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BindairDundat GotdaTshirt
Joined: 30 Aug 2006
Posts: 63
Location: DC
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 Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 11:40 am Post subject: |
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I simply said that unless the teacher knows a bit of the native language, students may learn vocab incorrectly at a beginning level. Using the native tongue can also be useful to clarify grammar and usage. I always use English first, and occasionally use Polish to clarify if there seems to be confusion.
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Redsox, I think you are getting wrapped up around the axle. Why are you so invested in this technique? I have two words for you and your students: Longman Dictionary. I can't underline enough refraining from the usage of Polish in the native speakers' classroom. His presence has no currency whatsoever in our teaching. Students often see our language as categorically ambiguous. Let them. They need to extend their learning at home.
If you cut corners and stop them from doing homework (and this includes word search) you will make a pretty reasonable stab at their learning. Let's say the students show a scintilla of doubt in the meaning of a word after an attempt to explain the same using synonyms, trying to guess by context, or by works. Within the margin of error, three quarters of the class by then should have the correct meaning. The rest will be swallowed by what might seem to be the obvious.
Despite the level, the beginner and the not so beginner in your classroom are almost always mutually exclusive. Teaching vocabulary will always raise a quizzical eyebrow in some students. It's quite infective so once a new word is introduced, and later on, it's been explained, the slower students will drive the collective mind in confusion. For those, let the dictionary be their checkrein. When in doubt, they can find out the meaning some other time. If you translate for them that word in Polish, you will move further away from the right methodology.
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| SS start whispering to each other that squirrel means this and this, and now they think squirrel means chipmunk, and they're trying to figure out what the heck chipmunks eat. Pointless. |
As understandable as your point may be, all comes down to patience and the depressingly rare lip service to individual learning.
In the past, I might have indulged their pop curiosity by practicing my Polish in front of them as a comic relief. But I never used it as a teaching tool, not even as bits go, a bit. |
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redsoxfan
Joined: 18 Oct 2005
Posts: 178
Location: Dystopia
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| Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 3:21 pm Post subject: |
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I just don't think it matters very much whether a teacher uses L1 occasionally or not. Sure, you could use dictionaries instead, but you're still translating from Polish, so I fail to see the difference. Plus, using dictionaries is annoying and a waste of time.
I essentially never use Polish with intermediate students, except to occasionally clarify a word. Yesterday, however, I filled in for a class of complete beginners who simply didn't have the lexis to understand explanations in English. When I spoke a couple sentences of Polish to explain a grammar point or give instructions, they listened and it worked fine.
To be honest, this discussion isn't very interesting to me because I just don't think it really matters much. If teachers start really teaching in Polish, that certainly presents a problem. Speaking in Polish for 30 seconds out of 90 minutes is not problematic for me, and indeed it can be an effective way to teach something. If you'd rather have SS thumbing through dictionaries all the time, so be it.
When I was studying up on my Spanish recently, I took a few private lessons and we spoke only Spanish. When I've studied Polish, I've always asked for translations all the time because my Polish isn't good enough to explain clearly when I don't know a word. So then the teacher gives me the word, I use it a few times, and usually remember it. So for me using English to learn Polish works much better. Much more efficient. |
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