L1 In A Foreign Language Classroom

Literature Review

The use of L1 in a foreign language classroom has been a long conversational issue in the field of second language acquisition. For many years, foreign language teaching has been dominated by the principle which asserts that teachers should aim to make maximum use of target language when teaching L2. Turnbull & Arnett (2002), found that while there is a consensus that teachers should use only the target language and avoid using the learners’ L1, there is no consensus regarding the roles that L1 can perform in teaching L2. Here opinions differ and could be seen in various theories which insist on the total exclusion of the L1, towards varying degrees of understanding that it may provide valuable support for learning either

However, in spite of the national recommendations and language teaching policies, many observational studies and surveys of classroom practice disclosed that teachers alternate between using the L1 and the target language in the foreign language classrooms (Yu,2009). Moreover, Oguro (2011), states that while L2 teachers are in favor for use the target language as much as possible, in practice the L1 is used more widely than L2 teachers consider ideal for promoting L2 learning. Thus, teachers of L2 observed using the learners’ L2 in unnecessary situations which required using the target language (Oguro,2011 cited in Mohebbi & Alavi,

Lortie (1975), argues that memories of instruction gained through teachers’ “apprenticeship of observation” are function as guides for teachers as they approach what they do in the classroom (Lortie, 1975 cited in Ellis,2006). Similarly, Ellis (2016), found that teachers’ prior language learning experience has an impact on their professional knowledge and patterns of action. For example, the teachers in Ellis’s (2016) research relate to their learning language experience as a tool which helps them to understand their students’ difficulties, to raise their students’ motivation and assess the challenges presented by different teaching contexts, such as learning English through English. Thus, it seems that there is a clear, direct relationship between teachers’ prior language learning experience and the way they teach English as a foreign