Hi there,
some days ago, a friend of mine uploaded to my facebook wall an article where it was recommended to have native English teachers in Kindergarten and primary school.
Well, at the very beginning I was disappointed because that friend didn't believe that I am doing a good job.
After that moment, I thought a lot about the article and I concluded with different ideas that I want to share in this post.
Someway, I would say that this idea is a myth. What I find troubling is that many proficiency teachers assume to be good teachers, trivialising many other important factors such as experience, innovation and personality. While profiency might be a necessity at our schools, proficiency by itself should not be treated as the deciding factor that makes a teacher. It is SO MUCH MORE, It is to know your students, the culture, habits, to anticipate some problems while learning the new language and many other factors.
Anyway, having a native English Teacher is good for students when they are at a higher level, like B2 or C1. However, with lower levels, from beginner to intermediate, a non-native-speaker but fluent in the language, is better, at least in my opinion, because we have gone through the same experience and we can moderate our speaking speed and style easily.
I would appreciate if you write your opinion down and share it with us. Thank you !
Some of the best teachers I have had at school were not native! Passion and imagination are sooo important, experience helps but we ALL started at 0.
ReplyDeleteDoncs jo no hi estic del tot d'acord.
ReplyDeleteHi ha molts mestres d'anglès no nadius molt bons.
I també hi ha vegades q els nadius tenen molt bona pronúncia, però sinó han estudiat per ensenyar a nens, per altra banda també hi ha mancances.
Estic d'acord amb algunes coses però ser nadiu no sempre implica tenir un bon domini de la llengua. S'haurien de tenir en compte altres aspectes també. Ho se per experiència.
ReplyDeleteDe vegades també el fet de no conèixer l'estructura de la llengua dels alumnes dificulta l'aprenentatge. Hi ha molts estudis sobre estructures comunes del llenguatge per facilitar l'aprenentatge de qualsevol llengua nova.
Lo ideal seria la combinació de tots dos professionals. Segur que així és complementarien i els models a seguir serien més efectius.
Recent studies of the brain ( Dr. David Bueno) indicate that the phonetics of the language are acquired by significant exposure between 0-3 years and 14-18.
ReplyDeleteTherefore what you do between these two periods is to engage a good attitude, a motivation and predisposition. And I think that it is what is done at primary schools. Besides that, students learn vocabulary, structures, culture and phonetics, ... but nothing what they learn is good or bad, because phonetics are easily correct when there is a good language work in the later stage.
I think we have to value whether it adds or remains. English in kindergarten adds motivation, experiences, exposure to an unknown language ... in short, a positive attitude towards learning, and I think that adds much more than a poorly-spoken word can be left!