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I agree that the students need to be disciplined, parents
contacted, disciplinary procedures followed, and in sounds as
though admin is either unaware of the situation (unlikely,
given the series of subs etc) or "turning a blind eye". In
either case it shouldn't be happening.
As for language use, yes, they should be encouraged to speak
English as much as possible, but as beginners they should also
be allowed to use their native language some. This applies
whether the students speak Spanish or Arabic or another
language. In your post I can see some unfairness in the
situation: it sounds as though the teacher allows the Spanish-
speaking students to address her in Spanish, which she
understands (you said she is a former Spanish teacher and
said "she understood questions from Hispanic students and
answered the students in English", I'm assuming that you mean
students were asking questions in Spanish while she responded
in English) but does not allow the Arabic-speaking students to
speak Arabic among themselves. So, I can understand the
student's frustration (not that it justifies his use of the F
word, but I do think the situation was also unfair.) If Spanish-
speakers can speak Spanish in class, Arabic-speakers can speak
Arabic in class. This is not even getting into the language the
teacher speaks, but it's about the languages the students
speak. We can require students' work to be in English; we can
regulate the language teachers speak in the classroom in some
cases; but we shouldn't tell students that it is bad to use
their native language. Even without speaking the language it is
not difficult to see whether or not students are getting their
work done versus having a conversation that is taking them off-
task, regardless of the language. It does sound like this is
what the sub was trying to do when she told the student that he
could speak Arabic as long as he was working. In that, she's on
the right track, as long as she sets the same expectation for
Spanish-speakers.

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