The Effect of L1 Use in an L2 Classroom

-


“ We acquire language when we understand messages, when we understand what people tell us and when we understand what we read”, Stephen Krashen.

Starting from this quote, we can tell that if second language learners receive an input which they don’t understand, they won’t be able to acquire the language. That’s why knowing when and how to use L1 is a critical issue which needs to be considered in each and every teaching step the L2 teacher takes.

The teachers’ beliefs also play a radical role in this issue. It makes a huge difference whether the teacher believes that her students don’t have any base regarding learning L2 or if she thinks that she can build on what they already know in their native language. The second belief facilitates the learning process, saves a lot of the teachers’ energy and engages learners.

However, if teachers aren’t guided with principles about when to use L1 in the class, the benefits of using it turn into obstacles and stand in the way of learning English effectively.

Additionally, even if the teacher banned L1 use in her classroom, she/he can’t stop learners from

thinking in their native language. That’s why guiding this thinking and being aware of how to use

it effectively will get the teacher’s goals met and the students’ needs satisfied.



This illustration  pictures what goes in the students’ minds when they don’t understand what

the teacher says and which in one way or another blocks their thinking and demotivates them to

learn L2.

To sum up, L1 can help in L2 learning, give students a sense of comfort, facilitate the teachers’ job and encourage learners to learn the second language only when teachers are aware of when and how to use it. What a successful teacher can always do is being eclectic in choosing what best suits the learners’ development in their own learning. Regarding this issue, what best suits students is communicating through L2 and what will lead them to communicate fluently and accurately using the second language is building on L1 and not totally depending on it.
Reference: Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom book, written by: Tricia Hedge








Comments

  1. Jalal DahsounMarch 19, 2018 at 4:22 AM

    That is totally true, teachers should not think that they are doing wrong while using L1 in their classes as long as they are doing it in the right way and at the right time in order to fill the gap between the languages.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Vacation in Dubai

-
The title of my post might appear very far from education but even while having fun and resting, I learnt usefull things that I would like to share with every one. My journey to Dubai showed me the importance of using L2 in real life communication. In this country, people from diverse backgrounds live together so they use English language as a common global one. This makes it a necessity for everyone to learn the language in order to communicate with others. Using the language for such a purpose really helps people learn it easily and acquire a lot of new words. What we can take from this as teachers is that students need to be guided in order to set their purposes behind learning the language. By doing so, they'll be strongly motivated to exert the needed effort to reach their goals and this will make them feel that learning English is meaningful and useful to them. That's why teachers can create authentic situations for studnets to use the language at in order to make them se
Read more

Case Study on a Student with Emotional Probems

-
Image
I have done this case study on a student named Mohammad. He is thirteen years old; one year older than all the other students in his class because he failed in the previous year. He is a confident student who always gives comments on his friends and makes fun of them. One time, they had a dictation and the teacher distributed papers for them to write the dictation on. Everyone was writing while he was acting as if he’s moving his pen and when she asked them to submit their papers, everyone gave it to the teacher except him. He didn’t only leave the paper with him, but also ripped it in front of his classmates and he was proud of that. This incident grabbed my attention and made me think deeply of his case. Since then, I always kept an eye on Mohammad and observed his behavior in class and how the teacher reacted to it. In the sake of knowing more information about this student, I asked people surrounding him about his family so they told me that h is elder brother died two yea
Read more

Grade Six Textbook Evaluation

-
Image
A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning. Her ability to create an effective learning environment is an indicator of how successful she is but this isn’t easy because it requires the combination and integration of several skills and teaching methods all together. One main factor which strongly affects the learning process is the textbook which the administration selects for students. The book which I selected to evaluate is for grade six students. It’s from the Oxford Discover collection which I found very helpful and organized. It also includes different tools which allow the teacher to show and tell students using the poster pack and class audio CDs which come along with the book. Oxford Discover book  also taps into children’s natural curiosity, enables them to ask their own questions, find their own answers and explore the world around them. This is mainly done by having a big question in the beginning of each unit like in
Read more