Reply to Translating in Class?

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Translating in Class?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm an ESOL teacher and most teachers will pair a non-English speaker with a peer buddy who speaks their language. Most teachers only ask that buddy to interpret when it is very important- directions for emergency drills, important paperwork that needs to be signed and brought back to school, etc. And most ESOL kids who are beginners get pulled out of class for short periods of up to an hour a day. They are not allowed to be isolated from their English speaking peers. I often give the teacher guidance for who to choose to be this peer buddy. I have seen students with behavior issues become very motivated and responsible when you ask them to be a peer buddy.[/quote]

Do you get permission from the child’s parents to do this? I don’t think this type of responsibility should fall on a child. [/quote]

Not PP, but different cultures have different ideas about what a responsibility consists of. Parents would be happy to know their child is helping another child, rather than focusing on what their child might be missing as a result of helping. Teachers usually know which students will be ok with this, and if the teacher knows the new student will be arriving then they might explain to the class that the new student doesn't speak or understand English yet and may need some help from people who speak and understand the new student's native language. Tons of hands go up to help.

A lot of kids like to have responsibilities and help others. Many times, like PP said, the ones most eager to help are the students with some behavior issues. I've never had a parent complain that their child has been helping with translation for a new student. Most often they're thrilled that their child is using their first language because they prefer to use English at home. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics