In some private schools in Turkey the English teachers never ever speak Turkish to their students, no matter what. The teacher may know Turkish very well, in some cases even be a Turkish native speaker, yet s/he will never utter a word in Turkish in the presence of a student, neither in nor out of the classroom.
My school is a bit like that. Speaking Turkish is clearly frowned upon and discouraged although not totally forbidden.
One reason for this is that one feels it will "force" students to speak English. If they want to ask a question, they must ask in English to get an answer. Another is that it will "force" the students to "try harder". They have to listen more carefully to what the teacher says in order to understand what s/he wants them to do since s/he will never translate instructions or explanations. The students are told to "think in English", speak among themselves only in English and take notes only in English.
However, I've begun to wonder, do kids really learn more or faster or better in this way? Is this really the ideal way to learn a second language?
When I started learning Turkish ten years ago, I have to admit that I really needed stuff to be translated for me. Pictures and other visual material only helped up to a certain point. I wanted the rules of the Turkish language explained to me in English so that I could understand them. I wanted to prepare what I wanted to say in English then translate it to Turkish in my mind and then finally try to say it out loud. I needed much more time than I had thought to learn even the simplest things. I felt very very slow and rather dumb a lot of the time. I kept making really silly mistakes. I had to drink many comforting cups of coffee every day to get by... If someone had told me that they simply refused to help me "unless you ask in Turkish" or if they had instructed me to "think in Turkish" I believe I would have strangled them on the spot!
As a result of these experiences I have started allowing my students to use English-Turkish/Turkish English dictionaries to find (and learn) new words. I let them take notes in whatever language they please, just as long as whatever they submit to me is in English. I have even, on occasion, had a (strong) student translate instructions or vocabulary to Turkish in order to help the weaker students and make it possible for them to take part in whatever activity it is that we're doing. When they whisper among themselves in Turkish (but are otherwise on task) in class, I pretend not to notice...
I think (hope) I'm doing the right thing. What do you think?
CoffeeAddict
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CoffeeAddict, I think your technique is much better than the strict style of the school. That's for sure. I believe that everybody should speak in English in the class all the time. But when it comes to an important topic or word, Turkish could be used. Why should we spend 10 minutes to make our students understand one word in a situation when they can grab it in seconds? And I always believe that while learning L2 vocabulary, the usage of L1 one has 'rock' effect. When they hear it in Turkish and use it in English a couple of times, it is like the words are written over the rock and no water or wind can change it. My two cents :=)
Hi CoffeAddict,
I think using mother tongue in classes depends on the students' level. In lower levels there're situations when you should use mother tongue. But, in higher levels I think mother tongue shouldn't be used. I don't agree to use bilingual dictionaries in the classes. There are many types of monolingual dictionaries for all levels. You can even find pictured monolingual dictionaries for lower levels. I think at least you can use dictionaries that both provide English definition and Turkish equivalence.
Bülent
I have been working with young and very young learners for a long time and I have the same situation in my school, we do not speak Turkish with the kids.
I believe, when you work with very young learners and do not use L1, it really works for the students. It may be because they are too young and they do not have any borders or they are not afraid of making any mistakes in front of their friends. They, in a way, accept you that way. Me,using L2 all the time in the class speeds up their production in L2.
and I also have the same situation in my classes, best kids help their friends translating my sentences to others and this helps me a lot =)
Özge,
Dear all,
Interestingly, the topic of whether or not L1 ought to be used to aid the aquisition of L2 is not only discussed in Turkey. Here's a good article that discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using L1 in the classroom:
http://www.betterlanguageteaching.com/esl-articles/66-lone-in-the-classroom
And here is another good one:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1714097/thinking_about_the_use_of_l1_in_the.html
I liked both very much. Hope you do too!
;-) CoffeeAddict
We say, only English, because it needs to become a positive habit. If your aim is 100% English in class but, on occasion it is 99 or 98%, then you had good reason.
The only time they have trouble is when we try to do to much with them, or they are not supported well.
Weak students don't need translation, they need extra support from us, but as you said sometimes you can allow it. Every situation is unique.
There is always one Turkish English dictionary among all the English dictionaries in my classroom. Of course you can use a bilingual dictionary when the occasion comes up! How silly would it be to tell a student who was free writing that he couldn't use a dictionary to look up the word, yeterli to find the word adequate? Students need to compare and contrast words in both languages more and more, as more of the words they see are really concepts.
Doctors are strongly advised to listen to patients carefully so that they will diagnose them easily. Using L2 seems useful but the classroom atmosphere and students attitudes will let u know if this is true or not if it is not working then there is nothing wrong with using limited L1.
Hi all,
There were days when I tried to stick to the “No Turkish” rule. I have changed my mind for several reasons:
1) As CoffeAddict did, I recalled my learning experience. I was not the brightest student in the English classroom. When confronted with no L1 policy I was too shy to speak up because I knew I was not allowed to resort to L1 in a situation when I couldn’t express my thought. There are others like me out there who might simply sit through the lesson without saying a word or get by with abrupt sentences.
2) Not everything that’s been rejected is necessarily bad. It might be that new teaching methods and approaches are well sold and promoted. When I look back at how I was taught English, I realize that with minimum recourses we still learned the language. It wasn’t perfect but it worked too. This was the grammar-translation era. Last year I have read a very interesting article about L1/L2 and using translation in the classroom. Take a look, it presents a rather elaborate list of aruments for and against: http://www.hltmag.co.uk/jan03/mart1.htm
Of course I encourage L2 use in the classroom, but I also believe that Turkish-English dictionaries CAN work and L1 CAN support L2 acquisition.
P.S: I teach teens. With young and very young learners my approach would have probably been rather different.
Dear fellow bloggers,
I am happy to see that most of you agree with me that some use of L1 should be permitted, perhaps even encouraged or at least "used carefully" and "for a good reason" in the ESL classroom. That makes me feel better and less rebellious. There isn't much risk of me using Turkish too much either way, as it is not my first language. The students find it highly entertaining to hear me speak or read in Turkish so I avoid it as much as possible :-D
Cheers!
CoffeeAddict
Personally, I prefer not to use L1 in class. However, I don't prohibit it in any way between students. Talking in L2 should be a choice the students want to make rather than something they are forced to do. If we create the right conditions, they can really benefit from the increased exposure.
Hi CoffeeAddict,
I agree that sometimes it is better to use L1 (for me, this especially applies to grammer explanations, which may not be even to grasp even in L1, much less in L2). My students are 18-22 year old French kids and they almost exclusively use French between themselves, unless they are doing speaking activities.
Like you, I think back to how I learned French and I didn't have any French-only classes until I came to France to study the language (I did 2 years of high school and a B.A. in French at an American university). It seemed to work fine and made the language accessible, because I could find equivalencies between the two languages before abandoning that and begin to "think and reason in French." At that age group, I think it's normal to do so.