On Monday, October 7th, 2013 I conducted a learner analysis on two students in my 6th

grade language arts class in the classroom. I choose the classroom because I wanted an
environment in which the students would feel comfortable answering questions and feel like they
could answer honestly. The interviews were conducted separately and without other students
present.
The two students who were interviewed, Kaylee and Ved, are both in a regular 6th grade
language arts class; however, they both attend a private school which works on an accelerated
curriculum. Ved is an eleven year old male student. He is new to the school and also to the
United States. He moved to America from India just two months ago. Kaylee is an eleven year
old female student also new to the school. She moved to Florida from Virginia two months ago.
These two students were chosen because they represent the overall ability levels of the students
in the class. In this particular class, most students are new to the school (7 of the 11 students are
new) and the boy to girl ratio is almost even (5 girls to 6 boys).
To put students at ease I explained the purpose of the interview. The students already
know who I am, but I wanted to make sure they were aware that the purpose of the interview was
to collect more information to better help them in the classroom.
During the interview I asked questions to both students about their comfort level with
learning new material. I wanted to know how comfortable each student felt using the internet and
computers for learning and learning on their own. I also wanted to determine their motivation
and attitudes towards learning in general; it was important for me to determine if they felt they
possessed the skills necessary to complete the unit. I feel I accomplished this by asking directly

about their comfort level with internet learning, success in language arts, and what learning
activities they enjoyed and which they didnt feel were helpful.
To determine students ability levels directly related to the task I first assessed their prior
knowledge. I asked general questions about verbs and the terminology to be presented within the
lesson. I also wanted to see if they had the entry level skills that I had expected them to have by
asking they knew the key vocabulary needed to comprehend the task planned. Additionally, I
presented each student with a list of sentences to see if they could identify any verbs or nouns in
the sentence to gain a clear understanding of what they knew and didnt know.
During the interview I learned that both students seemed to have similar confidence
levels regarding verbs and language arts class in general. They both were able to identify action
verbs, but struggled with defining and picking out linking verbs and being verbs. Both students
possess the entry level skills initially set forth in the task analysis. As far as learning style goes,
both students said they liked when learning involved some sort of game to enforce learning and
they liked to use the SMART board in the classroom. They did both claim that they preferred
learning in a classroom with a teacher rather than by using a computer even though they felt
comfortable using a computer and internet.
From the learning analysis I have found that I do not need to spend as much time on
action verbs in my instruction as I had originally thought. Students seem to have a clear
understanding of this kind of verb; however, I will need to spend more time on linking verbs. I
also found that I may want to incorporate some sort of game into my instruction to reinforce
learning and practice.

Appendix A- Learner Analysis Questions

Hello. I am developing a lesson to teach learners like you how to determine the difference
between action and linking verbs in a sentence and how to identify each in a sentence. By
asking you a few questions about your familiarity with grammar, I hope to have a better idea of
how the plan the instruction for this lesson.

Questions:
A. Prior Knowledge
a. Have you every learned about verbs?
b. Do you know what a verb is?
c. Did you know there are two different kinds of verbs?
d. Do you know what a linking verb is?
e. Do you know what the being verbs are?
f. Have you even been asked to locate verbs in a sentence?
B. Performance of locating and classifying verbs in a sentence
a. I am going to give you a few sentences. Can you try to identify the
verb in each sentence? If you can, can you tell me if it is a linking verb
or action verb?
i. The boy jumped over the log.
ii. The girl ran up the hill.
iii. She is very pretty.
iv. We will be back tomorrow.
v. She is swimming upstream.
vi. It has been a fun day.
C. Entry Level Skills
a. Are you able to read and comprehend what you have read?
b. Do you know what a noun is?
c. What is a noun?
d. Can you locate a noun in a sentence?
D. Attitudes
a. Do you feel you can be successful in school?
b. Do you feel you have been successful in Language Arts so far?
c. What activities do you like to do when learning?
d. What learning activities do you do that feel unnecessary or not helpful?
e. Do you feel you can use a computer to help you learn?
f. Are you comfortable using the internet?

Thank you for your time in helping me to determine how to best plan this lesson. Do
you have any questions regarding this lesson or suggestions for how to best deliver
this lesson?