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I am assisting a statistics course in a university, and my main job in the course is conducting problem solving sessions. The course is taught in English, and students interact with me in English. However, there is one particular student who keeps using their native language. Whenever he does that, I reply in English, hoping that he would start using English. But he doesn't.

I am sure that everybody does understand what he says because all the students are from the same part of the country. But I find it quite awkward. On the other hand, I feel that if I request him to use English, he might take it offensively, or he might not be able to express what he wants to say clearly. Should I simply ignore this particular case and move on? Or should I tell him somehow? If yes, what is the best way to convey this?

cag51
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Peaceful
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13 Answers13

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If you want a non-confrontation approach, simply repeat the question in English before answering it.

Hearing the translation may help the student in question see how to phrase their questions in English. It also give a polite hint that the question should have been asked in English.

Patricia Shanahan
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    Unfortunately this sort of implicit approach assumes that, somehow, the student will just "get it". I don't see any mechanism for that. If you want a change in behavior, be explicit. But you can do so in private rather than in public and avoid the confrontational aspects. Repeating the question may have other benefits, of course, to assure the student that you really understand it. But this isn't a solution to the stated problem. – Buffy Oct 24 '18 at 18:57
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    This answer can be seen as a solution to the stated problem. One way to deal with the problem is to say that the reason why this is a problem is that other students might not understand since the course is taught in english, and repeating the posed question in english helps with that. (tbh, I don't fully understand why this is a problem, since OP assumes everybody understands this person) @Buffy – lucidbrot Oct 24 '18 at 19:13
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    @Buffy I agree with you. I hate trying to guess other people's "hints". It's extremely subjective what an "hint" is or what's the meaning behind the hint. If you need to tell me something just say so, or I'll keep going down my road no batter how hard you get at hinting. At some point I'll just continue for pettiness, because I find disrespectful that adults are unable to talk to other people and have to resolve to "hinting" for long periods of time when just talking once could have solved the issue. – Bakuriu Oct 24 '18 at 19:16
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    I would suggest repeating what the student said in English, and then wait for the student to repeat your English translation. (If he doesn't do that at first, prompt him to do so: "Now you.") This way he can learn by doing, he will be expressing in English the thing he had been trying to say, and that should build familiarity, confidence and habit. – joeytwiddle Oct 25 '18 at 08:04
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    you got to sit him down and talk to him. People don't take hints. – user32882 Oct 25 '18 at 10:32
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    Even if the OP is fluent in both English and the local native language, it may not be effortless to translate the question on the fly like that, particularly when a specialised vocabulary is involved. However, if the OP is comfortable with the role of interpreter, this is a good suggestion. – mhwombat Oct 25 '18 at 11:12
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    @Buffy Of course he may not get it. But this does not need to be the point of the reaction. Maybe you're totally fine with it, as long as you help the other students to understand the question you're going to answer. The OP needs to solve the problem, which does not necessarily involve teaching the student to ask questions using english. Some solutions may be to enforce english as language, others are just avoiding the problem for the other listeners, without a lesson for the person not using english to ask question. – allo Oct 26 '18 at 11:45
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    +1 The point is not that the student learns from the translation, but that other students (who maybe speak only English) have lost no information. The student still needs to be talked to, in case they try this with a teacher who is not so linguistically proficient. – DJClayworth Oct 28 '18 at 02:39
  • This is a standard procedure at the conferences and should translate to the classroom well, indeed. – Lodinn Dec 08 '21 at 03:07
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My suggestion is that you either let it go, if everyone understands what the student has said, or that you explore the situation with the student during office hours. Perhaps it is just easier for this student to say subtle things as needed in his/her native language than in English. It is fine if you make an explicit request, but be prepared to yield if the student has good reasons.

It is fine that you continue to reply in English, but it wouldn't be fine if you somehow embarrass the student about language use.

Be thankful, actually, that the student is willing to participate and ask questions no matter the language. Too many students leave questions unasked when other students have the same questions but also don't ask them. That makes education less efficient.

If this is the US, by the way, we are a multilingual country already, in spite of what some "nativists" want you to believe and want to impose on you and me.

Of course the answer would be different if this were a language course, rather than statistics.

IconDaemon
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Buffy
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    I don't think the country is relevant if "the course is taught in English". IMO, all interactions in a given course should be conducted in that course's language -- in this case, English -- because while this specific case all the students (are ashamed to admit they don't) know the native language, it's entirely possible that in another English course, people who don't know the native language could be enrolled. –  Oct 25 '18 at 18:07
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    @NicHartley I beg to differ. One thing is to impose the native language of a country even though many people in the class are foreigns, another totally different thing is to impose a foreign language in course taught to native tax payers that are being taught in their native homeland. When that is done in a foreign language course that is just fine (because it will improve learning that foreign language). Maybe the OP question should be: How to deal with people that don't accept pointless and random impositions? Human nature explains the later quite well. – Mandrill Oct 26 '18 at 17:34
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    @Mandrill Your conspiracy theories are amusing but irrelevant. Does anything in the question say (a) the official language of the country isn't English? (b) that this course is only offered in English, as opposed to this section being in English? (c) that it's an issue for any of the students, including the one insisting on using their native language? (d) that there's absolutely no demand whatsoever for a course in English? (e) that "tax payers" are paying in any way for the education? No? i didn't think so. –  Oct 26 '18 at 20:15
  • @NicHartley Apparently the course takes place in India. All (almost) students are Indians, the teacher is Indian but for some reason (well the reason is that someone in charge said so) they are not allowed to talk in Hindi. – Mandrill Oct 26 '18 at 21:21
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    I've participated in university level classes taught in English in a non English speaking country. This had a purpose: to help people get fluent in the English terms used in this particular field of study. – zundi Oct 26 '18 at 21:40
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    @Mandrill You still have b-e to answer for, and as noted by zundi, (f) is the field of study primarily in English, and is it therefore beneficial for the course to happen in that language, so people don't try to go into it and find themselves hitting a wall of extra-incomprehensible jargon? –  Oct 26 '18 at 21:51
  • @Mandrill How do you know that the University is in India? – Peaceful Oct 27 '18 at 03:56
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    @NicHartley, sorry but I don't agree. I think that you have, maybe, a too USA-centric view. Different countries have different realities and the question of the OP may have some country-specific twists. I leave in a multi-language speaking part of Italy, where linguistic issues have strongly shaped the history of this province (there where separatists issues and even bombings some ~60years ago). We have a local university where classes are thought in three different languages (German, Italian and English). ... – LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike Oct 27 '18 at 09:08
  • @NicHartley ... Although officially you should stick to the language of the course, I suspect that forcing the issue could backfire. There are local laws that give you the right to speak your native language (German/Italian) when talking with any branch of the local government or administration. The local Uni circumvent this by being legally a private institution, but actually it is 50% funded by the local government with public money. So, officially, the uni is not part of the local government. ... – LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike Oct 27 '18 at 09:08
  • @NicHartley ... Anyway, I suspect that someone with enough money, time and will could take a case to the high courts (IANAL) if the language of the courses would be the primary motive he fails to get a degree. All this to say that the right answer to the OP's question maybe require the knowledge of local laws and policies and might not be so straightforward. – LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike Oct 27 '18 at 09:09
  • @LorenzoDonati If there's a law mandating that people be allowed to speak any language they want, that's separate from a moral or ethical argument about if an English-language course should require English. If there are laws prohibiting it, of course you should follow the law (and maybe talk to your representative in government to get it changed, depending on your opinion). The cultural issues are more relevant to this discussion IMO, and I don't know enough about the culture in northern Italy to comment on those specific issues. You're probably right there. –  Nov 02 '18 at 18:20
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    @NicHartley I agree with you on the "moral" point that the course, if meant to be taught in English, all the communication should be kept in English. My long comment was just meant as an example of how other issues could influence the situation. I agree that cultural issues are more relevant, but culture is, by its very nature, dependent on the country you live in. I just wanted to stress the fact that, without knowing the country where the OP teaches, we are not in a position to give clear-cut answers. – LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike Nov 02 '18 at 22:29
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I am assuming that learning how to discuss statistics in English is not specifically part of the course syllabus. If it is, you should simply tell the student to speak English.

If the students' questions are otherwise good, assume the best - that the student simply does not feel confident asking in English.

I have had similar situations in courses before. My approach has been to tell the students that I prefer that they ask questions in the language the course is given, but if they cannot, just ask in another language I can understand, and I will translate the question and answer in English.

nabla
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Most likely the student is patiently waiting for you to realize that there's no reason to speak in a language that's foreign to everybody in the room if they all share a native language.

Possibly he's worried about the native language suffering "domain loss" where eventually nobody uses it to talk about technical things because everybody has been socialized to use English for that, and he is deliberately trying to counter that tendency. He may actually be spending extra mental effort translating his question from the textbook's English vocabulary into the vernacular, in support of that worthy cause.

So the course description says the course is taught in English -- but you need to ask yourself what is the purpose of that? Back in my university days there were plenty of courses that were announced as being taught in English; this was a way to say it is okay for international students to sign up for this course. If any international students did show up, we'd stick to English for their sake, of course. But if they didn't and the lecturer happened to be native too, everyone would naturally switch back to our own language. Why wouldn't we?

hmakholm left over Monica
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    One possible reason for teaching in English is to improve the student's language skills by theaching them the appropiate words, phrases, etc. – aqua Oct 25 '18 at 13:45
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    @aqua: If the course was announced in English, then it's presumably using a textbook in English too, which will provide all the words. Where will students learn the appropriate words and phrases in their own language if they are shamed into thinking it is some kind of second-class gibberish cannot be used for technical communication between all native speakers? – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 25 '18 at 13:47
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    Not necessarily, for many of our courses, we did not have textbook only the presentation slides and our notes. In our country, second language (mainly English) teaching is often very poor, thus courses in English definitely improve the student's language skills and their further chances for (academic) career, applying to degrees in foreign countries, etc. – aqua Oct 25 '18 at 14:06
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    @aqua: If English is not widely (well) spoken in your country, then I'd say that's all the more reason to encourage university students to get experience in speaking about technical matters in a language their neighbors (future clients, customers, etc) will understand. – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 25 '18 at 14:21
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    For better or worse, English is often the de facto communication language for many industries and accademia internationally. This is likely a significant reason that the class is taught in English, so that the graduates are well equipped for the real world. Allowing the students to use their native language is good for heritage and local communication reasons but not for vocational training. – Daniel Oct 25 '18 at 16:34
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    I don't think this is something an individual student should try to change, no matter how justified or unjustified. – David Thornley Oct 25 '18 at 20:44
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    @DavidThornley: The only way such things can change is by individuals making an effort to keep their own language challenged, relevant and expressive. Why shouldn't they? – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 25 '18 at 20:51
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    @HenningMakholm One individual insisting on speaking in their native tongue accomplishes nothing. A group of people who do some active politicking have a much better chance. As to why they shouldn't, I don't know. There are reasons why the class is taught in English. I don't know what they are, and whether they're good reasons or not. – David Thornley Oct 26 '18 at 00:02
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    @HenningMakholm the problem is English is often not taught well in high schools and below, however, the companies and academia requires the knowledge. Moreover, they require it to speak well which can be only improved by actually speaking and using a language actively, not passively learning it from a coursebook. – aqua Oct 26 '18 at 08:37
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    Downvoted because your answer doesn't attempt to solve the problem described in the question, but instead advocates against the use of English as a foreign language in university classes, which is not the point here. – Schmuddi Oct 26 '18 at 08:59
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    @Schmuddi: This answer is arguing that there is no problem to solve other than the OP's desire to enforce a pointless and harmful rule for the rule's own sake, – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 26 '18 at 09:04
  • @Schmuddi: And I'm not arguing against the use of English where that has a point. – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 26 '18 at 09:05
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    You're assuming way too much. – Schmuddi Oct 26 '18 at 09:06
  • @aqua: None of all that is an argument for demanding that students must be kept unable to explain technical matters in their own language to their neighbors, clients, and employers after they graduate. – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 26 '18 at 09:09
  • There is copious opportunity for using English about the technical subject already. Typically the textbooks will be in English, as will all kinds of secondary sources one kinds on the internet, not to mention the whole scientific literature! Opportunities to use the vernacular about technical matters are what are in short supply -- especially if the country's own universities are discouraging it -- and this student should be praised for not taking the easy, lazy way out (which it would be to accept to learn the subject matter in one language only, like the OP is demanding). – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 26 '18 at 09:09
  • @HenningMakholm The technical language would be covered by other courses not taught in English, as usually there are overlaps between subjects. However, English courses provide the opportunity for students to improve the written and oral technical language in English, that would be required by their employers, or while doing their thesises, in academia, etc. – aqua Oct 26 '18 at 09:40
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    The most likely situation is not that the other language will be rendered incapable of discussing technical matters, but simply that certain words borrowed from English will be incorporated into the language as technical terms. I suppose this might be a concern if one thinks that, in English, "wrap" is better than "burrito," or "bean curd" should be preferred to "tofu," or "theory of equations" to "algebra." – Obie 2.0 Oct 27 '18 at 05:44
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    I'm not a fan of the concept of domain loss in general. Beyond its pleasant roots in the work of Nazi eugenicist scientist Schmidt-Rohr, the domain loss research, such as it is, is full of quixotic and nationalistic statements like this (ironically written in English): "the preservation of each language, especially its Standard variety, is essential for social and cultural continuity of a society." – Obie 2.0 Oct 27 '18 at 05:53
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    @HenningMakholm: "There is copious opportunity for using English about the technical subject already. Typically the textbooks will be in English, as will all kinds of secondary sources one kinds on the internet, not to mention the whole scientific literature!" - all of these examples are good for training passive knowledge only. Active language skills, in particular in speaking, often cannot be trained as much, so classes where English is the language of conversation are one of the rare opportunities where expressing oneself in English can be practiced. – O. R. Mapper Oct 27 '18 at 07:48
  • @Obie2.0: In general, I agree with your assessment about loanwords. Nonetheless, I think your examples are not representative in that English does tend to anglicize loanwords in pronunciation. in languages that do not do this, subject-specific loanwords can stand out a lot more, as they may contain spelling and sounds that do not exist in that form in the native language. To someone who does not know the loanwords, the resulting sentences may well sound like a hodgepodge of a lot of English and a couple of non-English native basic terms (prepositions, conjunctions, etc.), which, arguably, ... – O. R. Mapper Oct 27 '18 at 19:54
  • ... could be classified as the native language being "incapable of discussing technical matters". – O. R. Mapper Oct 27 '18 at 19:55
  • @HenningMakholm textbooks may be in English but surely if they are well-known enough, they are in other languages too. How do you know the student insisting on avoiding English is reading the textbook in English? – Chan-Ho Suh Oct 28 '18 at 19:39
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    @Chan-HoSuh: My experience is that very few textbooks at the university level get translated -- doing so is not generally cost effective. And I don't think the student is "avoiding English", since he is participating in course activities where everyone else speaks English. He is merely insisting that his own language is also good enough to speak about the course subject in. – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 28 '18 at 20:14
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I used to be a student in a very similar situation. As I remember, the professor simply interrupted the question with the phrase: "In English please".

Maybe the student does not have enough confidence to speak in English, otherwise, ignoring such a request seem to be highly disrespectful behavior and you should not worry about being assertive with him.

SnOwl
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It sounds like you are not sure why student is not following a language rule, and you ask our opinion. We do not know, too. You can invite student to attend your office and discuss it with them. The purpose of discussion is not to understand student's reasons and let it slide. The purpose is to understand student's reason and work out a strategy to resolve them. If student has poor language ability, you can work out a recommendation to take a crash course in English. If student finds the requirement discriminatory and refuses to follow it, you can suggest them to file a formal complaint and intermit their studies until the complaint is answered. Or perhaps there is no valid reason for this behavior — in which case it has to stop.

tl;dr: talk to the student.

Dmitry Savostyanov
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"I'm sorry, but this course is taught in English. Please, ask your question in English."

That's it. If the student struggles with question, eg can't find correct words, help them. But it's their job to ask in English. You should help them do their job, but you can't do their job.

The purpose of teaching something in a foreign language is to improve student's language just as much as understanding of the subject. Or, more precisely: to improve area of language particular to the subject. Otherwise, it would have been taught in local language. Using foreign language sacrifices some understanding in order to teach the language. Accepting non-English question defeats this purpose. Your course is just as much about statistic as it is about English.

Disclaimer: all of the above is written with assumption that learning English is an important part of your course, as it is where I live (Poland). There are 2 other options: that the course was meant for international students, but none had shown up and finally that the whole English thing is just an advertising move to make your uni appear "international-ish". Based on your concerns, I assumed that (in your opinion) the English is actually important part of the course. If you have any doubts about the rationale of using English when all participants share a common mother tongue, you should ask your superiors about it.

Agent_L
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    To me the purpose of teaching something in English when that is not the local language is to make the course accessible to students from abroad who might wish to take it (or because the lecturer does not speak the local language). If no such students actually follow the course, that purpose has evaporated. – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 25 '18 at 13:03
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    @HenningMakholm In my university, and others around, the purpose of courses in English is actually to improve students' technical English. – fa__ Oct 25 '18 at 13:11
  • @fa__: Is your university in a place where English is not taught in school before university level? If so, all the more reason to encourage students to practice speaking about technical matters in a language their neighbors will understand! – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 25 '18 at 13:46
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    @HenningMakholm If there are people not speaking local language, then using it during the course is even bigger problem, further validating my solution. However, OP stated that everyone speaks local language, hence my conclusion that it's in fact an English lesson piggybacked on statistics course. Another option I haven't mentioned would be a vanity course, just to give the uni an "international" vibe. But if that was the case I doubt OP would have issues with breaking the rules. BTW, OP's uni obviously has different opinion than you. – Agent_L Oct 25 '18 at 13:46
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    @Agent_L: Indeed the OP stated that everyone speaks local language. Hence my conclusion is that it so happened that nobody in the room needs the accommodation of speaking in English, so there is not any reason to keep it up. The OP sound like they're more focusing on following (what they perceive as) the rules for the rules' sake, than on actually communicating and teaching the subject of their course. – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 25 '18 at 13:51
  • @HenningMakholm Ok, I'll add a paragraph to clear it up with their faculty – Agent_L Oct 25 '18 at 13:52
  • BTW I don't think it is obvious at all that the OP's university would have any other reason for announcing the course in English than a wish to accommodate non-speakers of the local language. – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 25 '18 at 13:52
  • @HenningMakholm Announcing? Yes. Actually conducting when nobody showed up? No. But answer me this: why would any local student chose an English-taught course over mother tongue one if not for stepping up their professional English game? – Agent_L Oct 25 '18 at 14:05
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    @Agent_L: Because the course that teaches what they want to learn happens to be announced as being English-taught? In my experience it would be unusual to offer the same course in two different languages simply because there may be some foreign students who want to take it. But plenty of courses are announced as being English-taught for this reason. – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 25 '18 at 14:14
  • @HenningMakholm Statistics doesn't sound like something so exotic that only one course is offered. – Agent_L Oct 25 '18 at 14:22
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    @Agent_L, I dunno. At the university I went to we had pretty big lecture halls, so there was generally no need to offer the same course twice in the same year. It appears that the OP is a teaching assistant for auxiliary sessions with a smaller group of students than the entire course. In that case it makes perfect sense to give the plenary lectures in English if there are some foreign students in the room (or perhaps the main lecturer is foreign!), but use the vernacular for exercise sessions in groups that don't have any of those foreign students. – hmakholm left over Monica Oct 25 '18 at 14:27
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    @HenningMakholm English is taught before university but, generally, the level of the students is pretty low. Therefore, it is indeed interesting for students to learn how to discuss about technical matters in English. Courses in English aim at teaching the subject + improving students technical English. As this is a common setup around here, when I read the question I assumed, as this answer did, that this was the OP's case. However, I do not know if it is case and I do understand that it may not be obvious for everybody. – fa__ Oct 25 '18 at 15:48
  • Why is you statistics skills dependant on the english you speak? How many university classes in europe is done in english and how much poorer is the stats work for not being in english? – Neil Meyer Oct 25 '18 at 18:07
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    @NeilMeyer Your knowledge of statistics do not depend on your English skills but your ability to discuss statistics internationally and engage on technical collaborations do depend on them. Courses in English are not better statistics courses but courses with two objectives: teach statistics + technical English related to them. – fa__ Oct 26 '18 at 11:32
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I am sure that everybody does understand what he says because all the students are from the same part of the country.

I will be blunt: what is your problem then? It's a statistics course, not an English course. Unless you are following some dogma that your local language is, for some reason, not good enough for statistics or whatever, then I don't understand the problem. The student asks a question that everyone present in the class understands, and you answer in a way that everyone understands.

user94036
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My professor who spoke French was very clear: ask in French, if you asked in English then she did not hear. If you asked in French about how x compared to y then both languages were acceptable.

Captain Man
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Solar Mike
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  • Very early in my first college French class (more accurately, my first attempt at it), this being a class for those who had French in high school but did not place out of the university wide "high school language proficiency test", one of the first phrases I learned was "je ne sais pas". – Dave L Renfro Oct 24 '18 at 16:59
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    My French improved dramatically when I did my D.U.T Diplome Universitaire Technique... had no choice :) – Solar Mike Oct 24 '18 at 17:01
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    One could argue that there's a difference between a course whose purpose is to teach a foreign language and a course whose purposes is to teach something else (e.g. statistics), but which happens to be conducted in a foreign language. – R.M. Oct 24 '18 at 19:50
  • @R.M. All my DUT courses were not language, as they were engineering... So definitely in a foreign language : production control, thermofluids, stress and structures etc etc – Solar Mike Oct 24 '18 at 20:08
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    @SolarMike You might want to edit your answer to clarify. "My french professor" can be interpreted as "professor of my french class". (Additional information about where and under what conditions this happened might help.) -- Also, in that light I'm not sure I understand your second sentence. Acceptable for what? For asking, for answering, for further responses, for quoting English terms in an otherwise French sentence, ...? – R.M. Oct 24 '18 at 20:17
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    Both my french professors did the same for language: the English one teaching French and the French one teaching French... All the other profs in France stuck to French and technical French is a whole new ball game... Had a boss who insisted she, as bi-lingual, could translate anything... She found out she couldn’t translate a technical passage on hydraulic pumps... – Solar Mike Oct 25 '18 at 04:30
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    @SolarMike: I mis-downvoted you because of what R.M. said. Please rephrase your answer... – einpoklum Oct 25 '18 at 06:51
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Is English the language they will be using in the workplace/research/whatever context they will be using statistics in? Are the books in English? The rest of my response is under the assumption that both questions are a "yes".

Teaching in a foreign language is doing a disservice to the majority of the class who already agreed to speak English, possibly for reasons like the ones listed above. While cross language use should be used to clarify definitions or bypass language barriers (that's part of your value as a bilingual teacher), allowing a student to unnecessarily assert the use of a different language is putting that student's social/political agenda above the needs of the rest of the class.

My opinion is rooted in experience with an English-Spanish medical student who was often looking up and asking me about the English names of various medical terms because some of his classes were taught in Spanish, but the medical profession he was pursuing would be English speaking because that's what language the research was in, that's the language where the money was, that's the language the important social connections used. Mixed terminology doubles the workload because they are often definitions for words that didn't exist in either language of the students vocabulary from the start.

It's also rooted in experience with native Alaskans, most of which were under intense cultural pressure to learn and know the native language, but due to the lack of practical applications for it, many of the youngest generation were faking it or just learning the minimum amount to avoid scrutiny. Even if it is widely understood in that region, and they appear to be of the correct ethnicity (if applicable), or are related to native language speakers, that doesn't mean they were raised in the region, that doesn't mean that they are fluent.

At the very least all questions should be translated into English to prevent students from requiring both language's terminology to understand the context of the answers you're giving.

gunfulker
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You may ask to the student that helps you to translate the question to English language. I think that's a kind way for help people to start talking in another language.

After a few days he will start to ask in English and your request, won't be necessary.

Nacho Soto
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It wasn't clear from the question whether the use of english was a requirement of the class. If so, then it may well be a requirement of your job as well. And if so, then you need to enforce the requirements if you wish to keep the job. Check with your professor about if (and if so precisely how) you should go about doing that, then you are safe from any fallout if the student gets embarrassed or whatever.

Now as for why you shouldn't simply let students flout rules, there are additional downsides the other answers might have missed:

It can be difficult to accurately translate the nuances of a problem or concept back and forth, causing students to be mistaken on some points on the homework/exam. You will likely make real mistakes in translation too. And they will point the finger of blame at you when they complain about their grade to the prof.

It can just generally be quite a bit harder to use two languages at the same time versus just sticking one, even if it's not your first. It takes effort and a little time to change your thinking back and forth. Some students may not be able to keep up, and will miss things as they reorient to the language switches, thinking you said "A=B", when in fact you had said "given C, A=B". Again, blame will be on you when they write this wrong answer on the exam.

Overall, as the tests are certainly in English, students who have not been practicing doing the problems and understanding the concepts completely in english will have a disadvantage. Unless you are there with them for the tests to help them translate every question to be sure they get its point, they will likely miss every question that has a nuance or "trick" to it, and requires careful reading. (not to mention putting downright scary-looking responses on essay questions).

A Simple Algorithm
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If it is a course given in English:

All questions should first be posed in English ..

How you handle this depends on some factors regarding this Student:

1: Why does this one student not pose questions in English ?

  • A: If the student is unable to have a discourse in English then the student should not be enrolled in the course, if another person was in charge of enrolling the student - the student can't help that - so try to accommodate them.

  • B: If the student is merely asking because of a social issue - every one speaks Chinese here but I need to speak English - (it is silly to them therefore they refuse to speak English) - That is an attitude problem. In this case ignore the question and move on.

From experience :

I had worked for an International company and in certain locations around the world the courses were taught in English - even though the native language (of Instructor and other students) was not English. For the benefit of those who do not know the native language ALL questions should be asked and answered in the Course Language. This is not only courteous, but holds true to the course description and guidelines.

If the student is unable to express their question in English, the instructor should request the student to ask the question in the native language and then interpret the question back into English for the rest of the class , If need be answer the asking student in the native tongue and then also provide the answer to all students in English.

In one class the course description was English, the English speaking students were outnumbered 8 to 2, so the instructor decided to teach in the native tongue and have other students translate .. This SHOULD never be done. The course guideline stated English - the English speakers did not signup for the course to have it translated to them. This is akin to having a statistics class as the guideline but ending up taking a calculus course instead. The English speaking students were offended, because the guideline said English - if it had said Chinese they would not have enrolled in that offering.

Ken
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