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  Case: My Colleague Speaks Broken English
In my school we practice team teaching. One of my colleagues and I share the same students. She teaches Science and Social Studies, while I teach Math and Language Arts including Reading. Because we teach lower elementary students—2nd grade—I pay special attention to modeling correct use of English in both writing and speaking in my lessons. This is where my problem begins. My team teacher is an immigrant from Korea. She speaks English well, but she makes mistakes regularly. I can see some of my students making mistakes in their speech and writing that mimic the mistakes I hear from my team teacher. What should I do about this? I do not want her to get in trouble because she is a very good teacher. If I inform her about what I have observed in her speech, would I be culturally insensitive? How should I tell her about this? I am at a total loss.
Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!)
I would approach the co-teacher in a very gentle way. I'm sure she will appreciate your concern and be willing to work on her broken English. You could also suggest having students correct her when she uses inappropriate usage if she is comfortable with that. This would also help the students learn the correct writen and oral language. Of course, it would be necessary to discuss with students the appropriate way of correcting her in a friendly, helpful manner.
 
     
     
  Rating
The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes
The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes
The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes
The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes
The suggested solution is original Yes
Comments:
Rated On: February 18, 2013 1:39 am
Rated By: Kimberly Sands
 
     
     
  Rating
The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes
The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes
The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes
The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes
The suggested solution is original Yes
Comments:
Rated On: April 24, 2013 3:12 am
Rated By: Elizabeth Powers
 
     
     
  Rating
The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No
The suggested solution is relevant to the case No
The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No
The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No
The suggested solution is original No
Comments: I do not feel that in this situation the students should correct the teacher; it sets a bad precedencee. Although I am not discounting the concern about her broken language, she is not teaching language arts and as such any discrepancy in language should be minimal as any vocabulary etc should come directly from teaching resources.
Rated On: October 17, 2014 12:02 am
Rated By: Denise Lukacik