The Differences Between Novice Teachers And Expert Teachers’ Comments:A Study Based On Classroom Observation

The ability to observe and comment on class plays an important role in the professional development of teachers,and it has been a hot topic in the education field in recent years.With the development of new curriculum standards and English teaching,higher requirements will also be proposed for teachers’ professional development.During the process,classroom observation and comment is the main teaching and research activities in the basic education,and it is an indispensable part of the novice teachers to improve their teaching ability.However,after studying the relevant research papers,the study finds that there are many problems in the practical teaching about that.Due to the lack of understanding of the theories related to classroom observation,the novice teachers do not fully grasp the methods,so that the classroom observation and comment activities just become a form.In order to enhance the classroom observation and comment ability of novice teachers,this thesis uses interviews to investigate the problems existing in the novice teachers’ classroom observation and comment practice.And this thesis presents insights into novice and expert teachers’ perceptions of classroom teaching and learning reflected in their comments based on class observation.The aim of this study is to figure out the differences between them in the content of comments,which may initiate some enlightenment for the professional development of novice teachers.Qualitative analysis method is used in this research to analyze the content of comments.Based on grounded theory and the content of SIOP（The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol）classroom observation model,a coding scheme is also created to explore teachers’ focus of class observation,in which four main categories of codes emerge: Student,Teacher,Lesson Design and Teaching Management and each category has several subcategories behind it.Finally,the study reveals problems existing in the novice teachers’ classroom observation and comment practice as well as differences between novice teachers and expert teachers’ comments based on classroom observationThe result of the study suggests that:（1）For novice teachers,there are more observation but less opportunities for classroom comment.Besides,novice teachers have not done enough theoretical research on classroom evaluation and been lacking of professional class evaluation guidance in teaching practice,thus giving rise to their weak capability of classroom observation and comment.And they pay little attention to the English core competences.（2）Novice teachers tend to focus more on teaching and teachers’ behavior in the classroom,while expert teachers lay stress on student and student learning.（3）Novice teachers provide simple,random and even inconsistent comments,whereas comments made by expert teachers are elaborate and logical along with recommendations.