Is it normal for buxibans, to go hog wild crazy about kids speaking Chinese too much or simply not speaking enough English?
Like my director at my school (who is not fluent in english and basically only know ‘hello’ and ‘good morning’) is freaking out because the kids speak Chinese a lot and should only speak English all the time-no Chinese whatsoever. This is putting a lot of pressure on me, is this normal?
Some will insist on it- but not all. I’ve worked at 3 schools and none had an “English only” policy.
I went on demo once and a kid couldn’t remember the English word he needed. I told him to tell me in Chinese. The manager/director interrupted and said only English was allowed. Another kid could supply the word for him, or he could act it out. But no Chinese was allowed in English class.
I once had a manager tell me the children were speaking Chinese too much (at play time). I pointed out to her that she was speaking Chinese to them all the time, and that it certainly didn’t promote their using English. I didn’t hear about it again. I left shortly after for another reason.
How old are these kids? Do they have enough English to communicate? If they don’t then it can hardly be expected they either use English or stop talking. More info pls.
Sadly, yes.
[quote=“tot”]
How old are these kids? Do they have enough English to communicate? If they don’t then it can hardly be expected they either use English or stop talking. More info pls.[/quote]
they’re varied, one’s that are advanced like grade 2 level speak fine english, but there are others that I only have a few months of English and they insist that they speak English only even when not in class.
It makes me demoralized as a teacher because I feel like the kids progress is being measured solely by the kids saying a few words in English
You’re in a no-win situation Jimmy. If you ignore it, the director will be on your case for allowing the kids to speak Chinese. If you crack the whip, you will soon find parents complaining, and the director will blame you.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.