EnglishClub TEFL Forums (archived)

hi , could you help me with this topic please?
I have to carry on a research about language interference/transfer in the classroom .
Any practical and efficient solutions/ways out to get pupils speak ONLY English during the lessons (even with each other , not only in participation).
Your experiences and suggestions please !
Thanks .

Hi faroukaweb,

Are these students all students with the same native language?

If not, one thing that works in a class with students from different languages is to distribute students in a way that they are not sitting next to someone who speaks the same language. That way, the only way that they are able to communicate is in English.

If they all share the same native language, this is a bit more difficult to avoid. One idea, off the top of my head, would be to make it into a sort of game - this works especially well with young learners, but adults love games, too! You could somehow "penalize" every time a student speaks in a language other than English while in the classroom. Maybe you could have students start the beginning of the week with a certain amount of "points" (this could be used as a participation grade, or lead up to students receiving a prize of some sort). Every time they speak a language other than English in the classroom, they lose a point. At the end of the week, students with the most points get a prize or maybe extra credit points on a quiz/test/assignment?

Just an idea. Let me know your thoughts.

Hi there,
First of all, I would appreciate that you are trying that your students can learn to communicate in English. Now as you have asked so you should motivate them to communicate in English and try to help them to overcome their hesitation. You can try to keep some penalty work for the students who is not trying to communicate in English so it will help you to force every student to communicate in English only.

The only way to improve students communication in English is to make them speak only in English. They must not speak in their native language among them. You might get frustrated when students speak their own language in class. Don’t be tempted to lapse into the students’ language to explain, regain control or reply to a question. Patiently reply in English. Practise and encourage all common classroom requests: “May I go to the toilet, please?”. Students may not use English requests amongst themselves but insist they do with you. Penalty option can't be said as good idea, as all student's may or may not have good financial status