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kpjf · Joined: 18 Jan 2012 Posts: 385

Johnslat,

Naturally, I agree with that; I was just pointing out that knowing French has been useful in my context of teaching French students.

santi84 · Joined: 14 Mar 2008 Posts: 1317 Location: under da sea

Deats · Joined: 02 Jan 2015 Posts: 503

For all the help that acquiring a second language can be, it can also be a hindrance. When students know I can speak some of their language, they often revert to it whenever possible. It can actually create resentment and frustration when you won't just translate a word for them but insist that they find another way of explaining what they want to say, or make them describe the word they want by using other words.

For the longest time in Russia my students thought I didn't know any Russian. I wanted them to think this. The second they found out I knew more than I had let on, they started using more Russian words around me. I worked in a private boarding school and my job wasn't only teaching but mentoring too. So, from my experience them finding out that I spoke a second language, their language, was in fact a definite negative in the learning process.

I really don't understand this empathy issue. Surely any good teacher will sympathise with their student's struggles and be kind, understanding and patient. You don't need to have learned another language to have these traits in your character.

johnslat · Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 9:40 pm Post subject:

There can be, however, a danger inherent in being able to speak your students' L1

"Speaking from my own experience as a student where my teachers seemed more interested in practicing or showing off their knowledge of my L1, my recommendation is to use it only as a last resort with beginning students and very quickly wean off. My listening skills in L2 were greatly stinted by such teachers - anxious to quickly translate their instructions or explanations into my L1, not giving me time to think through and figure it out in L2. It wasn't until I finally had a teacher who couldn't speak my L1 that my listening skills finally began to develop."

I saw this happen in Saudi with some Arabic-speaking teachers (and not only native Arabic speakers).

Now that I'm teaching ESL mainly to Hispanic-speaking students, I use Spanish only very, very seldom - one problem is that when you have a class that's comprised of 100% (or close to that) students, most of the teachers here have to try to stop their students from conversing with each other in Spanish. If the teacher starts using it, they'll often see that as permission for them to do the same.

Regards,
John

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

Sashadroogie · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 4:53 am Post subject:

Sashadroogie · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 9:14 am Post subject:

Deats · Joined: 02 Jan 2015 Posts: 503

Sashadroogie · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 10:01 am Post subject:

Sashadroogie · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 10:06 am Post subject:

Deats · Joined: 02 Jan 2015 Posts: 503

Sashadroogie · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 10:54 am Post subject:

Sounds like you haven't got a basic training cert then. I assumed posters would remember their own training. That was remiss of me.

Deats · Joined: 02 Jan 2015 Posts: 503

I must have been having such a powerful orgasm for the entirety of that transformative hour that I blacked out.

I'd love to hear others' experiences about how that hour changed their lives.

kpjf · Joined: 18 Jan 2012 Posts: 385

3701 W.119th · Joined: 26 Feb 2014 Posts: 386 Location: Central China

My CELTA group had our lesson in Polish. Learning to order a snack and drinks at a cafe. Tough language.

I found it really useful, as a noob. Others in the group just saw it as a nice change of pace. Different strokes.