Dear Danielle,
I am British/English and I teach in the UK.
I teach Beginner �s English in an ESOL Department of a British College to foreign students, many of whom speak very little English.
Normally, I speak and teach in English, and my Worksheets are entirely in English. However, I can also speak and understand several other languages.
There are occasions when I speak in French, or Spanish, or Italian, or Dutch, or German, etc.
Why?
Many students are afraid, alone, and unhappy, because they are separated from things that they understand and love. They are in a strange new world, surrounded by a strange language and strange customs. They are in a different environment and it feels uncomfortable. They are tense.
When I speak to them in their Mother Tongue, it has several advantages.
1) They have found a �friend � who speaks their language.
2) They are reminded of �home � and all the good things that exist there.
3) They feel comfortable and relaxed.
4) They understand what I say.
5) They can ask questions about things which puzzle them in College
6) They can pose languge queries to me.
7) They can explain their feelings to me.
8) They can try to explain an answer to a question in the Class.
9) They can ask for help.
10) They can save hours of valuable time, asking questions and speaking in their language, rather than in English.
11) They can understand, in seconds, a complicated grammatical term which I explain in their language.
12) They can make a valuable contribution to the class, instead of remaining silent.
When they know that they can speak to me in their own native language, and can also speak a little English, they now have TWO means of communication!
I would normally teach entirely in English, because this is good listening/reading practice for the students.
Imagine a teacher in Brazil who speaks ENGLISH but NO PORTUGUESE, and the students speak NO ENGLISH. How many months before the teacher can speak in English and be understood by everyone?
Now, imagine a teacher who speaks ENGLISH and speaks PORTUGUESE, but the students speak NO ENGLISH. Will the learning be faster, the same, or slower? What do you think?
My experience is that students adore an English teacher who can speak their language, even if it is only a few words. Their English improves rapidly.
What a huge advantage you have, in your class!
However, there are occasions when it is unwise to use a foreign language.
1) When the student is lazy and can �t be bothered to learn English.
2) When the student is using his/her own language and the teacher as a �crutch �, and is unwilling to �walk � unaided.
3) When the foreign language is used to the exclusion of the Target Language (English).
4) When the use of a foreign language causes jealousy, because the teacher can �t speak every language in the class. Some students feel excluded.
5) Except in very rare cases, I would not use the foreign language in written work. Parents, (and teacher-colleagues), may conclude that the teacher cannot explain the grammar point in English, or that the students are too weak to understand. Written work is permanent --- spoken work is not!
6) During an examination, and during an inspection by the Education Authority, (for the above reasons).
Provided the teacher makes it clear to the students that classes will normally be entirely in English, except for special reasons, there should not be a problem. The teacher should actively discourage the students from speaking in Portuguese, (in your case), by repeating the phrase in English, until the student co-operates, by speaking in English.
As a final note, the explanation, (in Portuguese), should be as brief and as concise as possible, so that the difficulty/problem/question is resolved very quickly. The explanation can then be repeated in English, to provide the English vocabulary, and also to reinforce the point.
I hope that I have given you some material for your Assignment.
Anything that you don �t understand, please, just ask.
Les
