Job Discussion Forums

[Samantha]

el gallo wrote:

[eclectic]

That is heartening.

[Mike S.]

First your fresa students call you both payaso and aburido (boring clown).

Then they tell you you �speak too much English�

Then they get picked up by their parents in brand new BMW SUVs.

Then you get payed 50 pesos per hour.

I�ll tell ya, I don�t get no respect!

- Rodney Dangerfield

[mdk]

I agree with eveready above. I think back to both my Russian and Spanish teachers who taught me in English with heavy practice in conversation and pronunciation drill.

One aspect which I find lacking in "modern" ESL is the use of the "language lab". The high school I studied at was very proud of this. It was a series of booths with headsets. We would listen to a dialog and repeat it. We could listen to ourselves and compare it to the lesson and the teacher could break in with corrections. It was very similar, in its way, to my cello classes. I found that type of drill very useful for getting the mouth connected to the brain. I must admit that soon after I could hold up a basic conversation, Uncle Sam put me to live in a big barracks with lots of Hispanics and my real language instruction started.

I know it is a heterodox position, but I think there is some golden mean between absolutely no instruction in L1 and trying to teach in L1. I think that subtle grammatical points are best explained in L1, but after that it is time to speak in the language. That was true for me in both Spanish and Russian and I am sure it applies equally to people learning English.