It is often debated whether or not an English Language Learner can use their first language during instruction. Here are two teaching methods that support the use of their first language while receiving English language instruction.
Suggestopedia- a relaxed approach to learning a foreign language where a student’s first language may be used freely during instruction. “Make sure the students feel comfortable and confident.”
This method is carried out in four steps.
1. Decipher: The grammar point of the day in introduced. I prefer doing this by presenting the following:
A. What the grammar point is
B. How it is used
C. Displaying a grammatical formula of some kind
2. Concert: The teacher reads examples of the grammar point, the students repeat.
3. Elaborate: Songs are sung and games are played with the grammar point as the focus.
4. Production: In a structured environment, the students use the grammar point spontaneously.
This was the preferred teaching method of one of my team teaching partners when I was a teacher in Japan. This method worked really with with the EFL students. Sadly, the teacher was reprimanded for using this method since it only referenced the book and there wasn't much focus on passing the standardized test. But, the students could communicate with native English speakers and retained what they learned with this method and did well on standardized test. Being a maverick in Japan is unacceptable and this method definitely was nonconforming to the Japanese way of presenting English.
Community Language Learning- students work together to develop what aspect of a language they would like to learn. Teacher acts as a counselor and a paraphrase. Students act like a collaborator. A student’s first language may be used freely during instruction. This method encourages interaction with others in English as well as allows students to interact meaningfully with each other in English.
http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-10
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