The English Only Classroom, Revisited
A few weeks ago we talked about the advantages of having an English only classroom. After ths show Mark tested it out on his classes. Hear about his experiences. If you didn’t hear the previous show, check it out here.
The game of the week: The Can-Must Game. Altering and using the template provided here, students go around and practice giving other students commands, ‘You must …’ or ‘You can’t …’ The students mark down what they are told and then the insanity begins. The game is pretty fun, quick, easy to set up and explain. It will work with imperatives, ‘have to’ and I’m sure other grammar as well. Have fun!
June 27th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
Thanks for the shoutout!
I’m looking forward to using only English in my classroom….which is OK by me, cause I don’t really know any language 1!
Hope things pick up for you this week, Mark..
July 3rd, 2006 at 2:09 am
Hi,
Guess I should review on the last show where I said I was going to try it. And try it I did! I got a good bit of resistance from my co-teacher who probably sees me as taking her job and making her feel totally redundant as a result of having no Korean in class.
However my friend made a valid point in my last open class about two weeks ago that the Korean teachers can use the students to help them if their English is not that good. Of course that begs the question “why are you teaching in the first place if you can’t communicate in the lanuage?” So she uses others to help her communicate to the other students.
Anyway after some hiccups she is beginning to see the sense of it and it’s going well. I have to give some bad points if they speak Korean and most students ask me now “Sir, can I speak Korean?” which is great.
-livinginkorea
July 3rd, 2006 at 9:21 am
LIK - There are definitely some advantages to being able to use L1 but children’s abiility to be and do in the environment they are in is amazing. So, I think there can be times when L1 is OK to use but that should be a defined part of class and the rest can be all English.
It’s a tough debate when it gets hard and heavy. Eric and I both agree so we make the debate look easy. There are other sides but I definitely believe in the whole English approach. When testing is the primary objective for English education, you might lose a foothold in the argument.
Thanks for the feedback and let us know how it goes.
- Mark
July 3rd, 2006 at 9:35 am
hey livinginkorea,
glad to see you giving it a go. that’s great. and i love the ’sir’ part, too.
eric
July 3rd, 2006 at 10:09 pm
Haha in my first job they called me David and I said never again! Sir is better than Mr. plus my second name.
July 6th, 2006 at 8:06 pm
The school I’ll be teaching at doesn’t seem to allow us ESL teachers too much creative license, so I’m interested in whether or not I’ll actually get the chance to try an English only classroom.
From the standpoint of learning another language I feel that immersion is the way to go. Maybe I can make a compromise with the director…part of the class in Korean, part in English.
Anyway, as usual great job on the podcast!
July 6th, 2006 at 10:45 pm
thanks chris! let us know how it goes.
July 8th, 2006 at 1:55 am
Chris,
Having one part in Korean and another part in English is a good start. You can tell the boss this if you can’t get the entire class in English. Tell them that many schools are doing it now. I got a lot of residence, not from the students but from teachers.
When I was learning French we weren’t allowed to speak English in class and although it was difficult it made us practice French more which is exactly what we want.
If you have one part Korean and one part English like half and half then remind them that “Now no Korean or I’ll give some bad points!” As your kids get used to it then you can make the Korean part shorter and shorter
Best of luck
-livinginkorea
July 23rd, 2006 at 9:53 pm
Great show guys! In my classes I try to use L2 as much as possible because I only see my classes (40 kids) once or twice a week for 40 minutes. The only time I allow a child to speak in Korean is when it’s truly an emergency (like they’re going to get sick on the floor).
My question is this: do you think with the limited amount of time the children have to speak L2, it is a good idea to let them speak L1 at all?
Evan
July 26th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
Evan - Thanks for listening.
I think it’s important to encourage them to speak English and discourage them from speaking L1. That can mean varying degrees of strictness and leniency. It’s a judgement call by the teacher.
It would obviously seem best if they were just speaking English, but it’s hard to say what’s best for everybody everywhere.
- Mark
July 26th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Eric and I are having some technical difficulties with the summer holidays and him traveling. We recorded some shows only to have whole sections missing every other minute.
Well, we have given up and will probably be back with new shows in a couple weeks.
Happy teaching,
Mark
September 3rd, 2006 at 7:40 pm
I hope you guys will be back on-line soon. About 140 new teachers just went through orientation with Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, and I’m sure many would love to join in the fun.
Cheers,
Austin
September 3rd, 2006 at 7:40 pm
I hope you guys will be back on-line soon. About 140 new teachers just went through orientation with Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, and I’m sure many would love to join in the fun.
Cheers,
Austin
September 3rd, 2006 at 9:10 pm
A new show should be posted in a matter of hours. We should have a new show for you every week as the plan goes.
Thanks for listening,
Mark
September 18th, 2006 at 2:13 am
since long time I search about teacher learn to speak english I know this is difficult but I try. I do not stop if there teacher please sent the Emil thank you
by the way I am from libya
October 2nd, 2006 at 1:21 am
Hi,
Thanks for the site;it’s cool. Well, personally I draw a line near the step door of my classroom on the first day. I tell my students that outside they can speak any language they want but inside they can only speak English. This the first rule. When somebody breaks the rule, he has to pay one dirahm( Moroccan currency) in the classroom box.Another way is using reward sytem, giving stickers or pencils for the Englishman of the day.
Thanks again.
Mohamed from Morocco
October 8th, 2006 at 10:13 pm
I am currently training to become an ESL teacher and would welcome any advice or experiences anyone may wish to share with me to help me be better prepared for the ultimate task.I am from the Caribbean.Thanks.