demi

Posted on 10/14/09

I do not think so. I do the same with my students. The
children will learn faster than what we think. I think the
girl should have been place in 5th grade or sixth grade.
The girl is struggling with her classes I believe. I have
the same problem with a student from Columbia. A lot of the
problems could be academic as well. If you use the spanish,
always repeat what you say in English or use the English
first then repeat with Spanish.

On 10/09/09, esl teacher wrote:
> I have a 14 year old student from Guatemala. She is brand
> new to the USA and speaks no English. She was in 5th grade
> last year in Guatemala but due to her age the school placed
> her in 7th grade here. Her academic skills are very weak.
> She is literate in Spanish but things just don't connect.
> She does learn, but slowly and only with more than a
> regular amount of repetition. Her native language is
> Spanish, not an indigenous language. I do a one on one pull-
> out with her.
>
> My principal observed me today and told me that I'm using
> too much Spanish with her and she'd learn English faster if
> I didn't speak English. (He has no ESL background although
> he is fluent in Spanish himself.) My feeling is that she
> won't get it if I only use English. I feel that she will
> learn slower if I only use English. Obviously if I didn't
> speak Spanish then I'd have to only use English and she
> would still learn fine.
>
> I'm looking for opinions on how much L1 to use. My
> observation overall was fine and I get along well with my
> principal so I'm not worried about that. But the L1 issue
> with Spanish-speaking newcomers has always been a tough
> issue for me. I don't like to see a student struggling when
> I could explain it quickly in Spanish. But then does that
> create an over-reliance on Spanish?

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