Activity number 4

How could you know if a classroom you were observing REALLY contained social interaction?

List of Factors that we can look for when we visit classes

• The class should have purposeful activities, ideally written down on the board.

• The class should link English with other interesting subjects for students.

• The teacher should engage students in simulation and replication activities, or at least in one of them.

• The class should not be focussed just on grammatical competence (usage) but also on the correct "use" of the language.

• The students must be able to apply the knowledge they acquire in the class when negotiating meaning in real and authentic situations.

• The teacher should give the students a chance of having some minutes of the class for talking freely about their previous day, and then the teacher could assess their students by asking them a report of what they talked.