Yeah, That’s Right
I’m a firm believer in the “No Dictionaries” policy. In Junior High School lessons, I think they simply don’t have a place unless you are teaching students HOW to use dictionaries. During lessons with a writing focus, I give my students a time limit and have them write what they can based on the topic or grammar point for that day. The goal is to keep writing. It’s like free-writing–make plenty of mistakes, but don’t give up. Especially during these lessons, I never let my students use dictionaries because:
Students often use dictionaries as a prop just to look busy.
Students can find words, but not know which word is actually correct for the way they intend to use it.
Students often don’t know how to construct sentences using the new words.
Students need to write what they know to reinforce their learning.
Students need experience thinking in English. Thinking in simple English is a million times more effective than thinking in Japanese and translating that Japanese to English. I’m sure most ALTs know what I’m talking about.
There’s nothing like the feeling of receiving a student composition which has been thought through in Japanese and in-comprehensively translated into English.
What do you think about using dictionaries in the JHS classroom? What types of lessons do you think dictionaries are beneficial for?
This entry was posted on May 14, 2013 by Terry Dassow
ALT + ALT Scene 