Teacher's Use of Students' L1 in an EFL Classroom: A Case Study

Abstract

The use of students' first language in a foreign language classroom is an issue which has drawn critical debates among researchers in the area of language teaching. This thesis presents the results of a case study on the frequency and functions of an EFL teacher's use of the L1 as well as the teacher's and students' attitudes toward it in a Freshman English class in Taiwan. Totally eight class periods were tape-recorded, including four conversation classes and four reading classes. The data for analyses on frequency and functions came from the transcriptions of the tapes. In addition, individual interviews with the teacher and five students were carried out in an attempt to investigate their attitudes toward the teacher's L1 use in class. Results show that the teacher used the TL 57.2 percent of the time and the L1 42.8 percent of the time in her class, which was not a satisfying amount of TL use compared with those reported in the literature. The teacher's selection of the textbook might be the main factor causing her frequent use of the L1 in her reading class. Analysis of the functions of her L1 use revealed similarity with those reported in previous research, including translation, conducting classroom management, expressing emotions, giving grammar instructions and procedural instructions. Among these functions, translation and giving instructions explained the most of the teacher's L1 use in the present study. In terms of students' attitudes, all the five students interviewed expressed positive attitudes toward the teacher's using the L1 when teaching vocabulary, giving test related information, giving class content overview, and asking questions. The teacher's L1 use was found to help them understand the lecture and concentrate in class, and help create a less stressful learning environment. The findings suggested that FL teachers should not have negative feelings about using the L1 in FL teaching and should see the L1 as a tool to facilitate their FL teaching.

Date of Award	2009
Original language	English