How much of their native language should you let them use?

[derekhhh]

Hi,
I am a relatively inexperienced teacher teaching now at a University in Thailand. I wish to hear other teacher's philosophies about how much of the native language that the students can use in class. I like the idea of complete immersion, but that might dominate the lessons and we might not get anywhere. What are your ideas?
Thanks for the help.

[fluffyhamster]

Hi Derek! Being realistic, students who share the same first language (i.e. in monolingual rather than international study settings) will use that language amoungst themselves, especially when words fail them (for example, when doing a more complex than anticipated task that in fact requires lots more language than the ostensible focus that lesson), and I think it is dangerous to insist that students grind out potential pidgeonese all the time, because they could get into bad habits unawares (when there isn't a native speaker i.e. the teacher to always provide explicit correction or at least subtle reformulative echoes); I just know that when I am attempting to speak Chinese, I don't like to have to make things up and not have them checked (and I am hardly likely to be able to remember everything I attempted to say and check on it all myself later, short of being recorded on video or audio tape), so I prefer to substitute English when I really don't know how to say things, plus my dodgy output could be construed by partners as good input etc.

So I think students can be excused a little use of L1 amongst themselves, and speaking as a teacher, I don't like to exhaust their attention spans with too much potentially irrelvant L2 classroomese and patter. I look upon organizational and directional language as orchestral tuning-up - ultimately a lot of discordant noise with less interest and certainly value than the main performance by me and then the students (or occassionally vice-versa) of the L2 target language items or functions or whatever. So I have never been particularly averse to using the student's L1 (when I can speak it, or supply glosses etc) to "get them all on the same page" quickly and more efficiently. But obviously, if one is actually attempting to seriously establish a more genuinely conversational syllabus (which might involve lots of recycling, and genuine conversation as a consqeuence, as the students become more truly capable of speaking freely), then more and more of the classroom time can be spent in using the language rather than just talking about it. (Do a search for 'Dogme' at least, to get an idea of where my mind has wondered before LOL).

Actually, you've reminded me to dig out my copy of Teaching Monolingual Classes by David Atkinson (which I haven't really looked at for over a decade!)!

[Heads Up English]

I just wrote a section on L1/L2 in the classroom for my online resource manual. There's a lot of conflicting information out there, quite a bit of which points to complete abstention of the L1. However, use of the L1 has a number of benefits. For example:

1: When the focus is on fluency, students can slip in a word or phrase to maintain the conversation. They don't need to check dictionaries, struggle with language production far above their level, etc.

2: Students can confirm instructions and other grammar points with their peers and/or teacher. Students may similarly ask additional questions for fuller comprehension. This improves accuracy.

3: Shy or weak students can gain confidence if allowed to minimally use their L1. Think of it as a pre-step to richer discussions.

Of course drawbacks exist, and the teacher should give every opportunity to use the target language. Students need to learn speaking strategies when faced with unknown words, for example. Students also need to successfully negotiate conversation without 100% comprehension. Yet there isn't a need for a total ban on the L1 in the classroom, I think.

I hope these ideas help.

Chris Cotter
Free flashcards at www.flashcardhub.com
Just print and teach materials at www.headsupenglish.com

[alawton]

Hello,

It is always nice when you have a class full of students who speak different languages. The only common language is English. Since that doesn't happen very often you do have to come up with some boundaries on how much of the home language students can use.

When teaching children many ESL teachers will have strict rules on when a student can speak his or her language. With adults, teachers tend to be less likely to create these kinds of rules. It is a lot easier to offend adult students. With that being said, I have found that setting concrete rules for when English is to be spoken is a good thing. Adult students can benefit from structure like that. I had a class that had many Spanish speakers. Without even thinking they would interact in Spanish while working on an assignment. One day I decided to be really strict on English only in the class. The students saw the point of what I was doing, so they were not offended when I reminded them to speak in English.

So I would say that all English is the best way. As the teacher, you can break this rule as need be. Thanks

Andrew Lawton
http://drewseslfluencylessons.com