Teach English in Daxing Zhen - Chongqing

Teaching Multilingual StudentsTeaching any language can be quite a challenge. When you have students that come from several different ?mother tongues? in one class the challenge can be even more interesting. The biggest challenge (depending on the level of English already known by the students) is developing a common language, English, within the class. However, since it is an English class the objective should be clear to all who are attending. If a good placement test has occurred prior to class assignment, the students in any one class should be close to the same ability in their English. From there it is the teacher getting to know their students, what countries they come from and helping each student with the struggles of learning English. For many it is using new sounds and new letters that are not in their native language or letters that look the same but are sounded differently in English. In Spanish the ?J? is pronounced as our ?H? and the ?Y? with ?J? so, ?jam? becomes ?ham?or ?yam? and ?you? comes out ?jew?. koreans sound out words very well, but ?-ed? becomes ?e? ?d? instead of our ?t?, ?d?, ?id? ending sounds. japanese want to end most words with a vowel, sound so it?s baseball-o, along with learning how to make ?r? and ?f? sounds. Adding and dropping a final ?s? is also common with Pacific Rim Asian students. My Russian student informed me they don?t have a ?th? sound in Russian, so it comes out ?sua? for the word ?the?. Mastering new sounds and using new muscles in your mouth become a new challenge. Through all the little things, the students learn that there is no one way to learn English and everyone struggles with something. They actually seem to become more willing to try as they see it is a language every one struggles with in different ways. In the classroom, trying to do group or pair tasks can be a little bit of a challenge as it is difficult for the students to understand each others English through all the different accents. As a teacher, you can show the students how you work through the accents and other challenges, the students seem to follow suite and try. Having written scripts or a set of specific vocabulary for them to work with often helps, as they can work on the same words and help each other enunciate the new English. One of the gifts of having students from all over the world is that you can take your class on trips without leaving the class room. When you have the opportunity to use one of the students? countries as a writing assignment, class discussion or group reading, the class gets to learn about where others come from. Caution and desecration on the teacher?s part will keep politics and any other hotly debated items out of the discussion unless they can be discussed or explained so that the debate can be understood by all. Having students from Japan, korea and china or Israel and Jordan or other areas of conflict in one classroom have to be handled with respect and discernment by the teacher and students. It can be a wonderful experience for the class and I have found most students love to tell you about where they have come from, their customs, food and traditions, its something they know. To be able to explain it in English is a real gift to them. Other students love asking questions. A lot of ?cross-chatter? in a mother tongue is eliminated during class, as the only language students have between them is their English. So activities that help the students get to know each other is a way to help them exchange ideas, interests and family, things people usually talk about. Despite the challenges of a multilingual class, it can be extremely fun and encouraging for both the student and the teacher because English is everybody?s focus. Through your new found English you often find you have some new and interesting friends by the end of the class term.