Job Discussion Forums

[veiledsentiments]

I think the 'rule' came from the UK/US where ESL classes have mixed nationalities.

That and the idea that we are the only English speakers that most of them get to deal with daily. What the rule needs is the common sense that it should depend on the level that you are dealing with... the lower the level, the more need for a bit of Arabic now and again.
(not that most native speaker EFL teachers in the Gulf know any Arabic to help them along)

VS

[MixtecaMike]

Here in Guatemala some of the strongest proponents of English-only classrooms are the school administrators who can't speak English at all. Most teachers are NNS, with fair to good English skills, and some of them also aim for no Spanish, at least during staff meetings.
I've never liked (or obeyed) that rule, even in KSA where I couldn't speak Arabic worth a thing, the students were welcome to explain things to each other in Arabic, or I'd get a colleague to write what I wanted in Arabic, which greatly amused (and confused) the students.