Developing a Classroom Observation Instrument based on Iranian EFL Teacher's Attitude

To observe teachers, different instruments have been developed. The problem with the instruments developed yet is that these instruments are based onparticular assumptions of researchers about the classroom and teachers’ preferences have been neglected. In order to help bring teachers’ attitudes as important criteria to the field of classroom observation, the researchers, in the present study, developed a new observation instrument totally based on teachers’ attitudes.To inquire about teachers’ attitudes, a two-phase study was conducted: a qualitative and a quantitative phase. In the qualitative phase an interview survey was conducted with 20 EFL teachers. A content analysis of the transcribed data yielded 35 most frequent itemsrelated to the features teachers liked to be included in classroom observation instrument. These items formed the statements in a likert-type questionnaire which was administered in the quantitative phase of the study. In order to check teachers’ ideas at large and tocheck the construct validity of the resulting instrument a questionnaire survey was conducted on 161 EFL teachers in the quantitative phase of the study. A factor analysis of the data yielded 10 factors with 33 items meaningfully loading on the specified factors. The results of the analyses indicated that the resulting observation instrument based on teachers'' attitudes could be considered reasonably valid and reliable.