Macroscopic and Microscopic Views of L2 Classrooms

Two instruments available for use in second-language (L2) classroom educational research, ie, Spada & M. Frohlich's (1995) Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching (COLT) observation scheme & Lyster & Leila Ranta's (1997 [see abstract 9707875]) error treatment flowchart, are described & contrasted. COLT was developed to provide a macroscopic view of L2 classrooms; it consists of two grids that track classroom practices & procedures, & verbal interactions between students & teachers. It has been used to illuminate classroom practice/learning outcome relationships. In contrast, the error treatment flowchart provides a model for microscopic discourse analysis of interactional classroom sequences, specifically those containing & responding to student errors. In addition to their use as research tools, the two instruments described are recommended to teachers who wish to check their own teaching practices. 2 Figures, 1 Appendix, 19 References. E. Emery