Hello everyone!

Welcome to the Straight Up English teachers’ blog. This blog is an exciting opportunity for us all to share some strategies, ideas, questions, suggestions and resources on every imaginable topic related to teaching English to speakers of other languages.

One of the questions almost every teacher has is about using the students’ native language (L1) – or allowing them to use it – in English (L2) class. How much is too much? How much is not enough? Unfortunately, many classroom language cultures tend to be on one extreme or the other. Let’s look at these extremes and some of the causes and effects:

1. All English, all the time: This is often a reflex for teachers who do not speak the students’ L1, and thus are afraid that discussion in L1 must be off-topic. It becomes a power struggle. An immersion setting can be very beneficial, but never completely forbid use of the L1 in the classroom. Students can feel like their language, culture or identity is being disrespected when a teacher forbids any L1 use in class. Additionally, sometimes it’s easier to simply translate a word or instruction (or let them translate for each other) to help move class along, if re-explaining it in English (L2) would take too much time or otherwise get the discussion off-topic. And of course, behaviorally, younger students often want to do something simply because it’s off limits, so don’t tempt them to break your rule out of spite!

2. All L1, all the time: This is more of a temptation for teachers who do have the same L1 and culture as the students. Try not to teach the entire lesson in the L1 itself. Remember: there is a huge difference between teaching students to use English and teaching them about English. There are many reasons teachers might only speak in the L1 to their students. First, if you are also a non-native English speaker, you might lack confidence in your own speaking ability. Second, you might feel like it would take too long to explain everything in English and you would not be able to stay on schedule and complete your lesson plan for the day. The third most common reason I hear is: “But they won’t understand if I teach in English.” The irony of this last point, of course, is that it creates a vicious cycle: they only way they will start to understand spoken English is if they get to hear it regularly and frequently… that means from you!

Of course, all of these issues are very realistic and the concerns are fully understandable. We’ve all been there! Personally, I have been in both situations (being proficient in my students’ L1 and not knowing it at all) at different times in my career. But it is still up to us as teachers to provide students with the best learning conditions possible, including the best balance of L1 and L2 use in the classroom. In the next post, I’ll start to address some of the strategies you can use to find this balance.

Is this a challenge for you? If so, please write a comment about your experience, ask a question, or share some ideas. We want to hear from you!