Teach English in ZhAoxia Jiedao [GAojiAzhuAng Zhen] - Tianjin

Teaching Monolingual vs Multi-lingual Groups As the world economy becomes more globalized, so does the need for a common means of international communication. english is currently the most common business language spoken throughout the world. If a non-english speaking country wants to do business outside its borders then english is typically the language of choice. It is becoming more and more essential for students of all ages to learn how to communicate in english and there are two types of classes where this learning takes place. Monolingual classes are usually taught in the students? home country and all the students speak the same native language. An advantage of teaching monolingual classes is that you can fairly easily predict the student errors. The students will usually make mistakes typical of anyone from the same language group. Their native language will influence pronunciation, structure and vocabulary. Any problems that are raised by one student in class will likely help the other students as well. It can also be an advantage that all the students are able to communicate in their same native language when they do pair or group work. When all the students are able to easily communicate with each other it allows the groups to be more organized and the lesson to run more efficiently. As an EFL teacher, whenever I introduce new vocabulary that I know will be problematic, I will make a point of really drilling the pronunciation with the class. The disadvantages of teaching monolingual classes are that the students may only be in the class because they have to be, not because they want to be. When the students are using their native language to communicate with each other, they are not practicing their english. This can slow their learning process and greatly reduce their exposure of english. Multi-lingual groups are typically taught in english speaking countries. These students come from different cultures and speak different languages. They do not all share one common language. This can be an advantage because it forces the students to speak english between themselves and with the teacher. It is the only common language they all possess. Since these classes are taught in english speaking countries the students are also exposed to english outside of the classroom. These students are highly motivated, which makes it easier for both the students and the teacher to work through lessons more efficiently. The disadvantages of multi-lingual classes are that students will work at different speeds. Some students may come from countries that do not even use the same letters as the english alphabet. This can create divisions in the class. These students native language will also influence pronunciation, structure and vocabulary, but these problems will be individual for each students rather than as a whole class. These problems will take personal attention form the teacher. Explaining a student?s problem to the entire class may be ineffective. Both monolingual and multi-lingual classes have their advantages and disadvantages. It is a personal opinion as to which out weighs the other. Although it would take a more skilled teacher to be able to give personal attention without neglecting or losing interest from the rest of the class, I would personally prefer to teach in a multi-lingual classroom. I enjoy learning about history and culture. Teaching students from a variety of different backgrounds would allow me to learn more about each student, where they came from and how they came to study english. I would also prefer to teach students who are highly motivated and want to learn.