Learning a new language is an experience like no other. It can be both very rewarding and intimidating at the same time.
Students, who are learning English in an English speaking environment, often utilize their first language. And while research points to this being a positive strategy, especially when the students are at the very beginning stages of their English learning journey, it can pose certain challenges for teachers.
This is especially true for those who work in classrooms where more than one student speaks the same first language.
In this blog post, which, by the way, was inspired by my readers’ questions, we will talk about why some students defer to their first language for longer than necessary and what you can do to help them move forward.
You will also see quotes from real teachers and what they do in their classrooms when they encounter this particular problem.
First language in the ESL classroom
Can you relate to any of these questions?
My students are resistant to learning English. They do not want to speak it at all, and since they are all in my class together, they (all but 2 speak Spanish) talk to each other and me in Spanish. I tell them I do not understand them and to tell me in English. Sometimes they will and other times they just laugh. I don’t want to say “you cannot speak Spanish in my class.”
~ Linda M.
I wish I spoke more Spanish so that I’d understand what things the “too cool for school” boys are saying about me… 🙁
~ Brooke J.
My biggest challenge is getting the students to speak English due to the number of native English speakers who are in the room for reading intervention while we meet for ESL.
~ Trina C.
Why students use their first language in the classroom
Having worked with beginner level ELLs for some time now and having done some research, here are a few possible reasons why your students fall back onto their first language instead of trying out English in the classroom.
- They do not understand. Period. They may be absolutely new to your classroom/school, the expectations are not clear and/or too high and anything or everything in between.
- They are afraid to make mistakes and therefore stay stuck in the “safe” zone. This is more of a psychological aspect of language learning but it is very real for many students
- They do not trust that what they know is good enough and therefore, utilize their first language to check-in for comprehension with google translate or their buddies.
- They do not see the “why” in the lesson (why do we have to learn the prefixes and suffixes, for example, or answer these comprehension questions using sentence frames?).
The above is by no means a complete list of reasons why someone might be reluctant to use English. But they do open up doors for you, the teacher.
Learning a language involves not only linguistic but also behavioral and psychological factors. We frequently notice that younger students have fewer inhibitions when it comes to language learning as they are more open and seek friendships right away.
The older the students, the more “stories” they have around why they should or shouldn’t do things.
- Word pronunciation is “funny” to absolute beginners. Their mouth is not used to it
- Making mistakes is frowned upon where they come from. Therefore, they may associate any error with personal failure
- Losing one’s identity: if I speak English, will I fit into my community?
- And, of course, being a teenager has its own variations of the above plus more
So what can you, the teacher, do in this situation?
Foster connection with your students
This has been said so many times before that I won’t go too deep into it.
No matter where we are from or what language we speak, our basic human needs are always the same. To have shelter and food and to feel safe.
Newcomers need to know that they will be taken care of in the classroom. It is important to establish a connection with the students and ensure that they know you have got their back – whether or not they speak English yet.
Offer sentence frames
As mentioned in point #1 above, when someone is learning a new language, it is not that they don’t understand it in that moment. It is difficult to retrieve the information they have learned at the time that they need it most.
Therefore, having sentence frames – both social-instructional and academic – all around the room is very helpful.
You can always point to those frames when you are speaking and ask the students to use them in their own conversations and responses.
Model language (specifically, vocabulary you are currently learning, and grammatical structure that is the topic of the week)
My students know this: whenever I teach new vocabulary, I always find ways to incorporate new words into our everyday tasks. I have seen some eye rolls (“Mrs.G, you are doing it again!”), but trust me: the more sentences, context, examples, attention you can draw to specific language form and structure, the more confident the students will begin to feel in their own usage of their new language. Not to mention, you may end up having a good laugh and even a discussion (in whatever language) in your classroom.
Provide time for self-reflection and feedback
As teachers, we know the power of self reflection. Some schools are embracing this in their general education classes as well.
In my opinion, for language learning, self-reflection is of utmost importance. Of course, it will look differently for younger students than it would for older ones. I wrote an entire blog post about self-assessment for ESL students. You can check it out here.
Offer rewards
Here is what Susan Leigh The ELL Lady said: “It is always a struggle… We use a point system in our school, so I will say: “Oh, I like the English you are using, Giselle! You get a point!” Then they turn their points in for items from our “store”.
Points work well for all age groups. Timers for practicing English also work well. Offering rewards from a cultural feast to a movie to some downtime also work really well. For more information on how to boost your students’ talk time, check out Susan’s post about how to boost student talk time.
Put yourself into their shoes
Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with the standards, curriculum requirements, testing, etc. that we forget to be humans to both ourselves and our students.
When I asked one of my wonderful teacher friends Sandra Hemphill, a.k.a The Language Lady about students chatting in their first language in class, she said: “I put myself in their shoes. It is impossible to expect them to speak English all the time. They lack sufficient vocabulary and sentence structure. *** I do have students who aren’t newcomers and that’s a different story. They are embarrassed to speak in front of their monolingual peers. They are intimidated by the African American community, which is the dominant culture in our building and school district”.
ESL teacher resources
And that is all for now. Here are some worthwhile resources for you to check out and utilize in your classroom (some were mentioned earlier).
The Language Lady YouTube channel – for ESL teachers and all others who work with English learners. Super helpful, broken down tips, speaking games and in general, a wealth of information to put you at ease.
The ELL Lady – How to Boost Student Talking Time
Academic Language Toolkit – sentence frames for speaking and so much more!
Assessment and self-reflection for ESL Students
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