Bilingual Education vs English Immersion<\/h2>\nThe Pros of English Only Education<\/h3>\n
Imagine learning to ride a bike without ever taking off the training wheels. It feels comfortable and easy, but you will never really learn to ride a bike. The same is true of any foreign language. If you\u2019re always relying on the crutch of your first language, you have no chance of becoming fluent.<\/p>\n
On the most basic level, students need to interact with English to learn it. Constant exposure will help students to hone their listening skills and opportunities to speak will aid with fluency and pronunciation. The other clear benefit is that of setting an example. How can you expect the students to speak in English if you do not?<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Cons of Teaching English Only Education<\/h3>\n
Students may feel intimidated by English, associate it with endless rote learning, and see it as having limited use in their everyday lives. For that reason, you might run into a high level of resistance to using only English, at least initially. Most ESL students around the world are used to learning English from non-native speakers. Often, those teachers will use a mixture of English and their native language in the classroom. That is what many students will expect when they turn up for your first class. With some students overcoming their resistance will be relatively easy, but for others it might be a bit more of a challenge.<\/p>\n
How to Teach ESL Without Speaking Your Students’ Native Language<\/h2>\n
The benefits of an English-only classroom are clear, and the resistance to it\u00a0relatively easy to understand. How to make it a reality, however, might not be so obvious. In my opinion, there are two things you can do to achieve this.<\/p>\n
Create a new set of expectations<\/h3>\n
Stick to your guns. Speak only English, and respond only to English. At first, the absence of their native language might irritate the students, but it will not take long for it to become the norm. Within a week or two you will have created a new set of expectations.<\/p>\n
Make yourself more comprehensible<\/h3>\n
Teaching English to those for whom it is not the first language may appear to be a challenge at first. With a few techniques and some practice, however, it\u2019s nowhere near as difficult as it might seem.<\/p>\n
Communication is so much more than just words. Use non-verbal cues to your advantage. Hand gestures, actions, pictures, posters, drawings and text can all aid understanding of instructions and concepts. You can also change the pitch, tone and intonation of your voice. Select the vocabulary that you use carefully and simplify your sentences. In other words, you can use many of the same techniques that you use to communicate with a small child.<\/p>\n
The Best Way to Teach, and Learn English<\/h2>\n
I learned a very important lesson from my first Spanish class: it\u2019s possible to teach a foreign language without using the student\u2019s native language. Not only is it possible,\u202fit\u2019<\/b>s the most effective and efficient way to teach, and learn a language.<\/b><\/p>\n
Using your students\u2019 native language as a crutch is what they will expect and what they will feel comfortable with. Although that is the path of least resistance, it will only hinder their progress in the long run. The initial effort often dissuades many teachers from trying the idea in the first place. All you need, however, is a little persistence.<\/p>\n
Want to learn more about teaching ESL overseas?\u202fSign up for a\u202ffree information session<\/a>\u202for download our\u202fcourse guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n [wp_social_sharing social_options=’facebook,twitter,pinterest’ twitter_username=’oxford_seminars’ facebook_text=’Share on Facebook’ twitter_text=’Share on Twitter’ googleplus_text=’Share on Google+’ pinterest_text=Share on Pinterest\\” icon_order=’f,t,g,p’ show_icons=’1′ before_button_text=” text_position=” social_image=’ \/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-social-sharing\/static\/socialshare.png’]<\/p>\n Written by Robin Garnham<\/p>\n
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