Spanish Teachers' Opinions About the Use of Spanish in Mainstream English Classrooms Before and After Their First Year in California

Abstract

Five Spanish teachers working in California elementary schools participated in this project. Although they were assigned to teach in mainstream English programs, they noticed that some of the Latino students in their classrooms were officially classified as English language learners (ELLs) and, as such, had difficulties understanding their explanations. This realization led the teachers to provide these students with additional explanations in Spanish to bridge the existing language gap. The purpose of this study was twofold: to examine the teachers' opinions about the role of Spanish in the English acquisition process of their ELLs and to analyze and compare their support for several theoretical and practical principles of native-language instruction before and after their first year teaching in California schools. In their responses, the teachers showed support for the tenets of bilingual education and concurred that their use of Spanish helped improve the academic progress, English acquisition, and behavior of their ELLs.