Born and raised in Vietnam, I learned and later taught English as a foreign language. My monolingual background significantly shaped my perspective, and I was particularly influenced by two key experiences during my learning and teaching journey.
The first pivotal experience was being selected to attend a provincial high school where students were trained to become leaders in the province. At the welcoming ceremony, the head teacher, a renowned Russian language instructor, advised us to "practice thinking in the language you are learning until you can sleep-talk in it." Our classes were conducted primarily in the target language, whether English or Russian, depending on our major. We engaged in extensive reading and numerous tasks focused on vocabulary, grammar, and Vietnamese-English translation. We were encouraged to use monolingual dictionaries, either English-English or Vietnamese-Vietnamese, instead of relying solely on bilingual dictionaries. This approach aimed to make the target language feel familiar and less 'foreign.'
The second reinforcement of my belief that an English-only environment was the best way to learn came from a crash course by American teacher trainers during my Bachelor's program. Over two weeks, we observed and practiced various techniques for teaching vocabulary, grammar, and listening, speaking, reading and writing in a communicative English setting. This training profoundly impacted me, especially given my minimal exposure to English-speaking foreigners.
I first began to question the English-only approach when, as a teacher, I observed that several adult learners needed their reading texts translated into Vietnamese for full understanding, despite having completed and corrected all the comprehension tasks. They also often felt the need to draft their thoughts in Vietnamese before speaking or writing in English. In their notebooks, I observed lists of English words translated into Vietnamese and multi-syllabic words transliterated into Vietnamese monosyllabic forms, such as 'Australia' being pronounced as 'Ốt-xơ-trây-li-a.'
In keeping with this learning style, I adapted my English-only approach by incorporating translation and contrastive linguistic activities into my classes. However, I still believed that an English-only environment was more conducive to language learning, especially in an EFL context where learners hardly have opportunities to use the target language outside the classroom.
Moving to Australia marked a gradual shift in my teaching approach towards integrating and leveraging diverse language resources in the classroom. Initially, I was confident that my previous strategies would work since English was the de facto official language. However, on the first day teaching a beginning level EAL class, I quickly realized the value of using learners' home languages to support their learning.
The class comprised 30 adult learners from Chinese, Vietnamese, Myanmar, Afghan, and Cambodian backgrounds. Engagement was low as many students had limited English skills, and some couldn’t read. I decided to use the audio function of Google Translate to provide instructions and meanings of key words in the students' home languages. Dari was not available on Google Translate, so I used ChatGPT. One student, who understood the written Dari on ChatGPT then explained it orally to the others.
To my delight, all the students started actively participating in class activities. Even the quietest students, including the three Dari-speaking sisters who had been seated separately to learn their A-B-Cs, began to gain confidence. One of the sisters, who could read written Dari, took on the role of explaining the instructions to the other Dari-speaking learners for the next activity. This approach served to strengthen the rapport between myself and the students, as well as among the students.
In my current class, the beginners frequently use Google Translate or ask me to provide ChatGPT to facilitate communication across languages, whether it's between themselves or when sending text messages to me. We often enjoy cozy moments teaching each other common words in different languages after learning them in English. For instance, a grid on the class whiteboard became a platform where students introduced and compared the words "husband" and "wife" in their own languages, while pointing to the couples in the class.
I've come to realize that language is more fluid and dynamic than we may think it is. Words from different languages blend naturally, much like how we mix verbal and nonverbal language in communication. Encouraging the use of students’ language resources can allow them to express themselves more freely, boosting their self-esteem and creating a collaborative and fun learning environment. This approach of actively encouraging students to share their language practices in class is increasingly appealing to me.