Facing dilemmas..
You teach English at college. You were given a class for the fifth semester that has 30 students. Only 5 students seem to have the level required because they follow you without any issues. The rest of the students keep speaking in Spanish because they can not understand the class in English. Do you think speaking Spanish will help them acquire a higher level? If so, which skill will you focus on?
If the students cannot understand the teacher, What do they talk about in Spanish?
ReplyDeleteIn this scenario, they will speak about the class itself but the comments will be most likely as the following: What is the teacher talking about? Where can I find this information? "The teacher is speaking to fast" "How can I say this in English, I do not remember!", "Hey (mate), what does the teacher mean with that answer?"
DeleteTeaching a second language is a challenge, because the progress students show will depend not only on your work as a teacher, but also on their prior knowledge. In these cases I would emphasize the shortcomings in order to make progress, there are ways to use the target language in a way that is simpler to understand, to simplify the language for educational purposes. However, if communication is a problem, the mother tongue can be used, mainly to clarify concepts or purposes, always making use of the second language so that the student adapts, becomes familiar and learns.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Alicia, we can let them use the mother tongue to clarify concepts and purposes, but not to abuse from it, because they can get stuck in the mother tongue and in that event the target language would not be acquired.
DeleteYelina Perez.
I agree with you Alicia. We do not know how the process of these 25 students who do not have the level has been. We don't know what happened in previous semesters. as teachers we must be empathetic and understand that all processes are different. And if they are in our hands, give them the tools to improve their process and progressively advance in L2.
DeleteNo, speaking in the language you want to learn is something basic and necessary for the development of knowledge in that language, native speakers will not stop when speaking that language because the student does not understand it, it is a basic skill in each language, and that is why it is necessary to practice it.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that you have to practice it but if the students don't understand, then the idea is to combine the two languages so that the students can understand, because you are going to teach the students something they don't know, we must be empathetic and help them with good strategies.
DeleteI understand your point but I disagree. I believe that the acquisition of a language is progressive. If you demand, you will probably get a room of 5 students. I believe that if they did not learn in other semesters, it is in your hands to give them the tools to strengthen their process at this time. but we cannot repeat schemes just because "5 have the level". to be teachers we must have a lot of empathy.
DeleteOf course, I do not mean that it must be immediate to speak or understand the language and I know that learning is a process but the point is that already in the 5th semester there must already be bases for understanding, at that point what is missing is practice by the student
DeleteI believe that in order to learn a language you need to practice and get involved in the whole process; you only learn how to swim by swimming and you only learn a language by getting involved in the process itself, in this case, the teacher must share comprehensible input and try getting responses from their learners, motivate them to participate and encourage them to embrace their mistakes, this may be a hard process to handle but this is all about dedication, patience and motivation.
ReplyDelete-Sharol Melisa Polo
I completely agree with this comment, Sharol. There is an important part that students do not consider, their own responsibilities in their own learning process. Teachers can do all they can and more, but if students DO NOT do their part, whatever the teacher does is useless. teaching takes place only is learning is an interest.
DeleteI completely agree with you, since the best way to improve is by practicing, putting the focus of attention to the maximum, if it makes it difficult for you to speak, then practice speaking either with someone or with yourself, there are no excuses to not improve and in the case of languages when you practice speaking, for example, you will indirectly improve listening
DeleteI agree with you, both the teacher and the student should be involved in the learning process; no one masters a skill if it is not studied or practiced. Likewise, the teacher has to adapt their method according to the needs and abilities of the students in order for the students to achieve learning.
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DeleteExactly. Students must be involved in the language and use Spanish as little as possible. The idea is working on the difficulties and keeping them motivated. But I also think that students have to try their best as well and decide if they really want to learn or not because it could be a waste of time if they are not interested at all.
There are so many reasons why this happens; to name some, we have unprofessional teachers who do not keep track on their students progress and just pass students to relieve their guilt. Also, the statistics, school are not allow to report high numbers of students not passing the school year, so teachers are force to provide some makeup activities that do not help at all, but make students to lose interest as they know they will pass, no matter what. The lact of parents' support in their children learning process. they think this is the teacher's responsibility, and that's it. There are some of the most relevant among others. Don't forget that teachers can0t teach if students don't WANT to learn.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in the fact that once that most teachers cover the class planning or the curricular standards for his particular course, they tend to just go further as far as they fill the gasps in their agendas without focusing in feedback or the weaknesses of their students.So, I consider students' performance as a mirror where teachers can check on their efficiency and significant relevance of their work.
DeleteIf the students are just speaking Spanish in the class, it means they are not understanding completely, how are they going to be able to acquire a higher level? It would be difficult for them, more if there will be a mix of languages in the classroom, but either way all the skills should be taking care because if not there is going to be a problem and the students are going to get stuck trying to learn.
ReplyDeleteYelina Perez.
This is a particular case, in my opinion it is not necessary to speak Spanish all the time because it is not helping the students, the idea is to reinforce these weaknesses with good strategies, that is, that the student becomes familiar with the language, either advising them to watch videos in English, listen to music to help them feel comfortable in class and not just show up for a note.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with you, and that point you mentioned about strategies is very important, because, I think we should provide our learners the external motivation, which can be done by making use of creative teaching alternatives, so they'll start developing interest and therefore their learning process will show a remarkable enhancement.
Delete-Sharol Melisa Polo.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI believe that progress can be making in the process. because speaking 100% in English can be counterproductive. You have to think about what happened in previous semesters. Why don't they have the level? and first give them the tools. then if we start to demand little by little.
DeleteYes, Delany. Speaking Spanish is not the only solution because they must learn and understand English. So, we have to work on the difficulties they are presenting and do not allow this problem to continue.
DeleteAs teachers, we have the duty to ensure that students reach the required level and try to ensure that they achieve it; I think speaking in Spanish will bring you more negative than positive aspects, since you are not exercising their hearing, much less their mental abilities in the English language; What I as a teacher would do is find a middle ground, I would speak in English most of the time, but sometimes I would turn to Spanish so that their abilities are developed in a better way. And they make a connection between their mother language and the new language.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to refelct on the consideration of whether or not using your native language is helpful when learning a second one.However, when your native language thwarts your aqusition of another one, is because the natural stages of learning are being forced in the structure of your native language. All languages have universal traits but when dealing with a second language, we need to emphasise on the marked and own features to really internalise the input in order to reach a level where you can accurately communicate in the second language.
DeleteI agree with you, speaking in Spanish when you’re looking to learn another language is negative, but that depends on how often and why you do it. However as teachers being a situation that is very remarkable, we can identify it and help correct it.
DeleteBryan Sánchez Moreno
DeleteExactly, I agree with you.
I think that thinking in our mother tongue while learning a second language would be going backwards in our teaching and learning process. The challenge for us is to motivate our students so that there is meaningful learning within the class.
Hi everyone. I believe that the change must be progressive. because the case of students who still do not speak the language is the majority. From my point of view I would try to help you with extra tasks. using vocabularies and little by little helping them to move forward in the process. if speaking in L2 is required it can be counterproductive because they are not going to feel comfortable. Remember that we all have a different way of learning. Finally I would focus on strengthening the speaking of them since I think that is where the shortcoming can be. I would also help them with music, movies and videos that stimulate their learning.
ReplyDeleteHi Rafa,
DeleteI agree with you, the change definitively must be progressive, we must be empathic with the students and try to understand their weaknesses, without forcing them to abrupt changes that harm them.
It is possible to learn a language from the native language, but it is not the best, since speaking in the second language becomes a kind of immersion, the ideal would be to adjust the speech level to an A1, A2 or the level that they require in order to maximize their learning and immersion.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you, although the process can slow down a bit, I think the solution is to go to a gradual level to have an immersion in the language.
DeleteYou right, it is better relate the words directly with objects or actions and not with the translation.
DeleteFor example, if you want to teach the names of fruits such as apple you must show a real or artificial apple instead of "apple is manzana".
they have to interact with the language, is more effective when you learning a language.
-Ani Ortega.
I totally agree, learning gradually may be the best option for such a situation.
DeleteExacly, I agree, the best way will be to teach depending on the level, in case that some students don't have the level, it should be essential to determine the areas of improvement that and reinforced previous topics.
DeleteI don't think that speaking Spanish can achieve a high level, the skills are connected, and speaking is necessary. On the other hand, they would not be making an IMMERSION in second language learning, which means that they are not fully involved. As a teacher it is my responsibility to make students learn, so the best thing I could do is implement educational strategies that will encourage their motivation, and that help the student's understanding.
ReplyDeleteNo, I would speak all in english, but I would help them a bit with their vocabulary and give them motivation, everything will depend on the desire they put into it and through my knowledge i will explain the learning methods and which would be the right one for them to learn, since not everyone learns at the same speed and there are many tools and methods for each of them.
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ReplyDeleteI think this is a difficult case because as teachers we must ensure that students are prepared to pass the semester. So, that means that previous teachers did not do a good job. In this semester students must be able to understand that level and keep a conversation. But it seems that the reality here is that those students have been having many problems with English and teachers did not notice it and if they noticed it they did not do anything about that. And there is a big problem because the majority of the students are not able to understand English, it is a mess. Spanish can be used sometimes to clarify in some cases but not all the time. In this case, I think we must create a solution to make sure they can learn and have the level they require because talking in spanish is not a solution. So, they are not going to be involved in the language and learn. They must speak and understand English. And if it is necessary to stop the semester and give them a course from the beginning they have to do it. Also, we must make sure that they want to learn too because if they do not, we are going to waste the time. Because the learning process does not depend only on the student but also on the student.
ReplyDeleteBut what about if teacher did it well and the level of learning or acquisition was affected by an affection or disorder?
DeleteNo, definitely not. Students must put into practice the knowledge they have about the language to improve. However, the knowledge must exist to be able to practice it and it is the teacher's job to find a way to communicate with their students in English, without the need for them to know the meaning and translation of each word.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, it must provide them "comprehensible input", which is a base, from which they will build knowledge about the second language, accompanied by interactive tools and when they have the ability to understand their teacher and learn what he tries to teach them, they can begin to put that knowledge into practice. It is important that they practice, because
If they don't practice, there is no possibility of making mistakes, of being corrected or learning. We must train our brain to increase our memory capacity and our language skills, which we can achieve by practicing.
-Ani Ortega.
Ani, but We must take into account that the students arrived with shortcomings because the previous teachers did not provide them with the necessary knowledge and did not worry that the students reached the required level; We must also create an environment where the student feels safe and comfortable to practice the language; I agree with you that the teacher has the duty to provide such knowledge using learning tools adapted to the abilities and skills of the students.
DeleteIt is true that you say, Anie. if we don't practice how we will develop the skills and knowledge to communicate, however as Rafael says. Maybe the students don't feel comfortable with the environment and for that reason they are inhibited from expressing themselves completely.
DeleteI believe that at that level it is only necessary to use the second language, however, students should be helped with vocubulary and use simple language so that students for lack of understanding do not lose motivation in class , because without good communication learning cannot really flow.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, a student who doesn't understand a class will lose interest in it. I think, the ideal would be to raise the level little by little, even if we have to do some explanations in spanish.
DeleteMaybe, it wouldn’t be ideal, but it’s also necessary. Students creating a relationship with a new language can be slow and tedious but, as teachers, we must help them to establish this exchange more easily, so they don’t feel discouraged and lose interest. There should be a mix between Spanish and the language they are learning, so we can be doing an immersion progressively because we are dealing with such a high number of "non-English speakers" in contrast to the rest of students. Also, those five students can support their classmates learning process with teamwork activities. Last but not least, the students need to be fully interested in learning the language, otherwise teachers efforts are useless.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, not completely because I´d say the teacher could speak a level of english they can understand or maybe start speaking slower, with images or teaching their students with other tools that help them be more interested and eager to learn. But, It´s completely true that we must establish a free of anxiety environment and the students have to make an effort too.
DeleteI consider that in this particular scenario, it will be essential to create rules to follow during class, being the main rule to keep in mind that students are in an English zone, providing students with useful predetermined sentences to ask questions and answer basic questions, so students will use their source to communicate even when they make mistakes, thereby engaging in the language in question.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you breider. It is better to push them to speak and give them a glossary to understand the class than speak in spanish, because they need to receive input in english to develop their abilities and if we as teachers don't give them input they will never learn.
DeleteI am convinced students are required to start receiving their input in a way they can digest it so that when the speech emergence stage starts, they will really have relevant improvement in communicating with the second language. However, it is a sequential process where they need significant mediation and support, so the skill to be worked is definately speaking itself since the acquisition of a second language rely on students using the language from the second stage up to its level of accurate proficiency.
ReplyDeleteIf they are learning a second language and they speak in their mother tongue they don't acquire a high level because they are not involved in the second language they are learning, so, they don't think in other language, maybe they could be uninterested to learn it or it's difficult to understand about all a second language acquisition.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that speaking Spanish would help them at all. As Krashen said, we only acquire a language by being exposed to meaningful input so I would never speak spanish during my english class to create the necessity to learn. I would focus on the development of their listening skills and oral produccion by exposing them to input and pushing them to talk and also giving them a glossari to improve their vocabularies .
ReplyDeleteNo, to learn English or any other language and reach the desired level. In the classes we must leave aside the native language, in this case Spanish and only use it in specific situations that require its use. And according to the statement, the student has problems communicating orally, because if he can respond to what the teacher communicates to him no matter if his answers are Spanish is proof that he is advancing in his learning process. Therefore, both the teacher and the students should focus on that ability in which it is more difficult to develop in their students.
ReplyDeleteIt is very important to know that it is not only based on all the things that the teacher does but also students with educational needs, which leads to the search for a model that facilitates the learning of all students, in education this implies a review of existing needs related to learning and teaching, so there's no need to speak Spanish all the time, students must be able to recognize their responsibilities in their learning process, assuming that the teacher plays an important role in making it a reality, when we realize that there are different ways in which students learn, we have to encourage them, awaken creativity, desire, to develop at their own pace and in their individual way "teaching takes place only is learning is an interest." and the main purpose is to strengthen these flaws with excellent strategies.
ReplyDeleteTotally. The teacher can do everything and anything but the proccess is mostly about and from the student.
DeleteWe have learned that the environment is very important to learn a second language so I would focus on students starting to speak more in English and develop their vocabulary so that everyone can be at the same level
ReplyDeleteThat is completely true, the environment is really important in the process of acquiring a secomd language. Any and every students needs an environment free of judge, anxiety and stress when learning because then, the attitude of the learner will change and he won´t receive the comprehensible input required to acquire a language.
DeleteSpeaking in Spanish will help to ketchup the rest of the class only if we don't abuse its use. Learning a new language implicates making errors, get confused and hard work, that's why we have to understand that every part of the process is important.We need to swim deep into this new pool of knowledge even if sometimes we can't breath properly or we are tired because every single time we're close to the path of success.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, we must understand that each student's process is different and we must do our best to help them. It is our job at the end of the day.
DeleteThe intrinsic motivation is a fundamental part of learning, in this type of case, it is not only about the role of the teacher and what they are doing wrong, but also about the role of the student and what they are doing, or not doing that is preventing them from being effective, and based on that work on improving. I, personally, would not let them continue with that behavior and set rules that I know will allow the student to improve.
ReplyDeleteMany things can involve this situation, it's not only about the teaching process(as many participants said) Sometimes teachers and students can have a good performance and, on the other side, students can have affections or any other issue that interrupts or might interfere learning. Finally, speaking Spanish doesn't mean things were doing bad, it depends on many factors. I consider speaking Spanish will be better if is used in order to improve skills that let students alone in the process.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would do in this case would be to explain the topics in both languages, first in english and then in spanish. As the course progresses, I will gradually push them to the point where only english exposure is necessary.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don´t think we should speak to them in Spanish. We should make understandable explanations that allow students to learn in a practical way. They should be able to communicate with each other using what they are learning so that they can internalize that knowledge. Switching to Spanish would only facilitate the process to the point of not being a challenge at all and they may even lose motivation, everything should be neither too easy nor too difficult.
ReplyDeleteThe skill they should reinforce is speaking, if they still can't find the way to speak they should listen and take their time so that when they speak they do it well, based on their prior knowledge of course. We will just be a guide and will keep on looking for new ways to teach our students and give them confidence, never judging them or making them feel less. Just showing them they can make an effort and be way better.
I don’t think letting students speak Spanish will help them at all. What we can do as teachers in this case is to encourage the students to practice in their spare time. The way I see it, generally learning is a game of two; teacher and student. The teacher does her/his part in the classroom, but the student has to be committed to put into practice the knowledge he/she acquired during class. We are usually used to always blame the teacher when the student is not making progress, but is not always their fault. Students and teacher should be both interested to the learning objective.
ReplyDeleteValentina Robles Charris. Group G.
Bryan Sánchez Moreno
ReplyDeleteIt is very important that each person make their best effort in learning a second language, where it is vital that we practice it throughout the teaching process.
In the case presented by the question group, I would try to create a good atmosphere in the classroom so that the children feel comfortable and safe so that they can get their best potential during the class.
I think that a language is best learnt by being in direct contact with this one, and we would not help the student much by speaking in his or her mother tongue as we want this to be better related to this second language.
ReplyDeleteI think we should look for strategies focused on their learning styles and find the best way for them to learn the language.