using L1 in L2 classroom ?.

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John V55
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Joined: 02 Apr 2015, 01:34
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Re: using L1 in L2 classroom ?.

Unread post by John V55 »

For a secondary school teacher your English grammar leaves a lot to be desired Alex. :)
oneota
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Re: using L1 in L2 classroom ?.

Unread post by oneota »

I rarely use the my students' L1, Russian. In part, this is because my Russian is not very good; how-
ever, it is mainly out of conviction. That said, I do in fact use Russian when it saves time, especially when I see a student struggling to understand a word, phrase or concept. For example, one adult student didn't understand my hand movements or my examples for the word "again," so I just said the Russian word. Another example is where I teach aphorisms. It is meaningful to give a Russian aphorism that carries the same overall meaning but with different content.
TheNightBeak
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Re: using L1 in L2 classroom ?.

Unread post by TheNightBeak »

Yeah, like you say, it saves time sometimes. Using L1 is often regarded as bad practice but I think that's partly because the vast majority of TEFLers don't speak their learners' first language and use this old line as justification for their lack of awareness :D

But rather than going round the houses and using English to explain an abstract concept like 'jealousy', just feed them the translation if you know it. They'll want it anyway, and often they'll write it down alongside the English word in their vocab books. But if you do this too often they don't get used to hearing English words AND (more importantly) they're less likely to retain the English word.

And it can also be used as a disciplinary tool - but probably only once. But what an impact it has when you shout at a bunch of noisy Spanish brats in their own language!
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