本书冠以“任务”，因此全书分为“引言”和“任务”两大部分。引言部分含有6个单元标题：1.如何将观察作为学习工具；2.本书为谁编写；3.为什么编写观察任务；4.任务是如何编排的；5.如何使用任务;6.注意事项。以上6点回答了读者在翻阅本书前所关切的问题。本书的第二部分“任务”共分为7章：1.学习者；2.语言；3.学习；4.课堂；5.教学技巧与策略；6.课堂管理；7.教材与资源。每章标题也就是课堂观察的主要内容和观察点。

导读 F5
Acknowledgments F22
Part One Introduction
Observation as a learning tool 1
Who is this book for? 2
Why a book on observation? 7
How the tasks are organised 16
How to use the tasks 17
A word of caution 26
Part Two The tasks
1 The learner 28
1.1 Attending to the learner 28
1.2 Learner motivation 31
1.3 The learner as doer 34
1.4 Learner level 36
1.5 The learner as cultural being 40
2 Language 43
2.1 The teacher’ s meta - language 43
2.2 The language of questions 46
2.3 The language of feedback to error 49
2.4 Language echoes 52
2.5 Language as the negotiation of meaning Learning 54
3 Learning 58
3.1 The learning environment 58
3.2 Checking learning 62
3.3 Learning and teaching compared 65
3.4 Learning aims 67
3.5 Lexis and learning 71
4 The Lesson 74
4.1 Lesson planning 74
4.2 Openings and closures 78
4.3 Lesson phases and transitions 81
4.4 Grammar as lesson content 85
4.5 Lesson breakdowns 87
5 Teaching skills and strategies 91
5.1 Presenting 91
5.2 Eliciting : teacher prompts 94
5.3 Eliciting : teacher responses 96
5.4 Giving instructions 99
5.5 Managing error 103
6 Classroom management 106
6.1 Managing classroom communication 106
6.2 Managing pair and group work 109
6.3 Teaching and learning roles 113
6.4 Timing and pace 116
6.5 Classroom power 119
7 Materials and resources 122
7.1 The board as resource 122
7.2 The learner as resource 124
7.3 ‘Whole – learner’ materials 126
7.4 Task analysis 129
7.5 Task design and evaluation 132
Bibliography 136
Task index 139
Index 141