TeachingEnglish
Preventing learners use of L1
Submitted by nikeditor on 16 March, 2009 - 10:52
When all my learners speak the same L1 and I speak the language too then I believe that it has a role to play in classes, but I am very careful with how big a role this is. One successful strategy when exploiting L1 to explain the meaning of new words is for me never to use it to answer a question, but accept that other members of the class will. Preventing learners helping each other with translation seems a false restriction on the learning process, but by not doing it myself I can maintain my role as a source of English.
By Paul Kaye
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Comments
That's interresting, but can't it also be somewhat dangerous?
I am a teacher of English and Spanish, but I also study German and in those German classes I sometimes notice that there isn't a limit on students translating words and sentences. Translating gets so much in the way that students generally can't answer a question in German without translating it first to Portuguese (we are in Brazil). It's very frustrating...
I agree with nikeditor. It is not good for students to be warned about using L1 all the time because it turns discouraging for them, but what if we try to encourage them about using the more L2 as they are able to?, I often do it with my teenager students and they use to correct themselves, being the outcome more confident students and more L2 oral practice.
great