Staying in the Target Language While Teaching Middle School and High School

2025/02/14 by William Worden, Worden, William
Arts and Humanities · Computer Science · Neuroscience · #EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning #Educational Methods and Teacher Development #FOS: Languages and literature #Undergraduate Neuroscience Education and Research

paper · doi:10.48707/6q60-2f98

openalex publication_date 2025/02/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01

Abstract

This article advocates the use of the target language at all times in the classroom at all levels of language instruction. While addressed specifically to middle school and high school teachers, the article suggests an approach to language instruction that can be implemented for students of all ages. After recounting how the author’s experience teaching high school students convinced him to teach exclusively in Spanish, the article then addresses possible objections to the instructional method, presents topics to cover when teaching Day 1 of Level 1 of a language, and discusses ways to help students thrive in an all-target-language classroom.

Citations

• The importance of stupidity in scientific research

Related

• DECIPHERING THE TARGET LANGUAGE: AN ANALYSIS OF LISTENINGSTRATEGIES USED BY SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS LEARNINGENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE AND SPANISH AS A FOREIGNLANGUAGE
• First language and target language in the foreign language classroom
• Practices, Purposes, Ideologies: A Quantitative Study of Language Use in English Language Teacher Education
• Language Use in the Classroom: Balancing Target Language Exposure With the Need for Other Languages
• English or Nothing: The Impact of Rigid Language Policies on the Inclusion of Humanizing Practices in a High School ESL Program