Why teachers sometimes use Spanish to teach English?

My teacher answered that they sometimes speak Spanish because they wanna speed things up a little bit.
When students are exposed to a new language for first time, it it is really difficult to understand without knowing anything about that language.
From my point of view, it is completely true. However in Chile 10th or 12th graders have been exposed to English for many years and they continue using Spanish in the classes. It happens because most of the students do not like English due to the fact that they think that it is not useful. So teachers have make a great effort to motivate their students to learn English in an interesting way obviously.
Another reason is that some teachers have very low expectations about their students. They think that the students are going to fail because they are bad at science, maths, etc.

Gina's activity

Hi Gina! I found an amazing website in order you can learn Spanish. This page is special for you because it contains pictures and pronunciations of every word about basics topics. For example, The alphabet, numbers, colors, family, the weather, bathroom, etc. But it is not all, you can find the English translation for each word, so it would be very easy and funny for you to learn Spanish!

http://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/spanish_for_children

Run-Ons and Comma Splices

Here there are some examples of fixed run-ons

We have to teach a foreign language to our students through something really meaningful for them, for example when we have to teach past simple it would be very interesting if we do it trough a song that the students like.

Correction
We have to teach a foreign language to our students through something really meaningful for them. For example, when we have to teach past simple, it would be very interesting if we do it trough a song that the students like.

.............................................................................................................

But she has more resources to have access to Spanish such as television, radio, magazines,Internet and other Spanish speakers that we can find in the campus.

Correction
But she has more resources to have access to Spanish such as television, radio, magazines,Internet, and other Spanish speakers that we can find in the campus.

...........................................................................................................
Nowadays we have AIM in the United States ; and in the rest of the world, MSN

Correction
Nowadays we have AIM in the United States however in the rest of the world we have MSN

...........................................................................................................

It was an amazing adventure that I will never forget . We were very lucky because the weather was very nice . I could know many places of Seattle:for example the Space Needle .

Correction

It was an amazing adventure that I will never forget . We were very lucky because the weather was very nice . I could know many places of Seattle.For example, the Space Needle .

...........................................................................................................

Three Principles

Teaching through Content
We have to teach a foreign language to our students through something really meaningful for them, for example when we have to teach past simple it would be very interesting if we do it trough a song that the students like. As a result ,they would be very motivated an willing to learn.
Apart from that, we can teach English trough a subject, for example biology. The students will learn the language because they have to use it.
It would be useful if we make our classes about topics really interesting for them , for example talk about their experiences and needs.

Teaching trough Social Interaction
When we want every student to participate in the class, but we can not do it because we have 45 students! So ,the solution is creating activities for group works , especially small groups where every student has a specific role to play. The students will be very motivated when they work in a good environment , furthermore they will take risks. For this reason the students are allowed to receive feedback not only from the teacher, but also from the rest of the students.

High Expectations
We have to believe in our students' capacities because they need it in order to success.
But if we have students that really have problems in learning a new language and we try and try to help them and despite our effort they do not show any advance, What do we have to do? My answer is the following through a quote from the chapter: “The basic question is not how we can teach these students , but whether we really want to”.

Before I took this class I did not have idea that we could teach English in an effective way in Chile, because the classes have more than 40 students per class, so it is almost impossible that every student can learn to speak another language , but I learned that I can do it trough group work and through a topic very interesting for them.

Chapter 6: Learning take place in social interaction

2. What theories from second language acquisition can you use to persuade teachers that group work really DOES lead to better language learning and is not just a messy waste of time? Put together a very persuasive speech.

According to the text, some of the theories that support that work group lead to better language learning say that social interaction is critical for effective learning language learning.
The theory says that people develop a second language when they feel good about themselves and about their relationships with those around them, so we can say that group activities are ideal because it increases language practice opportunities, improves the quality of student talk, helps individualize instruction, promotes a positive affective climate, motivates learners.
Besides, if teachers use collaborative group work, individual students have more chances to try out the language they were learning. And when students work in small groups , they take risks and try out more advanced structures and vocabulary than when they have to speak for the whole class, grouping provide students with choice and makes assignments more meaningful.

Content Based Teaching

What is teaching language trough content?

It is teaching language trough something really meaningful for the students instead of teaching the target language trough grammar. For example teaching the target language trough a song, a story. They are more motivated when they are studying something really interesting for them.

The Activity

I am going to give my students the lyrics of a song called “I will survive”in order to teach them t past simple. Above the lyrics I will show some verbs of the song , but they are written in infinitive and , so when they are listening to the song they will have to change them to their correct tense . Here there is an example of the first paragraph of the song.

Be-walk-spend-learn-keep-be-do-grow

First I was afraid

I was petrified

Kept thinking I could never live

without you by my side

But I spent so many nights

thinking how you did me wrong

I grew strong

I learned how to carry on

and so you're back

from outer space

I just walked in to find you here

with that sad look upon your face

I should have changed my stupid lock

I should have made you leave your key

If I had known for just one second

you'd be back to bother me

Trough this song they can learn past tense of regular and irregular verbs and practice listening.