Here are some reasons why students speak L1
in class. You will notice that not all of them are always bad things, and
speaking L1 in class is not always a bad thing either. However, some of them
are things you should respond to- the general rule being that if they speak L1
only when you have planned for them to do so, then that is the perfect use of
L1. Ideas for how to tackle each point are given underneath.
Possible
reasons why students speak L1 in English classes
1. They want to make jokes that they can't make in English
A couple of quick jokes in L1 can really
lighten the load for the students and make the rest of the class easier to
teach, but any more than that and it starts to cut into the time they have to
speak English. If they are at a level when they should be able to tell that
joke in English, you can ask the class to translate or do a whole class on
jokes (puns can be good for pronunciation practice and story-like jokes for
narrative tenses). In lower level classes, humour must necessarily be mainly physical,
so doing mime and roleplays where they get up and move around can help them
learn to express themselves that way.
2. Only one person understands the instructions or language
This is a common situation that really
needs to be avoided, as it can quickly reach the point where students don't
even listen to you because they know a translation is coming soon. Techniques include
teaching students the language they will need to understand what you are going
to say ("Open your books", the names of tenses and word groups etc); writing
down, simplifying and practising your instructions before the class; and getting
in to routines so they know what to do at each point in the class.
3. They want to double check that they have understood an explanation
Even if you believe that avoiding L1 for
explanations is useful for the practice of English and to show that anyone can
communicate in easy English, there often comes a time when the only way
students can confirm that they understand "sparrow", "cypress" or "Brussels
sprouts" is with a "Do you mean ...?" and a translation. Teaching sentences like
this and "How do you say ... in Spanish?" at least means that most of what they
say will be in English. If you don't want to lose your status as the English-only
speaker, you can let one or all the students check in their dictionaries or
school dictionaries at that point (but only when you say so).
4. They want a translation for something so they can easily write down
what it means in their notebooks
Despite the speed and convenience of doing
this, if you want the students to stop translating in their heads and to make
the classroom more and more L1-free it is best to avoid this whenever you can
do so without wasting too much classroom time and effort. The best solution is
to write something on the board they can copy down that is almost as short and
easy to understand as a translation, e.g. an easy synonym, a word with a similar
meaning (with a wavy equals sign to mean "almost equals"), an opposite, two
words it lies between (e.g. "quite" between "very" and "a bit"), a different
part of speech of the same word that they are more familiar with (e.g. "character"
for "characterization"), or a simple line drawing.
5. There are things they need to say to each other to be polite that
they don't know how to say in English
This can be easily and usefully solved by
teaching "Good morning", "Did you have a good weekend?", "See you next week"
etc. from the first lesson. It might be that they want to say something that
doesn't have a perfect English translation, but until they reach the level when
you can explain that to them, it can sometimes be worth teaching them the less
than perfect equivalent.
6. Speaking English has tired them out and they need a bit of a break
Like doing exercise, with language learning
sometimes taking a break and starting again refreshed is the best way of using
five or ten minutes. In order to give them a break but stop those few minutes
of L1 infecting the whole class, you could have a set break time when they can
speak L1, do something silent for 5 minutes, or do some very basic revision.
7. They feel like a child or stupid when they speak their low level English
for too long
This is particularly the case with intellectual
students who suddenly can't explain any of the things they want to say. Apart
from giving them a 5 minute break to speak in L1, other approaches include telling
them what the topic will be in the next lesson so they can prepare what they
want to say, designing the syllabus around things they are having trouble
expressing (e.g. "I strongly disagree"), and designing activities where they
can make their opinions heard with just simple language, e.g. debating games.
8. They want to talk about something that is important for learning English
like self-study tips
There are times when a good tip just can't
be given in easily understandable English. If you don't speak the students' L1
or want to remain an English-only speaker in class so they are forced to make
the effort to communicate with you, there are ways around this. One possibility
is to have a standardized list of self-study tips with translations of each one
that you can circle individualized recommendations on. Another is to spend a
lesson or two on the topic until you have pre-taught all the language they will
need to understand the tips.
9. They have got so carried away with a debate or other speaking
activity that they can't bear not being able to get their point across
In a way this is the sign of a good class,
and a comment or two in L1 doesn't hurt, especially if other students can
translate it. In the worst cases, though, the rest of the class can turn into a
mainly L1 debate. The best way to avoid this is to have the language at least
as much the focus of the activity as the debating point, e.g. by having example
sentences they must try and slip onto the discussion to score points. Another
good technique is to split the debate down into several smaller sections such
as statements to agree and disagree with. You can then bring the discussion
back into English by moving onto reading or listening to the next statement.
10. They have tried to explain something in English for five minutes
when they know they could just get a translation from the teacher or students
in 5 seconds
Learning to explain vocabulary you don't
know and making the point that it is possible to communicate in only English
are very useful, but there reaches a point where an English-only policy can
just waste time. Ways of reducing that length of time and the number of occasions
when you do need to resort to L1 include allowing dictionary use at designated points,
allowing them to draw on the board, allowing them to show photos of what they
are talking about on the mobile phones, and having the Internet in the room so
they can search for a picture.
11. They want to know how to say something in English but they can't ask
in English
Similar to number 3 above, solutions
include the use of dictionaries and teaching them set phrases like "What is the
English translation of...?"
12. They want to talk about something that only exists in their own
country and so doesn't have an English name, e.g. a vegetable, bird or
something related to a local festival
Teach them set phrases such as "There is a
bird that in my language we call a ..., which is ..." or "I don't think there is a
word in English for ..., but it looks like..." Games like Taboo and work on
relative clauses for descriptions can help with this.
