All English Classrooms?
Many schools promote “all-English classrooms.” This is assumed to be superior to a classroom where Japanese is also used. But is it?
In my experience, there is great benefit to using Japanese in the classroom. I used to teach at an international pre-school, and we were all-English. It worked well. Students understood that when they were at that school, they expressed themselves in English and not Japanese. They developed a new aspect to their intellect, almost a new identity.
This is a good thing. But it’s not everything. When a student has the urge to play and communicates “let’s play” in English, there is little thought involved. Expressing desires becomes a programmed response. While that skill is essential, it is important to continually engage the active mind in language learning and developing other skills.
I use Japanese in the classroom as an exercise in translation. It is active and effective. I find students retain English better when they are able to translate back and forth between the two languages. It develops an important intelligence, once that will be critical in real conversation. It’s also important for me to know if the students really understand a sentence in English. If they can speak it back to my in Japanese, I know they have learned the language.
Generally speaking, the more English used in class, the better, but it’s important not to be dogmatic about it. There are times to use Japanese. In fact, actively learning to translate between the two languages is an effective and powerful tool for language acquisition.