Strategies to improve teacher—students communication in L2 classroom： the use of first language

【Abstract】Chinese has been regarded as an effective strategy for English teachers in China to improve their communication with students in English classes. This report， based on a classroom research， will exam the importance of using L1 in L2 classes in detail.

【Key words】L1； L2 Classroom； Action Research

The opinion that the only language that teachers and students can use in the foreign language classroom is the one they are learning came about partially because teachers from English-speaking countries were travelling around the world teaching people whose first language they themselves could not speak. However， this idea is now seriously questioned by a great number of experts （Harmer， 2007）.

In order to investigate the functions of first language in L2 classroom， I have conducted an action research project involving a peer-teaching lesson with six of my colleagues， six interviews with two peer-students， two real pupils and two experienced English teachers. It is worth mentioning that experienced teacher A is from Britain with more than 30 years of teaching experience and had ever taught English in Asian countries like Indonesia， and Teacher B is a Chinese who has taught English in China for more than 20 years. On the basis of summaries of self-reflections， peer feedback， interviews， and analysis of the lesson transcript and video， some insights I have gained are described below.

I quoted the following words from teacher As interview：

When I was in Italy， I was teaching young learners， and I had a very difficult time. I only knew few words in Italian while they never had a teacher who couldnt speak Italian before. They were totally confused in my class， because I couldnt tell them what to do， I couldnt give them clear instructions. It was horrible actually. All I remember is that the children were crying out in Italian， ‘Non capisco （I dont understand）！ I dont know how I survived actually. But at that time I wished I could speak a little bit Italian.

Teacher A encapsulated the problem he met as a foreign English teacher in Italy. We can conclude that the use of leaners L1 in some circumstances can be helpful for both teachers and leaners. Actually， instead of the idea that the classroom should be an English-only environment， a view of how and when to use the L1 has become the main controversial subject （Harmer， 2007）.

In fact， I did not use any Chinese in the peer-teaching progress. After the class， I got a piece of feedback that if I could use both English and Chinese， some activity instructions could be much clearer for learners. Besides， teacher A also advised that the use of L1 could be helpful， especially at the beginning of the lesson – some learners might feel anxious， but they would be relaxed in their familiar language environment.

It makes no sense to deny the importance of using the students L1 in their L2 classroom. Sheelagh Deller （2003） suggests that it is useful for students to notice similarities as well as differences between the target language and their mother tongue. For instance， the difficulty of a vocabulary item often depends on how similar the item is in form and meaning to the students mother tongue （Gower & Walters， 1983）. Obviously the more similar， the more likely students can remember. Harmer （2007） suggests that it is helpful for students， especially young learners， to understand not only the knowledge but also the learning itself well. For example， if teachers want to explain things like a complex sentence， of course paraphrasing is a good method， but they will have more success at beginners if they can use their L1. For another example， if teachers want to ask students what they want or need， then they will get more from lower-level students if they do it in the students L1 than if they try to struggle through with English （Harmer， 2007）. Nunan & Lamb （1996） suggests that using the students first language to give explanations of grammar and lexis， or for explaining procedures， can hugely facilitate the management of learning. Actually， in my language context， grammar-translation approach（Nunan & Lamb， 1996）is totally accepted by most of English teachers. For me， most of times， I know the rules of a grammar point， I know how to use it， but actually I do not know the terminology of this grammar in English. But teacher B whom I interviewed thought no matter the first language or the second language， the aim of teaching grammar is to help students understand some rules， if a quick translation can have short-circuited the really tortuous process（Nunan & Lamb， 1996）， why we do not use it.

In addition， teacher B believed that first language could be regarded as an ‘extra help. When the teacher finds most of students cannot clearly understand in pure English circumstance， supplementary explanation in L1 can be one of the effective solutions. It is also interesting that when I asked the question ‘when will you prefer to use Chinese in English class， all peer-students chose to use L1 in giving complex instructions.

However， the German scholar F. Franke （1896） argues that a foreign language can be taught without translation or the use of the learners native tongue if meaning can be conveyed directly through demonstration and action. The use of learners L1 will restrict their exposure to English and when teachers use the first language， the learners are unconsciously encouraged to avoid using the target language， but we all know that the more time we spend speaking English， the better （Harmer， 2007）. Besides， it is worth pointing out that， irrespective of personal factors， the girl whom I had interviewed did not want her English teacher to use any Chinese in class， she thought ‘English classes should be all in English， while the boy argued that Chinese used by his English teacher could help him get a better understanding of the target English knowledge.

All in all， there are many advantages of using first language in second language classroom， especially for young learners. However， we， as English teachers， also need to care about the quantity and quality of L1 in L2 classes.

References：

[1]Deller，S.（2003）.The language of the learner.English Teaching Professional，26，17-19.

[2]Franke，F.（1896）.Die praktische Spracherlernung auf Grund der Psychologie und der Physiologie der Sprache dargestellt.Reisland.

[3]Gower，R.，&Walters，S.（1983）.Teaching Practice Handbook.London[u.a.]：Heinemann.

[4]Harmer，J.（2007）.The practice of English language teaching.Harlow，England：Pearson Longman.

[5]Nunan，D.，&Lamb，C.（1996）.The self-directed teacher.Cambridge[England]：Cambridge University Press.

作者簡介：申健（1992-），女，山东日照人，华威大学英语教育学硕士，现任山东外国语职业学院英语专业教师。