TEFL Port Harcourt

I feel that this article touches on the teaching style on translation, but also aspects of teacher/ student rapport as well. http://www.englishclub.com/tefl-articles/other-languages-classroom.htm Should esl Instructors Speak Other Languages in the Classroom ? - Eric Dondero R. For my final paper, I chose to discuss an article that questions the use of other languages in an english classroom. I chose this topic because I myself have been asked this question by strangers, family, friends and everyone in between. After I tell people that I taught english in spain, they ask, “ Didn’t you need to know spanish to do that?” I personally believe that using the student’s native tongue is a drawback and should be avoided. While I taught in spain , I was also a student of my second foreign language. My spanish teachers only spoke to the class in spanish unless we were really confused. However, I found this method caused me to focus more even though I did struggle at times. Today, I feel that my spanish is better than my french which I took for eight years due to this challenge. I also found teaching just in english made my students struggle and if they did not understand I wouldn’t look it up in spanish, I would draw it or act it so they could come to an understanding on their own. In the article I chose the author Dondero , however does not have share the same belief I have about the use of other languages. Dondero taught a low beginning esl class for eight months in a Houston college. In his classroom, Dondero had students from various backgrounds such as Hispanic, vietnamese, Russian, japanese and even students from Africa. Donder, himself is a native American english speaker, but also is fluent in spanish. He used his knowledge of the spanish language to help his Hispanic students understand the vocabulary he was introducing to them. Donder taught his other non- spanish speaking students in other ways that did not involve translation. Donder thought that his method of translation was a good course to take in his class. He believed that would save time and be more efficient. Though his spanish speaking students did benefit from the translating, his decision to translate caused a divide in the class. The rest of the non-spanish speaking students became angry and also resentful. These students became more confused than they were before. Also, Donder received warnings from the school’s director because of his use of translation. The school wanted teachers to avoid this method. Donder continued teaching, however this time he obeyed the school’s policy and did not use the translating method. However, after this experience Donder decided to question the school’s policy and the use of translation in the classroom. After reviewing his own experiences at the school, he came to the conclusion that other languages should not be banned from the classroom. Donder came to the opinion that other languages should be allowed in the classroom after a positive experiences in his own classroom. After dedicating time to learning other student’s languages, he claims in his article to have become knowledgeable of 20 languages. He used this new knowledge to build a rapport with his students. Donder claims that his students were happy to hear him use their language. In the article he claims that it made the students respect him because he took time to learn their language and was a language learner himself. I agree with Donder that when I tell students I know french and spanish they become happy. I sometimes joke around with my students in their native language, but after class. In the classroom I don’t think it’s fair to single one student out and have other students in the dark about what we are talking about. Donder also used his new knowledge of language to translate new vocabulary. He would take the english word and translate it into every language for the class. I think this takes away from the learning process and always takes up too much time to go over. Though he only used the translation in the beginning, I think there could have been other methods used that would have been more successful and enhanced the learning experience. To conclude, I feel that there are better methods to teach and build a rapport with students other than using their native language. I have been able to build good , and long term relationships with students of different culture and languages. I think that showing an interest in learning about your student’s culture is important and is a must in the classroom. I think that this is a more productive way to build a rapport and also teach students about yourself.