Wolfgang Butzkamm

Maxim 4. MT aids can promote more authentic, message-oriented communication than might be found in lessons where they are avoided.

Quick translations in the MT often help without interrupting the flow of a conversation or even being noticed. As is evidenced in many lesson transcripts I have collected, pupils are more likely to respond spontaneously and to take risks, voicing their personal opinions, and relating more about their private lives; at the same time, teachers can establish friendly relations with pupils and better explore both current and unexpected themes – simply because short aids or prompts in the mother tongue can help keep a foreign-language conversation going and open a space for learners. This kind of spontaneity and personal involvement fulfils the fundamental requirement of the modern communicative approach. The non-use of the MT, however, seriously constrains what can be said and read. MT aids will save pupils from a feeling of frustration which will eventually lead them to avoid all topics of personal interest.

The simple truth is that the call for “real” communication and the ban on the MT are conflicting demands. Apart from activity instructions, which in themselves can be quite complex, there are innumerable occasions in the life of a class for personal remarks to a pupil, for light banter creating warmth and acceptance. There are also many unforeseen incidents that ought to be dealt with immediately. The language required to solve these problems is often far beyond the language taught currently in the coursebook. Teachers have three options: (1) use the MT; (2) ignore the whole business, suppressing remarks or comments they would normally make; (3) simplify as best they can and use the sandwich-technique. All these options have a place in the FL classroom. It is only the third option, however, that can breathe communicative life into a classroom and, at the same time, help sustain a FL atmosphere throughout.

A German teaching assistant in an English school was at first surprised to find that all her pupils’ parents held one of three jobs until she realised the teacher wanted the pupils to concentrate on well-memorized words and did not encourage pupils to venture beyond the textbook. The error is widespread and is reported again and again by my students:

When we had to write something about ourselves and someone asked for a particular word, she always said we should use the vocabulary we knew. After a while we just invented something because we knew that she was not at all interested in what we wrote but just in grammatical correctness. In my opinion, it was a pity because especially young pupils need to feel that the teacher is not only interested in their learning capacity but also in their personality and their interests. (Stephanie H.)

Language learning is certainly not an exercise in fearful error avoidance. Ultimately it is in message-oriented activities that communicative competence can flourish. A trainee teacher reports:

Now the teaching became more message-oriented. The pupils had to tell their neighbours what they had done during the week. Together with the teacher, I walked from student to student and helped them if they needed a word. The new words were written on the board, and repeated by the whole group afterwards. Both students and teachers enjoyed this very much and I received the honorary title of "walking dictionary". (Ursula N.)

The following cartoon neatly captures what my students have often observed, namely that teachers tend to give praise in the FL, but criticise pupils in the MT.

(Insert cartoon by Wilhelm Nüchter)

“It was a shame that she spoke German when she got really angry because we would have loved to learn to swear in French” (Sandra W.).

Many situations and issues that crop up are simply left unexploited, because MT short-cuts to meanings are frowned upon. But when used properly, short MT insertions can function as a “conversational lubricant” (Butzkamm 1998) and communication is no longer paid mere lip-service.