A practical application of translanguage in the ESL classroom

It is a well-known fact that the native/non-native English teacher debate is still apparent in education. There is a fair degree of conversation about how problematic the binary terminology is. The argument is recently explored in this interview S06Ε31 Teacher's Coffee with Penny Hands - YouTube

This past academic year, I had the privilege of working with co-teachers who are trilingual (fluent in Uzbek, Russian and English). The institution I work in hires international teachers, not only English first language speakers, I might add, for the purpose of creating modern, student-centred classrooms. And this is done in conjunction with a local teacher. The idea is that the international teacher brings a toolbag of student-centred learning where we encourage learners to be critical thinkers and risk takers. The whole idea is to help local teachers get used to modern teaching methods. In reality the local teacher has some clever ideas of (her) own to deliver knowledge in a way that is often fun and informative for students.

Translanguaging in the ESL classroom

Translanguaging (using more than one language to communicate and understand academic content) is something I promote as an ESL instructor. I actively encourage the co-teacher to use the L1 for translating terminology, new vocabulary and classroom management. Groupwork is almost always a matter of students using all their communicative resources to collaborate on a task. Recent statistics show that there are three times as many English second language speakers as there are English mother tongue speakers https://lemongrad.com/english-language-statistics/. My view is that the ESL classroom needs to be a space that honours that fact.

Pronunciation and correctness

The co-teachers I work with do not have target language pronunciation. I do not single out teachers whose pronunciation is *"fossilised", but as for the students, I do use the tried-and-tested CELTA techniques of drilling pronunciation. In truth, students are exposed to both standard English pronunciation and L2 pronunciation forms. IELTS tests still judge students on how closely they can produce L1 standard pronunciation. The IELTS exam is the benchmark for English proficiency where I am based, so students want to be IELTS-ready. Teacher language is a doubt that a lot of international teachers have. Personally, I have softened my view on teacher language. I attend international conferences where pronunciation is not standard L1, but this is the nature of English language today. You are going to come across different pronunciations. So students hear my pronunciation, and they hear the co-teacher pronunciation. This, I believe, is the strength of diversity.

* error that is a mistake, a habit that is difficult to change.