therefore, will be on developing observation skills and indicating how these can be deployed to good effect; I will defer consideration of structured observation until the final level.