Utilizing Arabic in class

I still recall the arguments I had with colleagues in many pedagogical meetings on the use of Arabic in class. Some were defending hard the idea of total prohibition of the mother tongue. Some, however, were standing next to my attitude.

From the literature I’ve read, I haven’t come across such extremist abolishing view, except some approaches that have been overlooked today- like the natural approach. The most widely used approach – the communicative one- doesn’t actually forbidden the use of the mother tongue. So,  why do we tend to stand firmly on such attitude?

I invite you to remember your first days with English. You’ll surely recall your vocabulary notebook where you used to jot down direct translations, and nice expressions to be learned by heart. So why should we lame our students on doing so? The process of comparing English to our mother tongue is totally natural. It’s a building process through which we are internalizing the foreign language. Besides, a minimum of words are essential to a beginner to set off.

Using Arabic to brainstorm a topic is also important. At this time, the teacher is invited to introduce some vocabulary items that are going to be met. “Instructions should always be clear.” We usually tend to repeat. But don’t you think there are some students left behind who don’t understand you. A direct explanation in Arabic can be effective.

If you walk around while students are working in groups or pairs, you’ll certainly hear them talking in Arabic. Should we frown or resent then? An intimate discussion with students in the group could encourage them to try to switch to English when they could.

The teacher nevertheless should guide the class to when it’s possible to use Arabic and when not allowed. Ask them to find out the translations of a word in Arabic as a homework. Ask them if they are using the same reading strategies in Arabic, too. Encourage them to do so in their novels in Arabic.

There are surely plenty of ways to utilize Arabic in our classes.

Please overlook any mistakes and let me read your additions. 4/8/2012 boudour mahmoud. Debdou high school.