Job Discussion Forums

[RobertH]

Hi everyone,

I've recently finished a CELTA and this problem came up in my last group. Fortunately it happened during an unobserved lesson so it didn't affect my grades. Basically, there were two students who shared the same L1. We always tried to keep them apart, but on this occassion we were doing a whole-class activity.

Thing is, one of these students tried to use English. The other one, well, she did use English, but not consistently. Both of these students were also somewhat below the average level of the class and it must have been the case that some of the work we did was difficult for them. I'm not certain if these students were speaking L1 because they genuinely couldn't do the tasks or because they couldn't be bothered doing the work (I did notice that the less disciplined one was copying from others at the end of the lesson, when really I think she could have done the task herself if she had applied herself).

I'm about to start a job working with multilingual groups of teenagers, and L1 usage is one of the many, many management problems I'm concerned about. For the experienced teachers out there: in your experience, do students who use L1 in class do it primarily because they genuinely can't do the tasks or because they're lazy/not motivated? And how do you generally deal with this problem? I realise this is a vague question and there's probably no 'one' answer, but if you could just share your experiences I'd be grateful.

Many thanks, Robert

[santi84]

This is a big problem here in Canada. Some multilingual classrooms implement an "English only" policy, which is debatable/controversial but in use for some programs. Students who speak in another language are given a warning and then asked to leave if it continues. You can separate students completely (opposite sides of the room).

There are some students who genuinely can't understand a task and use their L1 to try and fumble through it, but it's usually pretty obvious - you can see them mutter under their breath and they have signs of confusion/frustration on their face.

[Jbhughes]

I'm certainly not an experienced teacher compared to the regular posters here, but my colleagues and I have to deal with this sort of problem in our monolingual classes and I can at least share our experiences and attempted solutions.

I work in Vietnam by the way.

Teens

'Problems'

Teens here often have a confidence issue with speaking English. They don't want to say anything unless they are 100% sure it's correct and the teacher directly calls upon them to answer a question.

Also, they are a 'bit too cool for school,' this rarely ever manifests in the sts being impolite to the teacher, but it means they find it very awkward speaking to each other in English.

A further problem is motivation. Teens are already worked very hard outside of the thrice-weekly lessons with ourselves: other additional classes/tutorials/homework etc make for an already packed schedule. Having to turn up to English class and battle with a new and difficult angle on something they 'already know' - i.e. having to relearn utterances using English phonemes rather than L1 equivalents they have learnt in regular schools and then actually use them for communicative purposes - is tough on them, especially when they see no immediate (or even medium term) benefits.

As for difficulty, the issue of being exposed to incorrect (or non-existent) spoken models of language prior to (and during) their learning here makes comprehending the same language when uttered by a native speaker frustratingly difficult (for teachers and sts alike, quite frankly).

As if it wasn't bad enough for them just being teenagers!

'Solutions'

I know of 3 different 'punishment' games / devices that teachers here use to discourage L1 usage.

The first is a simple reducing points game, where sts are given a set amount of points at the start of the lesson and lose points during the lesson for L1 usage. This can be expanded upon by dividing the lesson into 'L1 ok' and 'L1 not ok' parts, depending on lesson purpose and level, or by dividing the class into teams. Of course, sts can be awarded points for good English usage, however, personally I'm loathed to do this as what constitutes good usage is often up for debate and I find it difficult to give fair and 'police-able' guidelines on this. Also I feel that not awarding a point for incorrect English usage can exasperate the first problem mentioned above about sts only wanting to speak with 100% confidence in what they are saying is correct.

The second is where sts are punished very small amounts of money for L1 usage. This money is then pooled and spent on buying the class a couple of bottles of pop or crisps etc at break time. The above expansions can also be made on this idea (rewarding good language could get expensive though!). Obviously, there are situations where this device won't be acceptable, and all sts have to agree (I can imagine parental consent becoming necessary in some teaching contexts ). However, one teacher has used this method with great success and the sts love it too.

The final device is more immediately fun than the others. Sts are given often-humiliating punishments for L1 usage in the form of a choice of face down cards. The cards have written on them various silly commands, for example jump 5 times or tell a member of the opposite sex you think they are attractive. The exact commands can be made appropriate to each particular class and even if the sts are initially reluctant, the fairness of having to choose at random the same as everyone else makes the sts more willing to join in (and do things they otherwise normally wouldn't as punishment!) The commands can also be English usage related, say as many items from some lexical group as possible in a minute for example.


General approaches

This year, we met with a regional Cambridge representative who conducted some workshops for us regarding teaching in general in conjunction with the peddled coursebooks at the time. One of the workshops was on teenagers and was quite inspiring (although perhaps not full of ground-breaking concepts to anyone reading here). The first idea was one of distraction. Teenage life is pretty difficult at the best of times and teenagers' insecurities can often get in the way of language learning (see too cool for school above). It was postulated that we should use include activities that allow sts to be distracted away from their inner turmoil, often taking on new personae or having roles through which they are given opportunities to communicate. The use of roles was also attributed to be beneficial in that it deals with mixed-ability classes better, giving harder roles to the more advanced sts and easier roles to the 'slower' sts. Sts were postulated to feel a lot more comfortable communicating (in English) as part of a role because they didn't have some kind of (yet to be fully understood) image to protect.
Another theme was using a mix of activities that deal with teenagers as children and as adults.


I was going to share some of our experiences regarding adults, however it's got a bit late here, so that will have to wait for another day, perhaps.

I find this subject very interesting and am looking forward to insights from the experienced posters the OP mentions about - especially regarding more positive, reward-based devices for using of English.

[AGoodStory]

This is a really interesting (and useful) post, Jbh. Thank you!

AGS

[lydia.bainbridge]

I think Jbhughes gave a remarkably thorough and thoughtful response. The only other thing I would add is not to forget your sense of humor. It sounds like it's early days with the class, and I would encourage you not to let your own anxiety get in the way. I say this because you mentioned being worried in the CELTA course where, I assume, you didn't have much time with the students.

I have found the two best ways to get students to talk are first to be warm and encouraging with them, someone they know they can trust, and second to tease them along, especially teenagers. When I worked with a group of Spanish teachers in Guatemala, many of them very young, I would say, in Spanish, "I'm sorry but I don't speak Spanish." They always got a kick out of that and immediately switched to English.

[Glenski]

I am quite shocked that any teacher would fine a student money, no matter how little, for not using L2. And, to impose even the least bit of humiliating acts on them, especially in front of a group or the whole class, is just not the way to do things IMO. Asian cultures are strongly averse to image, so this should be avoided (again, IMO) with them.

The point system is far better, especially if openly enforced and explained clearly (sometimes during the term more than once).

You admit that you don't even know why the 2 students reverted to L1, so it is not black and white here. Were they lazy? Unmotivated? Hard to say. One thing that a lot of teachers don't realize is that their instructions can often be unclear, or the task can be far too complicated for students to grasp. I would say rethink how you explained things. I know teachers who tell students what to do, way too briefly ask "Any questions?", ignore the pause that is necessary for students to digest that, and then jump into the lesson without checking whether they even knew what to do. Could that have been more the problem?

Depending on the whole class lesson you gave, could vocabulary have been a problem? Did the students have enough preparation (earlier in the class or from the previous lesson's homework)? If not, there you go, too!

Was the lesson itself a bit out of social/cultural character for them? Maybe they are not used to doing that sort of thing in L1.

Or maybe they are slow readers, poor listeners, etc.

Talk to them and find out.

[BadBeagleBad]

I agree that the money thing could be an issue, not all kids have the same amount of money, it could be humiliating to have to admit to it. And the humiliating things.......never been a fan of that as a teaching tool. One thing I have done is give each student a couple of pieces of candy at the beginning of class, and they are fined a piece of candy if they use L1 inappropriatly. But as Glenski points out, maybe they don�t have the vocabulary, maybe they are asking for an aspirin, to me it needs to be clear that it is �just because� and not for a reason.

[lydia.bainbridge]

I agree with Glenski that the question of why students aren't speaking is critical. I found out from a Peace Corps volunteer that students where I teach here in Rwanda are hit and even beaten as children when they begain that developmental stage called "Why?" Then they are often ridiculed by their teachers and classmates when they ask questions, and the classes are not structured for talking anyway but for listening. I was speaking with another Peace Corps volunteer, saying that they practice the "Open the brain and pour in the information" model here, and she retorted that no, it was the "Open the brain and force that information in" model.

[Der_Bomber]

I find that (with teenagers/young adults) the amount native language used grows in direct relation to the variation in English levels between the groups.

I take two classes from the same company that are supposed to be exactly the same level - however one has a couple of stronger and weaker students in it. They will either do the work in seconds and then start chatting or not attempt the work at all and chat instead.