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1 thought on “Going Swimming”
The kids naturally want to know about us, but I don’t allow personal questions. That is another huge benefit of having an L2 culture in the classroom. It is almost unbelievable to me that, in a classroom that allows random L1, kids reveal an upbringing that makes them think that asking personal questions about us in English – at the most unexpected times – is normal.
That is not normal and has no base in a Krashen based classroom. It certainly is something that I won’t miss as I have moved now from roughly 70 or 80% L2 use to over 90%. The difference is huge. The culture is different. The learning occurs at that exponential end of the chart when it is over 90% L2. Nor do I ask my students personal (huge difference between personalized – won’t go into here) questions.
However, I might try allowing some personal questions about me in the target language, as suggested above. It’s a great idea. Anything that approaches the genuine. One thing we can say about kids is that they smell what is fake. Trying to get kids excited about double object pronouns is just stupid.
Krashen has used the word compelling to describe the input we strive for. So, yeah, ask me questions, but do in L2. (I would not feel safe asking them personal questions, since their prefrontal cortex is not fully formed, but I can sift out anything I don’t want them to know quickly and still keep the CI going).