Photo from Creative Commons user Ben Rollman.

This is part of a series of short posts framing adult English language learning experiences for volunteers at a local English class in my city.

Knowing that English is a global language also might change what counts as good English. For one thing, many of the people who speak English are bilingual or multilingual and they often mix English with the other languages they speak. You may feel concerned if you hear someone mixing their first language with English – but don’t worry this is not a bad thing! Language mixing is actually very common and very useful, not only for language learners, but also for people who are fluent in both languages. There can be many reasons to mix two languages such as: conveying a particular idea that is better expressed in one of the languages, making a story more interesting or funny, or creating distance or closeness between yourself and your listener. And research is showing that allowing for students to mix their languages in the classroom can actually lead to greater confidence and participation on the part of the students.

To read more – check out this article by Creese & Blackledge from 2010: http://bit.ly/2zUUYLF