In Extract 6, Teacher A switched between English and Cantonese when giving instructions. Teacher A reminded students to bring the story back to school so that they could continue the story the next day. She first gave the instruction in English and repeated the instruction in English. Then she switched from English to Cantonese and gave the instruction again. After this she checked students’ comprehension in Cantonese. Teacher A explained why it was essential to switch code when giving instructions:
It is essential to use English (when giving instructions). But for those weaker students or lazy students, using Cantonese can let them know what they are required to do. Also, it will not become their excuse for not doing homework if I only give English instructions only. In students’ point of view, using Cantonese is more powerful and serious. They are more aware of Chinese instructions.
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If the teacher explained in Cantonese, those lazy students did not have any excuse anymore. Teacher C, however, had different practice when giving instructions. She explained:
Giving instructions in English is not a problem in the class. From time to time, students pick the key phrases when listening to the instructions. Sometimes, I will invite some students to repeat my instructions in Cantonese. Make sure that everyone understands what they need to do. I seldom give instructions in Cantonese. (Teacher C)
The viewpoint of teacher C supports the ideas suggested by Atkinson (1987). He suggests that a satisfactory compromise when giving instructions is to give the instructions in the target language and ask for students’ repetition in their native language. This may ensure that everyone understands what he or she is required to do in the
I have had to do both numerous times because our school is so diverse. For instance, two students came from Egypt towards the end of the school year and could not speak English. It was hard for me as their teacher to explain to them what I needed
Pachler, N., Barnes, A., and Field, K., 2009, Learning to teach Modern Foreign Languages in th
portions of their lesson in English later that day. Tests are written in both English
In conclusion, instruction lesson takes time and planning to meet the needs of English language learners. The effectiveness of the strategies used in the classroom can make a difference in meeting the challenge of teaching the ELLs.
This paper takes a close look at various instructional strategies for teaching English Language Learners (ELL). It explores many methods and techniques utilized by ELL teachers; specific strategies include sheltered instruction, scaffolding, and the transfer of cognate knowledge. It is imperative in the ELL classroom that comprehensible input be disseminated to the students on an age-appropriate basis; therefore, it will be detailed in this paper. Various methods of feedback
Students have enough opportunities to practice the target language, in pairs, individually and as a whole class. They practice the language in speaking and written form.
Of the SEI strategies and ELL teaching strategies researched this lesson plan addresses the following. First, it states the language objective clearly states what the students will be to do during the lesson. Secondly, it states, on the left hand side of the lesson plan ways to incorporate students’ background knowledge, and one the many ELL
The speakers in this conversation are Alicia (myself) and Cassius, my best friend since high school. Both of us are twenty-one and are college students working on their separate homework assignments. We had just arrived home from our day out at the mall. Cassius has not slept for twenty-two hours because of his security job then he goes to school afterwards at 11:00. We both had pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks to help Cassius stay awake. This conversation took place around 7:30 in Alicia bedroom. Cassius and Alicia were left alone because Alicia’s family had left to see Alicia’s younger brother paly baseball. During the conversation Alicia laid on her belly while Cassius sat upright on the dashboard of the bed. The reason why this conversation
Teachers modify their lesson plans to help their students reach mastery. Overall, it appears that teachers are successful when they understand their students and are able to incorporate elements of specialized needs into the lesson and to think about potential student misunderstandings before they occur. All information for this analysis is taken from case number 0001 under the ENL category. The video takes place in a 7th grade English as a Second Language (ESL) class. It is evident that the teacher understands the needs of each of her students and incorporated this knowledge into the lesson to ensure differentiation. Specifically, the teacher adjusts instruction to help meet the needs of the students by asking each individual to read from a worksheet so she is able to facilitate learning within a social setting. The teacher engaged the usually quiet children by asking probing questions which in turn enriched their problem solving skills. In addition, she helped each student correct their pronunciation in such a way that they would not feel embarrassed or attacked because she was aware of their reservations about reading out loud. Unbeknownst to the class, the teacher took the children’s cultural needs into consideration as well. In the overview of the video the teacher noted
Over the past four years since John started school in Australia his level of English has improved a lot; especially his receptive use of the language. John is a talented language student and is achieving great results in both additional languages he is studying at the moment, English and Japanese. Due to his cultural background John does not volunteer to speak freely during class. This makes it hard for his teacher to find the degree of depth of his understanding of new concepts learned in class. However, he is a passionate language learner and his focus is to perfect his knowledge in both additional languages.
If a child speaks a different language than English, a teacher should attempt to learn a few words in their native language and begin to adapt colloquialisms to help support them both inside and outside the classroom. Make sure there are notices set up in multiple languages and when necessary use bilingual or multilingual staff to ensure nothing has been lost in translation. Basically, be sure to accommodate, respect, integrate and adapt to the students and families of individuals in the class who speak and communicate differently. I found the reminder that just because someone is struggling with English doesn’t mean they are not intelligent and able to communicate well in their native tongue. It’s always been a pet peeve of mine to see or hear people making fun of someone for struggling with English as their second language. Therefore, speaking louder or obnoxiously slow to help an individual understand you can come off as rude and disrespectful. It’s important to remember to be patient and understanding and to use the tools at your disposal to accurately communicate with parents who may or may not understand English
There are plenty of teaching methods that are used to teach a language, they developed over the years and centuries, in this essay two well-known teaching methods will be discussed, their principles, their advantages, and their drawbacks, these methods are Grammar Translation Method and The Direct Method.
Due to the presence of the use of mother tongue (L1) it shows the lack of teachers’ incredibility and capability (Labov, 1971, cited in Hughes, Shauness, and Brice, 2006). Linawati (2015, p. 2) also felt a disadvantage of using code switching in classrooms, she stated that the teachers are not creating appropriate atmosphere and encouraging the students’ interest in learning English. In contrast from socio-cultural perspective, the presence of code-switched communication in EFL classrooms encourages capability of using both languages effectively and creative language use (Dahl, Rice, Steffensen, Amundsen, 2010). As for the students’ attitude based on Suganda (2012) and Hamied (2014) studies reveal that students have a positive attitude towards the use of code switching in EFL classrooms. They feel code switching is one of the effective language learning
This paper believes that every approach has strengths and weaknesses. Hence, choosing an appropriate method depends on the level of the students or the purpose of the course. As an English teacher, I am convinced that we should comprehend both advantages and disadvantages of each method. Thence, we try to maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses. Finally, the chosen method must achieve the objective of the course and meet the demand of the learners. That is my own philosophy of
With all the students having a difficulty in coping with their lessons, Mother tongue-based multilingual education may be helpful or not in solving this problem.