Using Another Language for Student or Content Support
If you, as a bilingual paraprofessional or a teacher, speak the first language of one or more of the students in the class, both the teacher and you might have questions about when to use the first language of a student or a different language other than English for support. Below are some suggestions to make the best use of a paraprofessional who can communicate in a student's first language or another language the student is fluent in. There is no right or wrong way, and this is not an exhaustive list.
The teacher and the paraprofessional should discuss when the best time is to use another language most effectively to help students access content.
How much and should we utilize our ESL students' native language when teaching English? Here are some tips!
Some Possible Configurations of Situations When to Translate
When there is a large group of students who speak the same language and they have very low proficiency in English, a teacher may want to assist with large chunks of content in the other language. A teacher can, as much as is possible, supply the paraprofessional with notes to help the paraprofessional prepare him/herself for translating the material. It is very challenging to translate material on the spot that may not be familiar to the paraprofessional.
Teacher speaks for a short time, paraprofessional translates. This can be done in front of the class as part of the ebb and flow of the class discussion. Students do not need to be seated in language groups.
Teacher works with those students who can do the content material in English in one group. The paraprofessional works from the teacher's prepared materials to translate the information to the group of students who need translation. This can take place simultaneously if the classroom permits it. Students need to be seated in language groups (language group for translation, and English group).
Teacher presents the material. The paraprofessional quietly explains key points while the teacher is presenting. The class proceeds together. Students need to be seated in language groups.
When students are at an intermediate or higher level of English proficiency, a bilingual paraprofessional can assist students by providing translation for individual concepts or words as needed.
Interpreting during instruction should look different than interpreting during classroom tests. Prior to a test, the teacher can provide the paraprofessional with a copy of the test so that s/he can possibly translate pertinent individual words that may cause the ELs problems. These translations could be written above the individual English words and help the student work through the exam as independently as possible. If the teacher would like the ELs to perform a specific task, the instructions for the task could be written in the other language. As much as possible, the students should work through the test individually and use as much English as possible. Ideally, much of the vocabulary on the test should be words the students are familiar with from classwork, especially if it is a very modified test for low-proficiency ELs. All the required translation should be done before the day of the test and not during the test.
For required state testing, the teacher and the bilingual paraprofessional must follow the state guidelines. The mainstream teacher can see the Bilingual Coordinator for any information s/he requires on this topic.
Other Tips
As soon as you can, learn the English-language proficiency of each student the best you can. Then you can better judge when translation is necessary and when it is not. Lower-level proficiency students need more translation than students who are more advanced. You want to make students independent learners in English, and sometimes it is difficult to determine when it is necessary to translate and when it is not. The teacher and you should work together to determine when to translate and when to require the students to work things out on their own.
Consider clustering students in class who speak the same language, especially at the beginning of the year when the students may feel more anxiety and are in need of the most support. This is also helpful to you as the paraprofessional so you do not need to bounce from one student to another on the other side of the room. From colorincolorado.org, "ELL Strategies for Paraprofessionals." http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/49061/
Encourage students to call on you for interpretation for academic help during class, but both the teacher and you should discourage them from asking questions about other issues during instruction time. It's common for students to request the teacher's or paraprofessional's help in areas such as problems at lunch, locker issues, bus passes, etc. Sometimes they ask for help on behalf of their parents: green card questions, landlord problems, auto insurance, etc. If this occurs, the bilingual coordinator, teacher, or bilingual paraprofessional could set up a time to meet about the issue later, especially dealing with the school issues. It is, of course, up to the teacher and you about giving advice about issues outside of class and sometimes it is better to direct the student to a social worker or other professional. The teacher and you should set a good example for the students by engaging only in academic talk during instruction. From colorincolorado.org, "ELL Strategies for Paraprofessionals." http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/49061/
Making Units Comprehensible in English
Translation should be provided as necessary, but the teacher should attempt to provide materials as much as possible so that the content is comprehensible in English to the students, no matter the language level. This is challenging, but this can be done with some units that lend themselves to comprehensibility through demonstrations, visuals, films and film clips, etc. A teacher might consider developing two or three units a year that can be comprehensible to students in English, no matter the student's English level. After a few years, a teacher will then have all units that provide more comprehensible input through a variety of resources.
Some Possible Signs You May Be Using Too Much L1 in Class by Alex Case
1. People say things in L1 that they could say in English
2. The use of L1 means that students get less practice of English
3. There is lots of use of L1 without any clear purpose
4. Students use L1 because they are convinced they cannot communicate most of what they want to say in English
5. The amount of L1 is going up as the term progresses rather than going down as students' level improves
6. Students saying the same thing in L1 in class all the time does not result in them being taught to say those things in English
7. Students use L1 even to say things that have been studied recently or the target language for this lesson
8. You don't respond to L1 use in any way
9. Most of the student talking time is in L1
10. Most of the teacher talking time is in L1
11. Students who leave your class and join an English-only class cannot cope in the new class
12. Students in one class need to be ready to study in an English only class, e.g. to study in a university abroad, but there is the same amount of L1 as in your other classes
13. The teacher uses L1 because he or she doesn't know how to say something in English or lacks confidence
14. When translating, the class end up discussing the grammar etc of L1 when they could be more usefully discussing English
15. Students don't listen to explanations in English because they know that it is always followed by an explanation in L1 or they can always ask for one
16. Students can't cope with explanations in English because they are only used to listening to them in L1
17. Students don't know common classroom language in English like "How do you spell...?" and the names of classroom objects because they always ask those things in L1
18. Students find doing textbook listenings a shock because most of the class up to the point when the recording starts has been in L1
19. Well over 20% of all the speaking in class is in L1
20. You rarely have English-only periods in class
21. Having English only periods in class doesn't work because students are too used to being able to resort to L1
22. Some students complain that the other students speak too much L1
23. The constant chatter of other people speaking in L1 means people can't concentrate on what they are doing in English
24. More control of when they can speak L1 would make it easier to keep discipline
25. Students who were trying very hard to speak English as often as they could at the beginning of the course give up and speak mainly L1 like the rest of the class
26. The students think it is strange or amusing to ask the teacher a question about the language in English
27. The teacher and the students never end up using the English "incidental language" (e.g. "It's your turn") described in the teacher's book, in the box by the side of a speaking task or in the instructions for a photocopiable activity
28. You often have to change the lesson plans in the teacher's book etc because it is designed for an English-only class
Possible Signs that You Could Usefully Have More L1 in Your Classroom by Alex Case
From A well balanced use of L1 in class
1. Never being able to speak in L1 makes the students stressed and unhappy
2. Not being able to speak in L1 leads to long periods of silence, and those periods do not get shorter as the term progresses, rather than use of English
3. The time saved from using L1 rather than English to explain something could lead to a substantial increase in the amount of time you could spend on more useful language, e.g. in a short course with very specific needs
4. The language the students would need to be able to take part in a grammar elicitation etc successfully is well above their present level
5. Simplifying what you are saying to the level that students could understand in English would lead to you saying something that is not a good explanation, e.g. an oversimplified grammar explanation that does not hold true for all the situations in the book
6. You never use L1 to save classroom time
7. Students are still not understanding explanations of vocabulary, grammar rules, game instructions etc even after lots of explanation in English
8. You never use L1 to make explanations clearer
9. Students complain that they often don't understand things in class
10. Using L1 to explain some language would make the explanation more memorable
11. You are only avoiding using your students' language in class because you are not confident in your own mastery of it
12. You could usefully compare and contrast a false friend or similar looking grammatical structure in English and L1
13. You have never experimented with the use of L1
14. Students often give up when trying to explain something to you or ask a question about English
15. There are useful tips that you could give your students about the EFL exam they are taking etc but are prevented from giving them because they can't understand the tips in English
16. You often don't try what seems like good teaching ideas because they involve translation or because you would need to explain something in L1
Other signs that you might not have the balance of L1 use in class right
1. The use of L1 is the same in all your classes
2. How much L1 you use in class has not changed over the years
3. The amount of L1 you use in a particular class has not changed as their level has changed or due to other changes such as the students becoming more mature
4. You have never experimented with changing the amount of L1
5. The amount of L1 varies randomly from class to class, not due to any decision or planning on your part
Ways of Making Sure You Use the Right Amount of L1 in Class by Alex Case
1. Teach your students useful classroom language they can use in English to ask for translations etc, e.g. "How do you say... in English?" If necessary have a whole lesson or a regular class slot on that kind of language.
2. Mark clearly on your lesson plan each point that only English or English and L1 can be used
3. Set yourself a target for the percentage of teacher talking time and student talking time that should be in English in each class and by the end of the course
4. Count what percentage of the stages in the class are English-only on your lesson plan and then at the end of the lesson see what percentage there really was, and see if that matches what you think is acceptable
5. Tell students at each point whether L1 can be used or not
6. Introduce a system of points, red and yellow cards etc during English-only periods to stop students using L1
7. Write all instructions and explanation language down on your lesson plan in English so that you can check it is easy enough to understand and so that you can use English only when giving instructions and explanations
8. Check at the end of the lesson which instructions and explanation language in English you actually used and which language needs further explanation in English or L1
1. Do some research to decide where you stand on Google Translate. Then talk with your department head about your position.
How do you feel about Google Translate? Is it the bane of your teaching existence or is it a potentially exciting teaching tool, or something in between?
If a student uses Google Translate on a homework assignment or a writing project, do you view it as a cheating or plagiarism offense, or is it a minor transgression, similar to a student asking a native speaker friend for a little help?
Knowing the answer to these kinds of questions enables you to feel prepared when you face the inevitable.
2. Start talking with your students openly about Google Translate.
Let your students know that you’re aware. Once they know that you know that Google Translate exists and that they know how to use it, the tool loses some of its power.
By initiating the conversation yourself, you are showing your students that Google Translate is comfortably within your teacherly jurisdiction. This is the Google Translate equivalent of settling into your classroom at least five minutes before your students arrive so you can establish that the classroom is your territory.
Google Translate can be your territory too, so talk about it with confidence, and your students will realize that you’re not simply reacting to a situation that is beyond your control.
3. Invest time in teaching your students how to use a bilingual dictionary.
Though bilingual dictionaries are on most book lists for most Spanish classes, a lot of students don’t actually know how to use one. And if students find their paper dictionaries a challenging hassle to use, where will they turn for easy and speedy answers? Google Translate.
Make a point of rewarding dictionary use once your students can work with their dictionaries with confidence.
Bring in an old-school phone to place on your desk as a symbol of your celebration of all things analog, and turn your students’ groans into a humorous opportunity to showcase how why the dictionary is a valuable tool for Spanish scholars of all levels.
4. Acknowledge the strengths and the shortcomings of Google Translate with true to life examples.
Discuss with students the pros as well as the cons of Google Translate. Google Translate is remarkably reliable when used as a dictionary, but it relies on the correct spelling of the original word.
Imagine what might happen if you misspell “petal” as “pedal” and “flower” as “flour” when searching for the bilingual equivalents; if you don’t notice you’ve made a mistake, you might confuse your reader.
As well, Google Translate struggles with idioms.
5. Assign writing assignments and writing assessments in class.
This suggestion might be a painful one for some teachers who already feel their time in the classroom is limited. It can feel frustratingly wasteful to devote valuable face time with students to mere supervision and cheating prevention.
Try experimenting with short but frequent writing tasks to develop a writing habit in your students; start class with a five minute free write about a vocabulary word you put on the board. If this approach works, consider adding an in-class journal to your list of assessments; daily writing in English will do wonders for your students’ confidence and you only have to glance at their journals weekly to make sure they’re on track or to learn what grammar concepts might need a little more air time.
6. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
Some teachers are passionate about their rejection of Google Translate, and we respect their position. However, there is some merit to embracing Google Translate and incorporating the tool into your lesson plans.
Ask beginning students to write a five-sentence paragraph in their language, enter them into Google Translate for the English version, and then instruct them to improve the translation in three different ways or to identify three new points of English grammar or vocabulary they learned from the translation. Discuss the points in class to make sure everyone is on the same page, and if Google Translate gets something wrong and you catch the mistake, you validate its unreliability right in front of your students.
Paraprofessionals Interpreting for Students in Class
Paraprofessionals may be asked to interpret and/or translate for students in a variety of settings. You may only translate for students within the classroom and not in other capacities unless you have been certified.
Below is from All Translations http://www.all-translations.com/translation-tips.html
The most essential interpretation tips are as follows:
In advance familiarize yourself with the topic of the speech
Note down main points of the speech - it'll help you when interpreting
Translate and clarify the meaning of special terms and key words prior to interpreting
Establish friendly relations between you and the speaker at a consecutive translation
Remember to pronounce words distinctly and clearly
Produce a brief summary at the end of the speech - it helps to clarify conclusions
React quickly and be ready to work under pressure
Enjoy what you are doing ..:-)
Transmit a clear message to the target audience
Positioning and Eye Contact While Interpreting
Use positioning and eye contact to foster the relationship between the teacher and the student. While you are interpreting , it is perfectly acceptable to look down and avoid eye contact. The interpretation process should promote eye-to-eye contact between the teacher and the student. Another option is to look at the person being addressed rather than the speaker.
The interpreter's position in the room can facilitate the discussion between the teacher and the student. For example, one option is to place yourself in the middle of a triangle among them. Alternately, standing beside either the student or the teacher can help stimulate eye contact between the two. The goal is for the teacher and the student to engage each other.
Below from Colorin' Colorado http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/49061/
Note: If you will be interpreting, try to clarify what your interpreting/translation responsibilities and schedule will be early on.