(Translation: Can you read this? What if you had to scroll through an entire text in another language? What if there was no one to interpret it for you? )
This activity was meant to give insight into how our English Learner students must feel as they read, write and listen while immersed in an all English curriculum.
The language above is Arabic, and I used google translate to translate from English to Arabic. Google translate is not perfect, and sometimes the translation is not accurate. But as an EL teacher who only speaks English and Spanish, it is my job to support all English Learners, regardless of the language they speak, so I use whatever tools are available.
I recently used google translate to teach some English vocabulary to our 4th grade students. While they have very basic skills in English language, they have strong literacy skills in their native language. This is important because the research shows that the stronger English Learners are in literacy in their native language, the faster they will bridge into English.
Once I determine the vocabulary students need to know for the lesson, I pre-teach the vocabulary to help students get exposed to the word and it’s meaning. In a recent lesson, I used google translate to show the words in arabic so students would be able tap into their background knowledge to connect with the vocabulary, therefore, forming a concept of the text before we start. As I said before, google translate may not always be accurate and some languages have many different dialects. Arabic is one of those languages.
After clarifying Arabic word that the students use for "rules" in their native language (they told me it was different than what popped up on the screen), the boys created their own dictionary in their journals. One one side is the English word and on the other side, is the word in Arabic. Now they have something to reference if they forget what the word means.
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