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How to teach an L2 | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Languages & Work |  | |
| zhanglong Senior Member United States Joined 4931 days ago 322 posts - 427 votes  Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 1 of 13 05 May 2012 at 12:14am | IP Logged | ||
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I posted a somewhat long topic about the qualifications for teaching an L2 or Lx language, which seems to have gotten lost.
My apologies if you've seen it already. In brief, what are your feelings about teaching a non-native language? Can you do it? To teach high school students an L2 may require beyond C2 ability and specialized training akin to a Master's of Education. But teachers of languages abound on the net. Can you learn something from someone who may not be fluent but has learned more than you about a particular language? Or do you want them to be a native speaker and/or a credential professor? What is your standard for a "teacher of languages"? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6911 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 13 05 May 2012 at 1:28am | IP Logged | ||
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Personally I have no problem at all with non-natives, provided that the teacher's command of the L2 is "good enough" as regards grammar and pronunciation. What "Good enough" is varies depending on my own level.
Various quotes of mine from the thread Slavs being super talented in languages (pages 9-11): "I've never had a native speaker as a teacher, except for Russian ("conversation" once a week, back in 1998) and Portuguese (eight Fridays+Saturdays, last autumn and spring)." "A native speaker is not that important if you have a Swedish teacher in English - partly because things can still be taught (maybe even better than by a native, depending on your own level), and partly because we're surrounded by English through media and internet (anybody who is a regular internet user can get foreign language input at zero cost)." "(...)that a non-native is OK as long as he/she can "teach" (and that aspects like accent and prosody can be learned from other sources, you just have to use your ears!)." "A student who doesn't pay attention won't improve regardless of the nationality of the teacher, while an avid student finds ways to improve even with a non-native." 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 Fasulye Heptaglot Winner TAC 2012 Moderator Germany fasulyespolyglotblog Joined 5849 days ago 5460 posts - 6006 votes 1 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 13 14 May 2012 at 8:07am | IP Logged | ||
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In my Danish course we have a non-native teacher of Danish. She speaks Danish with an excellent pronounciation and speaks Danish with us in the lessons. Probably she has a C2 - level of Danish. And she has good didactical skills. She is one of my best teachers I have had in my long life of language-learning.
Generally I am in favour of non-native language teachers, but I expect an excellent pronounciation. And they should be willing to speak the foreign language with me before or after the lesson as well. Fasulye Edited by Fasulye on 14 May 2012 at 8:10am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| JujuLeCaribou Diglot Newbie Thailand myonlinefrencht Joined 4705 days ago 28 posts - 44 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: Portuguese, Thai, German, Dutch | Message 4 of 13 14 May 2012 at 2:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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I am currently teaching French (via skype) and English (in Bangkok, for Thai students
with a very basic level). From my experience, the teacher should : 1. know much more than the student (no need to be perfect though !) ; 2. focus on the needs, goals and psychology of the student. Nothing more. No need to be a native speaker of the language. Here, in Bangkok, there is A LOT of native English speakers teaching English. Usually the students learn almost nothing because those "teachers" don't care whether their teaching method works or not. They don't care about their students, how they learn, what are their goals, etc ...... They just want their money. I care about my students..... and the results are excellent ! ;-) 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Ogrim Heptaglot Senior Member France Joined 4641 days ago 991 posts - 1896 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, French, Romansh, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Catalan, Latin, Greek, Romanian | Message 5 of 13 14 May 2012 at 3:12pm | IP Logged | ||
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As long as your teacher has a good pronounciation, I don't care if he/she is not a native speaker of the language, at least as long as we are talking about a basic or low intermediate level. I agree with the previous post that you often meet native "language teachers" who have no idea of how to teach (and often no idea of even basic grammatical rules etc), just trying to make money.
However, if I were looking for a teacher in conversation at an advanced level, I would certainly prefer a (qualified) native. At that level you want to know idiomatic expressions, sayings, and an intro to the finer points in the culture. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5383 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 6 of 13 14 May 2012 at 8:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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I would only ever accept to be taught by a non-native speaker (although I wouldn't say anything in a beginners' class) if that person had a near-native knowledge of the language and native speakers either were impressed by his or her ability or could sometimes be fooled to think he or she is a native. But admittedly, it's because I really care about pronunciation. I wouldn't want to risk being taught something wrong.
Still,I myself teach English as an L2 although it's my L2 too. The way I see it, I know more about English than the average untrained or unexperienced English teacher who is a native speaker. And I am near-native. The next question is -- can I, as a near-native who learned the language, offer more than a native speaker who didn't? I think so. I think I can predict a lot of the mistakes my students will make because I know where they're coming from. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| JujuLeCaribou Diglot Newbie Thailand myonlinefrencht Joined 4705 days ago 28 posts - 44 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: Portuguese, Thai, German, Dutch | Message 7 of 13 15 May 2012 at 1:33am | IP Logged | ||
I totally agree. One of my huge advantages over the usual English teachers here (in Bangkok) is the fact that I am NOT a native English speaker. Like Arekkusu mentioned, I can understand easily what my students will need to do in order to learn English, and I can be an example for them : if I can speak, read and write English, they can do it too ! This is a feeling that an American/Australian/British teacher will never be able to give..... Edited by JujuLeCaribou on 15 May 2012 at 7:14am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6087 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 8 of 13 15 May 2012 at 2:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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I used to teach ESL to German adult learners but last year I also started to tutor German to German students up to class 10. I have a certificate and I've recently taken a writing course (Aufsatz Training) to help teach writing, which is almost always where the students need help.
E-writing is very fun to write and to read, but it doesn't help them on those formal school exams. (Writing is quite formal in the schools.) The easiest part for me is the Rechtschreibung/spelling which is where a lot of parents have trouble. The official spelling has been reworked three times: in 1996, then again in 2004 and finally again in 2006. Many adults, parents, etc, find it difficult to change the writing habits that they developed when they were in school, or like some journalists, they just insist on keeping with the old writing system. The schools only accept the latest reform from 2006. Of course I have no advantage over trained German teachers (none at all) but I'm confident that I can teach up to a certain level. Edited by Sunja on 15 May 2012 at 3:34pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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