The Advantages of Using L1 in L2 Classroom

The Advantages of Using L1 in L2 Classroom

Audiolingual method, the communicative approach, or task-based learning have advocated L2 only method. One reason of using this method is that the exposure to L2 outside the classroom is rather scarce. As Cook says that “the use of L1 is perceived to hinder the learning of L2 “ (as quoted in Zacharias 2000). On the contrary, many ELT professionals have suggested reexamining the English only approach in the L2 classroom. Prodromou reminds us that there is much potential for using L1 in language learning contexts rather than abusing it (as quoted in Juarez and Oxbrow 2008). Therefore, when not used excessively, L1 is beneficial in L2 classroom.

First of all, the use of L1 enhances relaxed classroom atmosphere. Both teacher and students are given the opportunity to use L1 in certain situations. In such a less threatening classroom, students’ anxiety can be minimized. Rivera finds that allowing students to use L1 makes them feel less intimidated (Auerbach 1993). In addition, students feel freer to express their ideas. Whenever they do not know a particular lexical item in L2, they can switch to the one in L1, for example “How do you say menerkam in English ?” Bolitho sees this phenomenon as a valuable humanistic element in the classroom (Atkinson 1987). When this happens, learning takes place.

In addition, L1 is useful in managing the class. Explaining grammar concept through L1 saves time. Piasecka states that for novice students, grammar explanation in L2 is useless because their language repertoire is limited (as quoted in Auerbach 1993). Atkinson advises teachers to use L1 “when a correlate structure does not exist in L1 such as a verb tense” (as quoted in Harbord 1992). Checking students’ comprehension and correcting errors can be conducted in L1, too. This strategy is believed to be very helpful to avoid misunderstanding (Harbord 1992). Giving instruction in L1 helps teachers keep the class moving at early levels. Harbord (1992) asserts that teacher can use L1 to simplify a complex activity. Moreover, a research done by Lameta-Tufuga reveals that students can fully understand the content of the written task through L1 (as quoted in Nation 2003). Eventually, these procedures help teachers to achieve the objective of the lesson.

Most important, permitting students to use L accelerates students’ L2 acquisition process. Students learn new vocabulary faster through L1. Laufer and Shmueli claim “studies comparing the effectiveness of various methods for learning always come up with the result that an L1 translation is the most effective” (as quoted in Nation 2001). If students are aware of similarities and differences between L1 and L2, they can avoid errors which could be derived from the transfer of their L1. Ferrer (2005) takes the view that the use of L1 enable students to “notice the gap between their inner grammars and the target language and ultimately, through constant hyphotesis testing, achieve higher levels of grammatical as well as communicative competence”. This awareness contributes to L2 acquisition process.

Even though many language teachers oppose the issue of L1 use in L2 classroom, literature provide evidence that L1 use in L2 classroom is advantageous if not overused. Due to friendly classroom atmosphere, students feel more comfortable so they are motivated to learn. The use of L1 makes it possible for teacher to manage the class more effectively. Through L1, students experience faster L2 acquisition process.


References
Atkinson, D. 1987. “The mother tongue in the classroom: A neglected resource”. ELT
Journal, 41(4): 241-247.
Auerbach, Elsa Roberts. 1993. “Reexamining English only in the ESL classroom”. TESOL
Qarterly, 27(1): 9-31.
Ferrer, V. (2005). “ The use of the mother tongue in the classroom: Cross-linguistic
comparisons, noticing and explicit knowledge”.
(Online: http://www.teachenglish worldwide.com/Articles.htm.).
Harbord, J.1999. “The use mother tongue in the classroom”. ELT Journal, 46(4):
402-423
Juarez, Carolina Rodriquez and Gina Oxbrow. 2008. “L1 in the EFL classroom: More a
help than a hindrance ?” Porta Linguarum, 9(1): 99-109.
Nation, Paul. 2003. “The role of the first language in foreign language learning”.
Asian EFL Journal, 5(2).
(Online: http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/june 2003 Rn.html )
Zacharias, Nugrahenny T. 2000. “Teacher’s belief about the use of the students’
mother tongue: A survey of tertiary English teachers in Indonesia”. English
Australia Journal,22:44-52.

Language Testing

Preparing a test is one of teacher's obligation to evaluate the teaching learning process. To be able to construct a good test, teacher should know the principles of designing a good test. A test must be valid, reliable, and practical.

Validity
Test is valid when it tests what is supposed to test. Therefore it is not valid, for example, to test students' speaking ability on delivering a persuasive speech whereas the teacher never taught them how to prepare a persuasive speech before. The test should look also valid on the 'face' . It means the test should contain information about the level of student, the day/date of test, the name of the subject. In addition, test should be readable.

Reliability
A good test should give consistent result. For example, if the same group of students took the same test twice within two days - without reflecting on the first test before they sat it again - they should get the same results on each occasion. Thus, the test instructions should be clear, the scope for variety in the answers should be restricted, and the test conditions should remain constant.

Practicality
A good test should be practical. It should be easy to administer in terms of time, finance and scoring. For example, the number of the pages should be reasonable. It will be impractical for both teacher and students when the test consists of 10 pages.

A a language teacher, I have written a lot of tests. Yet, I still find it extremely difficult to design a test which fulfills the above criteria. When I think I can not rely on the result of the test, I usually observe my students' achievement from their daily assessments. By doing this I can assure myself that they have understood what I have thought them.







Practical

Designing a syllabus

Last month, I recieved an email from my old student. She used to be my student in a secretarial academy. Now she is working in a company which supplies toiletries to several hotels and aviation industries. She was asking me to teach a group of employees in her office. She said that her boss asked her to find a teacher who has been experienced in teaching business English. And the choice went to me. I was elated. It's been several years since I taught a business English class. This will be a great opportunity to me to develop a syllabus.

My first encounter with business English class was in 1999 after I attended a workshop on designing a business English class held by The British Council. Since then, I feel more confident when I have to teach and design a syllabus for a business English class.

These are several steps I usually do :

1. Need analysis is done by giving a questionnaire and interviewing the students to find out their need and competence.
2. Determining the goals and objectives can be negotiated with the students. They should be told what the will have to do to achieve their goals and objectives.
3. Conceptualising content is done by selecting the backbone of the content.
4. Selecting and developing material and activities will be easier when I know the students' background of their proficiency, learning preference and objectives. I can select material and activities which will make them interested in learning.
5. Organisation and content of activities should be designed systematically so the students can follow the lesson easier.
6. Evaluation is done in accordance with the materials presented and activities done in the class. This will eventually assess what the students have learned.
7. Constraints which may occur in the class should also be anticipated by writing a journal teaching. With this, I can predict what obstacles I may find in the future and try to find a solution for them.

Teaching a group of adult with different education background and occupations is not only exciting but also challenging. They are usually more anxious to improve their English as they need it for their career advancement. However, they have limited time to do self improvement. Therefore, the activities in the class should be dynamic and related to their real world.

Teaching Grammar

After teaching for 15 years, I still feel overwhelmed everytime I teach grammar. Teaching grammar has been a topic of the debate among linguists concerning its place within the ESL/EFL curriculum. One of them, Scott Thornbury is against the grammar- based lessons which do not lead to oral fluency. It is oral fluency that most students want. He says language is acquired, rather than learnt. Therefore teaching grammar should be based on a process (Process Teaching) and should not be on the traditional hierarchiel model of transmision.

Thornbury lists 10 fudanmental rules that can be used as gudelines for Process Teaching :

1. The resources used for teaching are the teacher and students themselves
2. The teacher should only use the listening material which is recorded from the students doing pair work or group work activities for re-play and analysis
3. The teacher must sit down at all time the students are seated, except when monitoring group or pair work.
4. The questions must be real questions like "Did you read the newspaper yesterday ?" not "Is there a clock on the wall ?"
5. Slavish adherence to a method is unacceptable.
6. Pre-selected and graded grammar items is forbidden. Any grammar that is the focus of instruction should emerge from the lesson content, not dictate it.
7. The topics generated from the students should be prioritized.
8. Students should not be graded into different levels. Diversity of competence should be accomodated.
9. The criteria and administration of any test should be negotiated with the students.
10. Teachers will be evaluated according to only one criterion : that they are not boring.

When I learnt this lists, I was asking myself whether I can apply this teaching process in my class. As a teacher of a formal school, I am required to follow a set of syllabus which is designed by the institution and normally left to the coursebook in conventional teaching. However, I keep on experimenting with different methods of teaching because I believe that every teaching approach has something to offer. The teacher should seek the method suitable for students with different learning preferences and competence.