The classroom practices of language teachers are of interest to many different people. Program administrators and supervisors are interested in knowing whether the teacher's instructional practices are relevant to the program's goals and objectives. Students are interested in knowing whether the activities and experiences the teacher provides are helping them develop their language skills. And researchers are interested in studying the nature of the discourse teachers use in classrooms and the interactional structure of lessons. But those with the greatest interest in knowing what teachers do in classrooms are teachers themselves. All teachers want to know what kind of teachers they are and how well they are doing. A supervisor's evaluations and students' grades are ways of assessing this, but a more direct source of information for teachers is regular observation of their own teaching. Although few language teachers avail themselves of this resource on a regular basis, self-monitoring has much to recommend it as a component of the teacher's ongoing professional development.

What is self-monitoring?

Self-monitoring or self-observation refers to a systematic approach to the observation, evaluation, and management of one's own behavior (Armstrong and Frith 1984), for the purposes of achieving a better understanding and control over one's behavior. In everyday life, people often make use of self-monitoring, such as when a shopper uses a shopping list to guide and restrict purchases during shopping, or when a person writes a daily personal diary and periodically reviews it to monitor progress in attaining personal goals.