Exploring L1 use in English as Foreign Language Classrooms through Activity theory

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

University of Mazandaran

Abstract

This study attempts to examine the amounts, purposes, and reasons for using L1 by teachers as well as the amounts and purposes of its use by students in English as foreign language classrooms through investigating two pre-intermediate classes of an English language institute in Iran. Among students with an age range of 16-25 years, eight male and female students were in one class and 16 were in the other class (N = 24). Two native Persian teachers with master's degrees in Teaching English as a Foreign Language participated in this study: One was 40 years old with 14 years of experience and the other one was 32 years old with nine years of experience. Eight 90-minute sessions of each teacher’s class were audio-recorded. Following that, the two teachers were interviewed to report on the reasons for which they used their first language. The findings obtained from the classroom audio transcriptions were analyzed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches through the lens of Activity Theory. Moreover, the teachers’ interviews were thematically analyzed and the results of these analyses indicated that the teachers and their students resorted to the first language as an important cognitive and pedagogical tool on different occasions wherever needed during their teaching. The findings also revealed that teachers in this study maintained that using the students’ first language supports second/foreign language learning and teaching processes in the pre-intermediate levels.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Bertelsen, O.W., Bodker, S. (2003). Activity theory. In: Carroll, J. M. (Ed.), HCI Models, Theories and Frameworks. Morgan Kaufmann, Los Altos, CA.
Bozorgian, H. & Fallahpour, S. (2015). Teachers’ and students’ amount and purpose of L1 use: English as foreign language (EFL) classrooms in Iran. IJLTR, 3(2), 67-81.
Chalipa, S. (2015). The use of both the first and second language vs. just the second language on the student’s achievement in reading comprehension of general English texts (monolingual policy vs. bilingual policy). Journal of Science and Today's World, 4(1), 9-12.
Cook, V. (2001). Using the first language in the classroom. Canadian Modern Language Review, 57(3), 402-423. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.57.3.402
Copland, F., & Neokleous, G. (2011). L1 to L2: Complexities and contradictions. English Language Teachers Journal, 65, 270-280. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccq047 
De la Campa, J. C., & Nassaji, H. (2009). The amount, purpose, and reasons for using L1 in L2 classrooms. Foreign Language Annals, 42(4), 742-759. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2009.01052.x
Engeström, Y. (1987). Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach to
developmental research. Helsinki: Orienta-Konsultit.
Engeström, Y., Miettinen, R., & Punamäki, R. L. (1999). Perspectives on activity theory. Cambridge University Press.
Fjeld, M., Lauche, K., Bichsel, M., Voorhorst, F., Krueger, H., & Rauterberg, M. (2002). Physical and virtual tools: Activity theory applied to the design of groupware. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), 11, 153-180.
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015269228596
Ford, K. (2009). Principles and practices of L1/L2 use in the Japanese university EFL
           classroom. JALT Journal, 31(1), 63-80.
Fujioka, M. (2014). L2 student–US professor interactions through disciplinary writing assignments: An activity theory perspective. Journal of Second Language Writing, 25, 40-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2014.05.004
Gulzar, M. A. (2010). Code-switching: Awareness about its utility in bilingual classrooms. Bulletin of Education and Research, 32(2), 23-44.
Guthrie, E. M. (1987). Six cases in classroom communication: A study of teacher discourse in the foreign language classroom. In J. Lantolf & A. Labarca (Eds.), Research in Second    
             Language Learning: Focus on the Classroom. Norwood, NJ: Ablex
 
Kim, S. H. & Elder, C. (2005). Language choices and pedagogic functions in the foreign language classroom: A cross-linguistic functional analysis of teacher talks. Language Teaching Research, 9(4), 355–380. https://doi.org/10.1191%2F1362168805lr173oa
Leontev, A. N. (1987). Activity, consciousness and personality. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Lightbown, P. M. & Spada, N. (2013). How languages are learned (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lin, A. M. (2007). What's the use of “Triadic Dialogue”? Activity Theory, conversation analysis, and analysis of pedagogical practices. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 2(2), 77-94. https://doi.org/10.1080/15544800701343943
Lin, A. M. Y. (2013). Classroom code-switching: Three decades of research. Applied 
            Linguistics Review, 4(1), 195-218. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2013-0009
Macaro, E. (2001). Analyzing student teachers’ codeswitching in foreign language classrooms: theories and decision making. The Modern Language Journal, 85(4), 531–548. https://doi.org/10.1111/0026-7902.00124
Macaro, E. (2009). Teacher use of code-switching in the second language classroom: Exploring ‘optimal’ use. In M. Turnbull & J. Dailey-O’cain (Eds.), First language use in second and foreign language learning (pp. 35–49). Toronto: Multilingual Matters.
Machaal, B. (2012) The Use of Arabic in English Classes: A teaching support or a learning hindrance? Arab World English Journal, 3(2), 194-232.
Mart, Ç. T. (2013). The Facilitating Role of L1 in ESL Classes. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 3(1), 9-14.
Maxwell, J. A. (2012). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Sage.
McMillan, B., & Rivers, D. J. (2011). The practice of policy: Teacher attitudes toward “English only”. System, 39, 251-263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2011.04.011
Nelson, C. P., & Kim, M. K. (2001). Contradictions, Appropriation, and Transformation: An Activity Theory Approach to L2 Writing and Classroom Practices. Texas papers in foreign language education, 6(1), 37-62.
Rahimi Domakani. M., Hashemian, M., & Mansoori, S. (2013). Pragmatic Awareness of the Request Speech Act in English as an Additional Language: Monolinguals or Bilinguals? Research in Applied Linguistics, 4(1), 88-110.
Richards, C. R. (2015). Key issues in language teaching. Cambridge University Press.
Rolin-Ianziti, J. & Brownlie, S. (2002). Teacher use of learners’ native language in the foreign language classroom. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 58(3), 402–426. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.58.3.402
Rolin-Ianziti, J. & Varshney, R. (2008). Students’ views regarding the use of the first language: an exploratory study in a tertiary context maximizing target language use. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 65(2), 249–273. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.65.2.249
Roth, W. M., & Lee, Y. J. (2009). Cultural-historical activity theory and pedagogy: an introduction. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 5(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1080/15544800903406258
Roth, W. M., Radford, L., & LaCroix, L. (2012, May). Working with cultural-historical activity theory. In Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-13.2.1814
Samar, R. G., & Moradkhani, S. (2014). Codeswitching in the language classroom: A study of four EFL teachers’ cognition. RELC Journal, 45(2), 151-164
Thongwichit, N. (2013). L1 Use with University Students in Thailand: A Facilitating Tool or a Language Barrier in Learning English? Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts, 13 (2), 179-206.
Turnbull, M. (2001). There is a role for the L1 in second and foreign language teaching, but . . . The Canadian Modern Language Review, 57, 531–540. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.57.4.531
Vygotsky, L. S. (1933), Play and its role in the mental development of the child, Soviet Psychology, 3 (5), 62-76.
White, E., & Storch, N. (2008). En Francais s’il vous plait: A longitudinal study of the first language (L1) in French foreign language (FL) classes. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 35(2).  https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.35.2.04whi
Teaching English as a Second Language Quarterly
Volume 39, Issue 3.1
October 2020
Pages 1-35

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 21 November 2020
  • Revise Date: 08 January 2021
  • Accept Date: 11 January 2021

Share

How to cite

Statistics