The English only classroom might seem like a daunting feat! Some teachers are concerned that they will alienate their students if they only speak English during lessons. So, to prevent this issue, a certain amount of tact is required. Here is a cute way of introducing ‘English-only’ in the classroom.

Thanks

Thanks to Esther Cannard for sharing this trick, which may help other non-native English teachers at the beginning of all English classes, and all those who want to install an English-only teaching environment.

English only classroom idea

I pretend to receive a phone call from my sister Betsy who lives in the United States. I excuse myself and then go outside, but I keep the door open. At this point, you can say some things like, “Hi Betsy, how are you? That’s good. I am in a class right now. I will talk to you later. Love you, bye.” Then when I come back into the classroom, I am only able to speak English until my sister calls me back at the end of the lesson. The first time I did this, I acted surprised that I could not speak French anymore. I even started to speak English really fast, as if I were out of control, but then I settled down and said to the class, “boy, I really hope Betsy remembers to call me back.”

It doesn’t alienate the kids!

It works well even with the older children; they think it is fun, and they will ask if I don’t do the phone call. The younger ones really believed it at the beginning and wondered what would happen if my sister forgot to call me back at the end of the lesson or if the battery died. You could see the looks on the students’ faces, as if to say ‘would I be speaking English all day long?’

Share your ideas!

Feel free to share the post with your teaching friends and give us your ideas in the comments below.

All the best

Shelley Ann Vernon

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