Teach English in Yeyuan Zhen - Weifang Shi

Introduction Teaching English involves two main participants, the teacher, and the student. These groups of people could be multi-lingual or monolingual. They either have a common language, or there is a diversity of languages among them. English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers encounter classes with such diversity. This has heightened the need for teachers to know how to manage monolingual and multi-lingual classes effectively. In this paper, I examine how to teach groups of monolingual and multi-lingual students. Teaching monolingual or multi-lingual groups In a monolingual class, students share the same first language and culture. Most often, we find monolingual classes in the learners' home country. There is a dominance of the native language among the students, which can pose challenges but could also be a useful resource. In teaching monolingual classes, Atkinson (1993) advises a careful but restricted use of the native language to help students get the maximum benefit from activities, which prevents the lesson from slowing down. The teacher can exploit the student’s shared culture in his teaching, especially for managerial purposes. Similar learning strategies may be utilized by learners who experience the same learning problems. In the situation where English teachers share the same language with the students, the situation becomes even more difficult since students will often expect such teachers to use the native language in class regularly. In an attempt to teach in English, students usually express unhappiness, especially those in lower grades when teachers refuse to use the native language. Similarly, if the teacher speaks it, as a second language, it is easy to revert to the students’ native language for instructional purposes and explanations. Such reasons for using the native language can result in limited use of English in the classroom. The ease of using the mother tongue to communicate among students impacts their progression in English. As a TEFL teacher, teaching a monolingual class has advantages and disadvantages. An advantage worth emphasizing in teaching a monolingual EFL‏‎ class is the similarity in the errors that students make when they speak English. For example, both Chinese and Korean students often have difficulty with the /r/ and /l/ pronunciation, which is influenced by the native language. The situation becomes worse if the teacher shares the same mother tongue with the students. Also, a monolingual class makes it easier to prepare lessons suitable to the students’ needs since students will generally have the similar issues and needs. Therefore, the teacher can concentrate on the errors that the entire class makes instead of the many different errors commonly identified in multilingual classes. Often teachers easily identify mistakes made in a monolingual class because the repeated and common occurrence. It further offers an opportunity to use themes and topics that relate directly to the students’ culture. Using co-teachers who speaks the native language has become common in monolingual classes. Such an approach can sometimes turn the class into a translation lesson. Students become reluctant to listen to the English parts looking forward to the translation, which slows progress in learning and speaking English. One major instructional problem of a monolingual English class is motivation. Although this could be a difficult situation, the English teacher can assist the students in developing that motivation by creating a conducive environment for practice. The choice of teaching materials and activities could be effective ways of inducing English practice among demotivated students. To encourage the use of English, teachers can promote the importance of speaking English, and use positive reinforcement techniques like ‘hi fives’ and other special treatments. The multi-lingual class, on the other hand, is described more as a mixed bag of students who express themselves in different first languages. Typically, this type of classroom environments is found in countries such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom,‏ ‎where foreigners use the destination as an environment for taking lessons in the English language. The level and mother tongue of students will determine the variety of errors between language groups. For example, while some students will have problems with reading and writing in English, others may have difficulties in pronunciation and listening. Rather than constructing educational models for students who speak one language, teachers must learn to focus on teaching a group with multiple languages (Garcia and Sylvan, 2011). In the same way, teaching in today’s multi-lingual classrooms should emphasize interacting with all students, and providing stimulating academic content. The foundation of such content should be on various language practices, instead of merely promoting and teaching one or more standard languages. In a multi-lingual classroom, students will be unable to interact in their first language. Hence all communication will be in English, providing a more significant practice opportunity making them better speakers and listeners. The combination of students from cultures with active and passive roles for students offers students the opportunity to withdraw from their comfort zone and try out a new approach to learning through pair work and small group activities. Conclusion Language develops naturally in purposeful, interdisciplinary, and language-rich study environments (Garcia and Sylvan, 2011). Multi-lingual classrooms have an increased plurality of practices, which is much easier to deal with, than monolingual classes. Constructing a learner-centered classroom for meaningful student linguistic and content output is essential. Obtaining a TEFL certificate means that the English teacher’s career can lead him to several directions, including at home or abroad, multilingual or monolingual classrooms. Taking advantage of the unique issues in these classrooms will help to make an engaging and effective teacher. Bibliography Atkinson, D. (1993). Teaching monolingual classes (Vol. 12). London: Longman. Bridge, EFL (2015). Teaching English in a Multilingual Classroom https://bridge.edu/tefl/blog/teaching-english-multilingual-classroom/ accessed 27/05/2019 Center for Educational Effectiveness [CEE]. (2018). Strategies for Teaching Multilingual Learners Series. Just-in-Time Teaching Resources. Retrieved from https://cee.ucdavis.edu/JITT Cummins, J. (2007). 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