Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

What do you think about using the students' L1 in class? Does it do more harm than good?

[johnslat]

Dear naturegirl321,
Boy, are you in luck. I'm an age old guy with an age old answer ( well, ok - it's an opinion ) to your age old question:

Q: What do you think about using the students' L1 in class? Does it do more harm than good?
A: Yes
Sorry to run on like that, but this topic just gets me going.
Regards,
John

[dmb]

If the teacher knows the students' L1. Then it can come in useful. We all learn in different ways. A quick translation does provide a comfort for some students. Of course, if overused then it could be harmful. But what's the harm every now and then?

[johnslat]

Dear dmb,
Well, from what I've seen, " every now and then " all too many times soon becomes more and more often.
Regards,
John

[richard ame]

Hi it's me
My favourite bloody topic and one that I love to beat other so-called NE's over the head without mercy .I don't use L 1 in the classroom unless I want to take the piss or introduce a little comic relief the kids at my uni soon discover that using Turkish is a non starter but they still try it on . I 'm really sick and tired of xnative speakers who use it all the time

[thelmadatter]

The advantage of not sharing an L1 with the students is that they must use the L2 for communication purposes, which is what language is for. When the teacher shares the students� L1, the L2 all too easily simply a subject of study, not a communication system

However, keeping this in mind, carefully controlled use of L1 can be very helpful. If you explain an English grammar point several times in English and the student does not understand, is not using the L1 (when available) really doing the student a service? I restrict my Spanish use to office hours and some comparison/contrast with Spanish in the classroom. However, I teach college students, so I dont know if that makes a difference or not.

[rogan]

You're in their country to TEACH ENGLISH not to improve YOUR L2

Use the language when you are shopping, visiting scenic sites, drinking in bars, chatting up members of the opposite sex, dealing with administrators, but not with students.

[Roger]

The first poster has not made clear enough what subject he or she is talking about...
Of course, teaching Turkish/Chinese/French history is best done in the students' native tongue.
Unless they attend history lessons where English is used as a medium of instruction.
In which case I would strongly recommend refraining from speaking L1, unless to use terminology that may be still a bit alien to the students... like naming 'Tibet' 'Xizhang' for the benefit of students not initiated in Western names olf Eastern countries/peoples..

But in English classes, the translation approach is too often used by my local colleagues, to the point of making students totally dependent on translation every time!
Learning a language is learning how to solve one's own problems (communication problems).

[ESL Guru]

The original poster is nothing but FLAME BAIT and you all are sucked into the backdraft!

On another thread she claims that ESL teachers need nothing more than a high school diploma, no training, no understanding of pedogogy or methodology.

This lady is a part of the ESL "Axis of Evil."

FLAME BAIT

[cheryl]

Naturegirl,

It's hard to answer your question since it was so broad. Did you mean a class in an EF or SL setting? Who would be using the L1, the students? Or did you mean the teacher would be using the students L1? What levels were they? What are the students reasons for attending the class? (i.e. community or university classes?)

There are different theories regarding whether a student's L1 is benificial in a language class. Personally i think that L1 is good in classes that have extremely low proficiency. That is, the students should be able to use their L1 while the teacher uses the instructed language. When the students have a high enough proficiency for actual negotiation of meaning, then yeah, L1 should be minimized. That's just my two cents.

check out: Cook, V.J. (2001), 'Using the first language in the classroom'
http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~vcook/SLATOPICS.htm
OR http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/tlt/98/dec/cole.html

hope this helps!
cheryl

[richard ame]

Hi Playmates
I didn't really get the chance to finish what I had to say on this topic ,namely using L1 in the class ,it has being my experience that once you start to use any other language apart from the target language it starts a snowball situation and after a pretty short time the students expect it . Having said that the comment about controlled use is valid and yes sometimes a simple translation into their own language speeds up the learning process,however you can end up with a scenerio where although students are taking an end of year proficiency exam of English in an English medium university and they need to be given the instructions in Turkish usually by a N.E who is trying to be clever and who thinks its "hip" or "cool" to be able to communicate with them in their own language . You usually see the same arsehole sitting in the cafeteria with the kids and guess what he's not letting them practice their English on him. In office hours they come to their instructors to ask about logical sequence or paragraph completion or phrasal verbs exercises these are not elementary students and yet the whole discouse takes place in L1 and I 'm sat on the other side of the room thinking just what is the chuffing point . I have lived in this country for 9 years and bought two properties ,I drive every day and have travelled extensively my Turkish is pretty damn poor cosidering however I make myself understood and rarely do not get things done any worse than a more fluent speaker .

[Wolf]

I never use the students' L1 to teach. But I might use the L1 in the classroom. In Japan many students are nervous about speaking English in front of a native speaker. I let them know that I speak Japanese by firing off a sentence or two at the beginning of class, usually as a joke. Often, they'll relax, and the class goes more smoothly form there.

I only taught kids one day here, one day there. My experience (and training when I start it) is mostly adult centered. Kids are not my bag, baby. But when I did teach them in Japan I'd say things like "if you have a problem, or need my help, please ask me in Japanese; it's okay." (Ie go to bathroom, feel sick, Taro-kun punched me, etc etc.) BTW if I were to teach kids full time, I would not teach kids whose L1 I don't understand - until I have more experience doing so or had an assistant in class who did. I wouldn't use it in the lessons, but by the 99 names of Allah, I have worked in a kindergarded before, and there are factors involved in teaching kids - non language aquasition ones - that I would not feel comfortable with unless we could communicate somehow.

Just how I feel.

[PanamaTeacher]

L1 is Ok to use with beginners when they clearly do not get the point you are trying to make in English. But it is a crutch, a teacher can lean on it too much.

I have given classes where I did not know the L1 (english to russians, koreans, japanese, etc.) and I found that if you really try you can make your point; L1 is the lazy way out.

L1 is totally wrong once you get past the beginners. Just keep everything simple and they will catch on.

[denise]

Looks like I'm outnumbered in the polls. I say it's helpful, in certain situations...

If the students are struggling to understand something, I'd much rather have them work it out and come to some sort of understanding than be left in the dark, and if they need to resort to their L1s to do this, then no harm done. It's fairly easy to tell when the students are on task. If they're chatting away about last night's party, then using the L1 is not such a good idea. If, on the other hand, they are analyzing the language and generally participating in the activity, then I'm not bothered by their L1 use.

[PanamaTeacher]

Denise There may be "no harm," but is there any learning?