This article offers different case studies that involved a Polish teacher of English history interacting with Polish speaking students. When the students, who are not as far advanced as the teacher, do not understand him, he speaks to them in Polish. This article opened up the question of whether the teacher should continue to talk to the students in English or in their own language?
In my opinion, I feel that the teacher should speak in their own language if the students are having a difficult time understanding. To me understanding is the beginning of knowledge. To further emphasize my point, I would not expect a teacher speak to L2 beginners at a college level standard.
Here are some points that the article brings forth:
--That teachers need to match the level of their classroom interaction and the teaching materials with the learners proficiency level.
--To explain difficult words before teaching the passage and look for contextual learning in their students.
--Make sure the students know clearly what the learning tasks involved for the lesson before presenting the lesson.
--Basically trying to remove communication barriers and to teach contextually versus word for word memorization. Let the students discover the message.
After consideration of this article, what would you believe is the right avenue of education on this particular subject?
Total immersion in the L2 language, or explanations in L1?
....Regina M. Evans....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
15 comments:
interchangable classrooms as most high school students do, this would cut down on student disruption. A teacher's job is not just present material to students but make sure that the students overall comprehend the material. If the student's did not understand the material then the teacher should speak to them in English. Comprehension is the first part of L2 acquisition, then output. If the student can not understand the material, it would be not be wise to conclude that the student should be able to respond to the intended taught information correctly. From my experience, good teacher are continually adjusting the syllabus throughout the year according to the overall performance of the students.
I remember in my Spanish high school class, we were only allowed to speak Spanish. If we were really stuck on a word or totally didn't understand what the instructor was saying, she would then speak to us in English.I actually liked only speaking in Spanish. It really helped me learn the language faster and more efficiently. I do agree that teachers should speak the native language if students are having difficulty. Teachers are supposed to be "guides" so they should not leave their students in an incomprehensible state.
I think that it is the teacher's job to make sure the students understand what is going on in the classroom. If they can see that a student or several students are struggling, I don't understand why they would not try and help them by making things easier. I agree that when you are in a class that is a different language speaking class, it is important to speak that language while in their but if the teacher doesn't check for understanding, than it will be that much harder for the students to learn what they are supposed to.
This article raised a very interesting question. Personally I believe that it is ok to speak in the native tongue only if the student is having trouble understanding English. I don't think the teacher should make a habit of speaking in their native tongue because then the student will never learn the English they need for the class. Also the teacher needs to be conscious of the other students in the class and how this will affect them as well. If it is a one on one setting then it should be ok, but if it is constantly in class in front of the other students then the teacher needs to be more careful. The students best interest should be kept in mind and if that student is struggling then by all means use your native language to help them out. Communication barriers need to be removed to ensure that the student gets the best possible education. The teacher and the student need to work together to make this happen. There needs to be a compromise between the teacher and the student. I don't think that there should be total immersion into the L2, but a balance between the L1 and the L2
This topic seems to possibly own a double edge sword. I can understand the pros and cons to both sides of the issue. Ultimately, the objective of the teacher is to insure that the students understand the subject that is to be taught. While it might be against certain second language learning rules to indulge in the easier first language, there has to be a lesser of two evils: incorporate some of the first language to make sure the material is understood without confusion.
Immersion is the best way to learn a language. If you can sit in that class and speak nothing but the language that you are learning, you will learn it much faster. But if the subject of that class is something other than the language being spoken, science for example, you do not have the option of missing some in the beginning hoping you will pick it up later. While you are struggling with the language you are missing the science. You have to be very careful that the language barrier is not stopping too much.
Bryan Norbut
I am in a Spanish class right now where, almost entirely, my instructor speaks in Spanish. While often times i have no idea what she is saying, she uses non-verbal cues and expressions that help to convey what she is saying. While it is challenging, I think it has helped to aid my comprehension of Spanish. Only when talking about an assignment, test, or task, does she use English. I think that this kind of method or balance between native tongue and L2, is the best way to help increase comprehension.
I completely agree that a student's native language should be used initially. Not only will it help them to build up knowledge, but it will also help keep them from getting discouraged. Students who cannot even understand what the teacher is saying might give up. When the student is grasping the basic material, then it might be ok to introduce them to the new language.
I believe that the Teacher needs to stick to English and only use Polish if it is extremely necessary to get a point across. If the students are finding it hard to understand then the teacher needs to point out a page number where they can look up a word or phrase to understand what it going on. This will let the student look for themselves and help in overall comprehension. I also feel that using the students L1 could be a crutch and they may not learn what they need to out of the L2.
There are pros and cons to both approaches I have heard total immersion into an L@ environment and language is the most proficient way to learn a language. However, I think that it is essential in a classroom setting to engage the students in L1 and help them along so that they are not completely overwhelmed or lost in the other language. I think this article had some very helpful tips when teaching L2 and I agree that the teacher needs to teach at the proficiency level of the students otherwise the teacher will leave the students behind.
I think that when students are learning a new language the teacher should use their original language to teach it to them. Learning a language is hard and frustrating enough without being able to make sense of the lesson because the teacher does not use a language the students are familar with. Perhaps advanced students who have studied the particular language for many years would benefit by being in a classroom that only speaks that language, but first year learners certainly need to use their orginal language to communicate.
I think it really depends on the situation. When I was learning a second language the easiest way to learn was to speak the language during the entire class period. Speaking to them in their native tongue would help them understand the teacher, but it might hinder their learning of the new language. It really depends on the students and where they are in their educational career.
I believe in explantions in L2 when it comes to language acquistion. Total immersion will further confuse your students and discourage them from advancing their educational pursuit of language acquistion.
This topic could easily be debated for hours. I'm not 100% sure what I think is the best idea, but for this exercise I will say that I believe that it is okay to make a situation easier for a student if he or she is really having trouble.
I think that a second language should be taught in the student's original language at first, the teacher speaking a lot in the L2, and then the classroom should progressively speak less and less of the original language. This is all depending on the teacher and the students though. Each case is different.
Post a Comment