Teaching slang

How many of you teachers believe it is important to teach students some slang?

[Soup]

Knowledge is power. Teach away.

[Sue Blank]

Originally Posted by Soup

Knowledge is power. Teach away.

Right on, Soup -- but I usually find the students are teaching me, while I am reduced to explaining an older slang expression in their reading that puzzles them.

[TammyESL]

Generally I avoid it with children, they pick it up so quickly anyway.

For my adult students I do teach slang, especially that which borders on idiomatic phrases.

[Master Teacher]

It´s not so important, I think, because all the slangs changes each day...I think it´s just a way to show your students you know many things about english like culture or something like that.

Cheers!!!

[ddeubel]

Originally Posted by Master Teacher

It´s not so important, I think, because all the slangs changes each day...I think it´s just a way to show your students you know many things about english like culture or something like that.

Cheers!!!

I agree. Also, it is just too hard to use, unless you are and have been in an immersive, English speaking country for many a year. Just like idioms, there is a subtlty of use that just can't be taught. Nuance....

So do it only to motivate students a bit. Not too much. Not that effective a use of class time.

DD
EFL CLASSROOM 2.0

[bethany lois]

It's alright, especially if it's for conversation purposes. But I tell my students that slang is considered informal language and therefore cannot be used in all types of settings.

[CHOMAT]

I'm working as a teacher in a primary school. No matter how strange this might be, I make use of cockney rimes to work phonetic discrimination together with voc. Strictly speaking, Cockney is not slang, I grant it , and yet it is important pupils should be exposed to variant forms.

[Pali126S]

I´m currantly working on diploma thesis dealing with problem whether teach English slang words and phrases or not. I would like you to place your opinions on this issue.

Thanx. Paul.

[Shakespeare's brother]

Bethany made a good point: slang is not a formal language and as such, in my opinion, it should not be taught at the expense of formal language tuition.

Moreover, I don't buy the other comment about knowledge being power: to know slang would surely only bring credence within a narrow band of slang-users.

People regardless of age pick up slang outside of the classroom anyway, so why bring it in?