Teaching maths and science in English

The question of what language to use for teaching and learning is one that faces parents, teachers and even governments across the world. Should I send my daughter to a Chinese school, or one where they teach in English? If I send my son to an English school, will he grow up not knowing his mother tongue properly? How do we provide the next generation with the English they will need for a career that involves contact with the outside world?

People have very strong feelings on matters involving the choice of language, and it is difficult to find a way of reconciling strongly held views which are diametrically opposed to each other. But it is perhaps possible to start with some basic principles which are almost self-evident, and which should not therefore create too much controversy.

The first principle is that people learn best in languages they know well. In most cases this means the mother tongue, but people can learn other languages well enough to benefit from them as languages of instruction. Many Asians, for example, know English well enough to benefit from being taught in English. The other side to this is that students are not going to gain much from classes in languages they do not know. If you attend lectures given in Welsh or Swahili, you are obviously unlikely to get much out of them unless you happen to know these languages.

This presents governments and education authorities with a dilemma. Opt for English, and you give an advantage to people who already have access to English. This could bring major disadvantages to people who are already less well off, particularly those in the countryside and away from the major centres of population. Opt for the mother tongue or a range of community languages, and many students are going to grow up without the skills they need in a world that requires English. Whatever decision is made, there are lots of people who will insist that it is the wrong one.

Fortunately, there is a way out. The argument is based on the false assumption that teachers only use one language in the classroom. Yes, it is true that early last century, teachers using the ‘direct method’ tried to teach foreign languages by using only the target language, and banning the use of the mother tongue. But most people who understand how students learn languages now think that was pretty crazy. In the twenty first century, the teacher is not alone, and can draw on learning technologies and other forms of support. There is no point in carrying on an irresolvable argument in which both sides are partly right. The challenge is to design a curriculum which brings the two sides together, and gives the next generation of students the best of both worlds.