No Dictionaries in the Classroom! Well, strictly speaking not ‘no dictionaries’ at all – a big, clear, (illustrated perhaps – depending on the students’ level?) English dictionary should always be on hand (because teachers DON’T (contrary to popular opinion) know everything!). Rather, no dual language (bi-lingual) dictionaries in the classroom, please. My students pay me to teach them English. Our lessons are in English, all the course materials are in English, that’s what we are studying together. I don’t want the student speaking his own language in our classroom (after all, we both know that he can do that very well!).

Having a dictionary to hand is a distraction for the student and teacher alike. The teacher should be able to explain what a word or phrase means using mime, ‘stick men’, sketches, pictures, and (why not!) simple English that the student DOES understand. That way the student has had to work for the word – draw it out of words he does understand, and speak it in English from the very start. When we work for something it sticks better! Using a dictionary is, of course, very useful when a student comes to revise, or prepare written homework. But during the lesson all new words go up on the board, and the student writes them down to look up later should he still need to – maybe just to confirm his understanding!

Experts tell us that we can learn seven new words per hour, and also that an hour is getting towards the concentration limit for most people (mine is less, for sure!). So each session should only end up with a large handful of new words – plus, of course, those that are revised from previous lessons, or that come from the student’s life outside the classroom. If the student is constantly looking up words to check what they are in his own language, then he will be speaking and listening less, and therefore less learning will take place – less value for money will be gained. Try banning the bi-lingual dictionary from your classroom – if the student insists, limit its use to ‘dictionary time’ at the beginning and/or end of the teaching session.

Andrew is a qualified TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) teacher, with 15 years experience of the global Automotive Industry as a Sales manager with an International component and systems supplier. For more information about learning English with Andrew at his home in the UK, visit the Lets Talk 2 website. http://lets-talk2.com/_wsn/page2.html