Job Discussion Forums

[Solar Strength]

So what are your thoughts on using the students' native language in the classroom? I've worked for schools that forbid the use of the students' first language in the lesson and I've worked in schools where management wanted teachers to have proficiency in the local language, not necessarily for teaching purposes but more for administrative reasons and also to talk to students about any questions they might have.

I think that that sometimes it's quicker and more helpful if a teacher can explain something in the local language. It saves time and the students often appreciate it.

So, do you think that the use of L1 should be banned from the language lesson or does it have its place at certain times?

[robbie_davies]

I would say it depends on the level of the student, use of L1 is vital in beginner up to lower intermediate classes I would have thought.

[johnslat]

Dear robbie-davies,

I'd say your upper level (lower intermediate) may be too high in many cases for the use of L 1's being vital. Assuming the first level is no English and the next is Beginners (that's the way we do it, anyway), I'd say it's not really vital after "Beginners."

Regards,
John

[santi84]

There is a lot of debate on this.

L1 is used frequently here and ESL teachers are expected to have reasonable fluency in L1 (French). It is used to clarify complicated concepts and check student understanding (regardless of the level).

I don't personally think it is required at the intermediate level (or beyond, obviously) but it is still expected by admins and parents.

[Sashadroogie]

Always a thorny issue, this one. So here's my provocative take on it : )

While it is probably heavy-handed to ban L1 classrooms outright, the idea that L1 use is vital in the classroom is more a reflection on teaching ability than anything else. No teacher should have to fall back on L1 in a communicative classroom - even at zero beginner level. The learners may feel frustrated, naturally, and use L1 amongst themselves, but the teacher should not join them.

And as for 'explaining' in L1 to students - while it may seem to be quicker, there is not much evidence for it being an effective way of helping with student learning. One might as well be a local teacher then - one who would at least definitely speak L1 properly.

Of course, a lot of this depends where you are based, and on learner attitudes in that locale. But one thing is for certain: the amount of L1 in a classroom at lower levels is quite indicative of how much will be used at supposedly higher ones, with a correspondingly low level of English use.

Reap what you sow... or as my learners would say - что посеешь, то и пожнёшь.

[Kofola]

From my own experiences I would say that if learners are capable of understanding explanations in English then they learn more from these than they would an L1 explanation because they are also being exposed to how we explain in English and high levels of exposure are essential. Nonetheless I think confusion and frustration can result at beginner levels if the learners cannot ask for and be given explanations about things in L1.

I think it can be useful to explore the various meanings of words in L1 and English, particularly in languages with much smaller vocabularies, so that learners know which word to use in which context. It can be particularly helpful with idiomatic language. E.g Doing X is a pain. Or in comparing the use of 'there is' in Engish with what happens in the L1. Or for translating expressions that are difficult to explain, like as a matter of fact. I also think the English explanation should come first and the query as to how it would be translated last and it should only be used in situations where it improves learning/understanding.

[santi84]

Depending on the location, I think there is sometimes a difference between what administration expects (in terms of L1 use) and what a teacher thinks

I would personally prefer not to use it, but my opinion only matters so much to the public school board .

[Shroob]

I'm undecided on this, my personal approach is easy-going. I won't give instructions or explain something to the students using their L1, but a quick comprehension check of a vocabulary item, I don't see the harm in.

[Teacher in Rome]

Agree with Sasha:

[sixthchild]

In Turkey the general rule is use L1 to clarify a point or use a word to help the learners esp at lower levels. The reality is that too many Turkish English teachers use it at the drop of a hat and then the students expect it all the time. Most leaners regard the target language as necessary to pass an exam after that forget it.Personally I think there is a place for some use of L1 in the classroom but when someone has to explain the instructions in L1 before the start of an English Proficiency exam then clearly there has been more than a bit of overkill in the classroom. Yes there are universities in Turkey that profess to be English medium, but after working in one for more than 7 years I know that L1 usage does not allow other languages to be learned let alone used.

[Chancellor]

Since I don't speak my students' L1, they get everything from me in English. I generally try to discourage the use of L1 in my classes because some of my students have hopes of one day studying in an Anglophone country and I want them to get used to an all-English environment as well as learn some of the academic English that they're going to need (though I don't absolutely prohibit the use of L1).

Using L1 can be convenient for the students, and I know the local teachers use it, but it's easy for them to become dependent on it just like they get dependent on looking in their textbooks for answers to questions I sometimes ask that aren't in the textbooks (something I do intentionally to help them learn how to think for themselves).

[jonniboy]

I've found knowledge of the students' L1 useful in another way: sneakily checking that they've understood. For example usually I'll explain new words and concepts in English and discourage L1. Despite that, there will frequently be one or two weaker students who'll ask their classmates for the translation. I'll listen for the translation as well, without them knowing that I'm doing it. If it's correct, then they've got it and we move on. If not, I'll give them more examples (in English) until they get it.

The thing is, these days though, with so many students having mobile phones with translator applications, it's certainly less necessary from a lexis perspective.

For admin purposes, yes it can be useful, though problematic. Once you've broken the barrier of not speaking with students in their L1, it gets much more difficult to slip back into an L2 only approach in the classroom.

[Sashadroogie]

Not sure about the shiny mobile phone translator apps either. Some of the translations are horrendous. In exactly the same way as with proper dictionaries, many learners need training in how to use such translators effectively. However, very often I find that the electronic translator they are using is just so limited that it is easier just to use a stone-age book - one that will have all the requisite information about a word. Basic things like word class, transcription, collocation etc.

Electronic ones, the dictionaries that I have seen most frequently in the hands of learners at any rate, usually do not go beyond a word to word translation. Which is exactly the kind of approach that we are supposed to be discouraging in a classroom, given how ineffective it is in truly helping learners to 'know' a word.

[DebMer]

I wish my students didn't know I that I speak their L1. It happened by accident. One of them received an emergency phone call and had to leave immediately. She was trying frantically to explain to me why she had to leave and was unable to do so clearly, so I told her to explain in Spanish. That was the beginning of the "Explíqueme esto, por favor." I've battled it ever since, mostly by jokingly putting on a terrible Spanish accent and saying, "Yoh noh camprendar el Ayspanyol."

I'm about to change classrooms, and plan to keep my Spanish to myself, regardless of emergency phone calls.

[sixthchild]

Yep thats the point entirely, once they are aware you are bilingual they expect you to use L1 all the time thats why local teachers end up using it most of the time. Stay with L1 as much as poss.