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ESL forum >
Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > Does mother tongue belong in the ESL classroom?
Does mother tongue belong in the ESL classroom?
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Helen McK
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Does mother tongue belong in the ESL classroom?
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Hello Everybody! 
I find that in the centre where I work, some students like their native tongue to be used as an aid to learning English while others are vehemently opposed to this.
I�m just curious as to what you think; do you feel it�s better for Beginners to be taught English by a native English speaker or by a non-native English speaker who speaks English well, but who also speaks the mother tongue of the students? |
5 Dec 2008
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cgato
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Hi!
I�m an English teacher that teaches English to portuguese students. I�m not a native speaker, but sometimes I use the portuguese grammar as an example to explain english grammar because in some topics there are many similarities. My experience tells me that when I teach gammar issues I can use portuguese examples, but to develop speaking and listening skills the less portuguese I talk, the better. Anyway, I try to speak portuguese only when it�s absolutely necessary. That�s how I give my classes!
Bye |
5 Dec 2008
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Zora
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As a native English teacher who teaches older grades... I would say "yes"... to a point. If something has to be explained, it should be explained properly and not in a pantomime way or in a fashion that the students are left with a doubt as to what is really being explained.
I have seen one too many cases where a student was lost simply because the concept had been explained in English and the student had been too shy ... or simply lost... to ask it to be explained again - and honestly, to have it explained again and in English when the first time around it wasn�t understood... well, it�s just silly...
Now, if it�s a conversational class then English should be used as almost always.....
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5 Dec 2008
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eng789
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I am a native speaker and I can tell you that - of course kids want me to translate things into their mother tongue because it helps them to understand. But you have to be careful, you can end up turning into a walking dictionary because instead of listening to the English and trying to understand the language they will want you to always translate. |
5 Dec 2008
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GIOVANNI
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I am also a native English teacher who teaches mainly French Canadians and I am totally in agreement with Zora. I have also seen students get lost because the concept had not been explained in their mother tongue. In lower level classes I make a point of explaining the grammar in both languages. In higher levels I only explain it in English. However, it is important that everything else be in English. |
5 Dec 2008
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Rabinoshka
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I had an interesting experience teaching English to some Turkish beginner students for a coupla years. I�m not a native English speaker, but, since they knew hardly any Russian (my native tongue), I had to use English with them all the time. It was quite challenging and certainly taught me a lot. ;0) However, a lot of time was wasted on pantomimes, drawings and simply repeating the same thing over and over againg hoping that it would dawn upon them in some way or another. ;0P So, I think that it�s better if a teacher can use at least some of the students� native language at the lower stages of language learning. Besides, I totally agree with Cgato about comparing the native grammar of students to that of the target language - a lot of times it really helps! It is, for example, really easy to explain the difference between Past Continuous and Past Simple to Russian students by just translating the respective sentences into Russian. Also, good point was made by Zora - shy students can simply get lost if nobody checks that they udnerstand what�s being said! |
5 Dec 2008
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kaz76
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The majority of our classes are multi-lingual so there isn�t really an option for teaching in the mother tongue. However, 5 or 6 years ago, I started a class with a small group of Chinese students. They were beginners so we decided to get a classroom assistant who could speak their language. Unfortunately, in this instance it didn�t work at all - the students didn�t try and understand the English and they automatically wanted everything translated. In the end, I had to ask the classroom assistant to stop coming and from that point onwards the students began to progress much quicker.
Of course, I can appreciate that when it comes to higher levels of grammar, it can be so beneficial to be able to speak student�s language.
Hope everyone has a great weekend:)) |
5 Dec 2008
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marzenka
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In my opinion, when students deal with some grammar issues and do some grammar exercises, they should be allowed to use their mother tongue and in this case a teacher should speak their mother tongue, too. Despite the fact that students don�t hear or use the foreign language, they are focused on it. And in this way they understand their teacher�s explanations better.
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5 Dec 2008
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