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Perspective Towards of Using L1 in the L2 Classroom: A Literary Review

Submitted by

ABU JAFOR

Student No: 521020020

Department of English Language Teaching, Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University.

ING 521 - New Trends in English Language Teaching

Submitted to

Dr. Hidayet Sarandi

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Perspective Towards of Using L1 in the L2 Classroom: A Literary Review

1. İntroduction

It has been a widespread interest in the use of the native tongue (L1) in L2 classes although two or three

decades ago, it was believed that students should maximum exposure to the foreign language. Using L1

in the English classroom has long been considered as unforgivable wrongdoing. Many English teachers

who use L1 in the classroom feel guilty about it and in many cases do not admit it (Al Hariri, 2015).

Some of the theories claim that foreign language learning can be achieved in a learning environment

where the target language is spoken (Oller & Krashen, 1988). Recent researchers started to question the

validity of this claim suggesting contexts and situations in which using L1 can be very helpful in ELT

and refuting (Al Hariri, 2015). As a result, a considerable amount of attention has been given to the use

of L1 in L2 learning and teaching. There has been a lot of debate about using L1 in the L2 classes

whether the use of L1 is hindered or facilitate L2 learning (Demir, 2012). There is also a widespread

assumption that the use of L1 is not utilized in L2 learning; so, it should be used as little as possible

because of the verities of the argument regarding using L1 in the ESL class (de la Campa & Nassaji,

2009). Many questions have arrived such as: should we use L1 or we should use completely L2, how

much L1 we should use, when and why should we use L1. This paper will examine some research

studies regarding the topic of teachers’ and students’ perspective of using L1 in the L2 classes.

2.1. Study 1

The study was conducted in Tamil Nadu, India. The was conducted by Devaki. V, assistance professor

of English, Vels University, India. The research study was an exploratory study that tries to find out the

ELL perception about the use of L1 in the L2 classes and their comprehension capability of the same.

The research used a questionnaire, classroom observation and interviews as strategies to find out what
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truly occurs in English classes. This study employs survey research method to collect data from ELLs

and teachers to find answers to the research questions.

2.2. Student’s Questionnaire

Quarrions were divided into three parts. in the 1st part was about personal details about the participant

and whether their medium of background Tamil or Eng. The 2nd the medium of instruction in

classrooms and students’ comprehension of instruction and teaching. The last part is about askıng

whether students prefer using L1 in the class or completely L2. 150 first-year engineer students of Anna

University and its affiliated college were participate in the research. A question was asked for the

medium of communication teacher use with students and the student's reply was almost 51% teacher

uses both Tamil and English, only English and only Tamil are used 47% and 2% respectively. About the

teacher’s instruction, it shows that 66% of teachers use only English and 34% of teachers use both

languages. The next question was about students understanding of supplicatory materials provided by

teachers. 51% of the students said they can understand well if it is explained both in L1 and L2, 45%

understand well in L2 and only ‘2% said that they can understand well in their L1.S

The next question was about comprehending of the English question paper in the exam and 54% says

it’s easy to understanding in English. 20% needed some help about some difficult words, 20% of them

even needed help to understand the instruction and 6% fınd it very difficult. 65% of students want their

teachers to use both languages as class ınstruction, 30% prefer only English and only 4% of students

prefer more Tamil than English. Interestingly many students prefer bilingual as class instruction and not

many students prefer more L1. Then he asks a question about which language was easy to understand

and 64% for bilingual instruction, 31% say only English and only 5 % say more Tamil than English.

Next question was about the kind of English classes students want and 74% of students prefer lectures
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with activity, 27% prefer only activity, 2% prefer none and only 1% prefer the only lecture. But when

ask students about whether they want the extra class to improve their English, the majority didn’t want

to take extra classes.

The finding from the student’s questionnaires, only less than 50% of the students understand and prefer

L2 as class instruction which is not so encouraging situations. Majority students prefer their teacher to

use both L1 and L2 in the class (Devaki . V, 2018).

2.3. Teachers’ questionnaires

A set of questionnaire was circulated among teachers to know their perception about the use of L1 and

L2 class. The questionnaire mainly focused on what language actually they use, their personal

preference of language and reason, what would they do if the students don’t understand the lecture and

teachers personal view of using L1 in L2 class. 19 teachers have participated in the research study.

The results were 47% of teachers use only English, 47% use more English with less Tamil and only 5%

of the teacher use both English and Tamil equally. To give instruction, 68% of teachers use only

English, 26.4% of teachers use more English and less Tamil while only % of teachers use both L1 and

L2. For the teaching L2, 53% of teachers believe to use both L1 and L2, 37% do not support using L1

while 10% believe that L1 can be used according to students levels and proficiency. Next question for

the teacher was whether they believe that using only English would help them to learn the language

easily or not. 84% of teachers strongly said yes, 11% was against using only L2 and 5% said only L2

might help students to certain content. To clarify the doubt of the students 37% stressed on using

English, 64 % stressed on both but most of them preferred more English and only 10.5% of teachers

equally both L1 and L2. For explaining grammar, 58% use L2, 21% use L1 if only needed, 11% said,

they would use L1 if the proficiency of the students are very low while 11% felt that they would give L1
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equivalent to explaining grammar or vocabulary. For the teachers’ attitude towards the use of L1 in

class, 53% of teachers support using L1 in class, whereas 37% did not support to use L1 in class and 5%

of teachers say that L1 can be used in a need for the learners‟ situation demands. The question focused

on why teacher don does not use L1 and 52% of teachers felt that suing L1 reduce the students’

exposure to target language whereas 21% of teachers L1 can be used partially according to student’s

proficiency level. Nearly 21% of teachers didn’t agree completely that the use of L1 would reduce

students’ exposure to the target language.

2.4. Findings

From the research study, it shows that, although L2 learners do not prefer using L1 more, they want their

teachers to use L1 at least for a minimal 30% in the class. Most of the teachers undoubtedly felt in

İmmersion method. If any student needed any help, he was expected to ask for help in English even it is

grammatically incorrect. Because they believe that regularly using the language regularly would help the

students to learn the language better. A few percentages of the teachers 10% use L1 in the class in the

conditional use. If the students' proficiency levels are low and also if teachers need to clarify something

to the students, it is o using L1. İn a particular situation, using L2 helps students learning the language

better. But the teacher should know clearly when and where to use L1.

3.1. Study 2

The survey was conducted in 2015 by Khalid Al Hariri and most of the participants’ first language is

Arabic and they are very fluent in English. Almost all of the students who participated in the survey had

experiences studying abroad both in English speaking and non-English speaking countries. Most of the

teachers are TESOL and CELTA certified teachers. The researcher designed two distinct surveys and

distributed one of them to a sample of 30 respondents each. The study was with surveymonkey.com and
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hoisted on Facebook account. One survey was design for the students to measure of their motive of

using L1 by their teacher and another was design for the teacher to discover their motives and attitude

for and toward using L1 while teaching English as L2(Al Hariri, 2015).

3.2. Results

The research study come up with the result that 72% of the teacher use L1 in or outside of the class

although 65% of administrators insist no to use L1 specially in the classroom and it should be mentioned

that 5% of the teachers do not speak L1 of learners. 55% teachers do not feel guilty using L1 and 36%

believe that if they do not use L1 in the class, students will not understand L2 well. 45% of teacher claim

that they do not need L1 to handle the class and 64% claimed they can build better relationship with

learners in L2 and almost 70% of the teachers teach intermediate or higher levels students. Almost all

students (85%) are against using L1, 88% believe that using L1 does not help them improving their

English and using L2 will make them mastery of English higher. It also showed that 22% student use L1

to ask their teacher about the information they don’t understand, 33% ask their friends using L1, 28%

stay silent. Even though almost 72% teachers do not have problem using L2 in the class, 54.55%

teachers are quite ok with translating or using L1 with their students and 36.36% teachers L1 does not

help for better understanding of L2.

3.3. Findings

Using L1 should not be avoided but teachers should have a when, how and why they will use L1. The

will use L1 to make a control practice rather than leaving it open. As this study shows, even more,

advanced learners accept, to a particular extent, that their teachers use L1 and teachers understand that

the primary language of their students is part of their ELT practice. Teachers of English as a far off

language can use the L1 of their students to introduce some vocabulary words and grammar. L1 are
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going to be used intrinsically to create a solid basis for what the scholars will learn within the lesson.

However, this use should be very limited and well thought of to stay the main target on the target

language. Although some believe that using L1 is often helpful to create relationships with learners,

socializing, as a less formal situation, is inspired to be in L2 because the learners would not feel the

pressure for accuracy and fluency that's usually feared of within the classroom.

Teachers of English should also remember that even once they use L1 at certain occasions, they ought to

stress that their learners use the maximum amount English as they will and increase the amount of

spoken English as they progress within the course.

4.1. Study 3

This study was conducted by three authors of Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia. The case study is

about using L1 in L2 classroom among secondary school students of mixed English language

proficiencies in Asian countries, especially in Malaysia. The objective of the study is to uncover the

teaching methods employed in the classrooms where there existed non-homogenous English language

proficiency. Another objective of the study is to classify the methods into the four components in

language learning. For examining the methods adapted by teachers teaching in a language class, 5

teachers and 10 students of secondary school were interview and interview was video recorded located

in the Klang Valley. The teachers were well-experienced minimum as seven years as maximum 12.

4.2. Result and Findings

For the Listening, almost all teachers believed in the complete immersion approach but they also said

that it is can be practiced in real. Because the majority of the students did not understand even when

teachers used easy words and phrases (Noor et al., 2015). So, teachers had no choice but using students’

native tongue. The almost the same result was found when teachers were expected to provide all input
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for topics of discussion in the class. The teachers were futile to get the class to speak regarding group

discussion other than from above-average students. On the task of summary writing, the above average

and average students were taught to summarize by scanning and identifying words that will suggest the

meaning of every paragraph in a passage. The below-average students got a distinct set of instructions.

Most of the teachers did not apply a selected approach in teaching learners the way to write but with the

conditions of the category, time constraint and a strict curriculum, they employed what-worked-best

method. On the angle of learners, being surrounded by others of varying language capabilities, they were

completely reliant on their teacher to cater to all or any of their learning needs. This situation created a

drawback on the above-average students. They were in danger of under-achieving their potential in

English language acquisition. At an equivalent time, the weak students were reluctant to participate in

classroom activities. Factors like embarrassment and fear affected their

5.1. Study 4

The study research was conducted during the first semester of the 1997-1988 academic years at the

Puerto Rico University by Aydn Zhl. The researcher design and conducted research on “the use of

mother tongue (L1) in English classes (L2). He recorded the classes 35 minutes, in the beginning,

middle and end of the semester to see how frequently and for what purposes those teachers used Spanish

(L1) in their class. Two sets of questionnaires were distributed to the professors about their attitude

toward the use of L1 in the L2 classroom and 19 professors participated in the survey. The type of

questions was asked to the teachers and students alike should Spanish (L1) be used in the classroom, do

you like your teacher to use L1 in class?, when do you think it is appropriate to Spanish in English

class?, what percentage of the time do you think Spanish should be used?, How often do you think

Spanish should be used in the English classroom?, If you prefer the use of Spanish in your class why?,

Do you believe using Spanish in your English class helps you learn this language?.
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5.2. Results

Almost 89% of the students' participation in the study think that L1 should be used in their English

classes. All of the teachers reported using Spanish to some extent. Around 99% of the student replied

that they want their teacher use only English in the classroom while 86% of the students would like L1

used to explain difficult concept because using L1 helps them when they feel lost. Only 22 % of teachers

saw this as appropriate use. Students also responded notably higher than teachers on the following uses

for Spanish: to help students feel more comfortable and confident, to check comprehension, and to

define new vocabulary items (Zhl, 1999). Neither students nor teachers saw a use for the L1 in testing.

87% of students feel using L1 facilitate their learning of English and 57% think, it helps from fairly

much to a lot.

The results of the study showed that in English classes (L2), Spanish (L1) should be used to some

contents. Students think that there are some cases where using L1 will facilitate them to comprehend the

classes. Most of them also agree that use of L1 helps them to learn English (L1) better.

6.1. Study 5

The study was conducted in pre-CSWE (Course in Spoken and Written English) class. It was one of the

Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) centers in Sydney with six Chinese adult migrant English

learners and their Chinese-English bilingual teacher. AMEP centers, which provide English learning

opportunities to migrants in Australia, are funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Migrants who have been assessed not having the English language proficiency are entitled 510 hours of

free English instruction. It is highly possible that learners are placed in multi-lingual classes because of

the divergent linguistic backgrounds of the migrants3. However, within the research site, two bilingual

classes were offered at the instant of the info collection and this pre-CSWE class was chosen because
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the teacher expressed interest during this study. The class consisted of 17 learners (five Cantonese and

twelve Mandarin speakers), with 14 female and just three male learners. The ages of learner ranged from

40 to over 70, with most learners in their 60’s or 70’s. Student participants were six learners (one male

and five females), aged from 40 to 65. They were randomly selected from the list given by the teacher.

The teacher participant was a male teacher in his early 40’s who spoke Mandarin as his first language

and some Cantonese. He had taught English in China for nine years before migrating to Australia. The

objective of the study was to clarify the following research questions:

1. Do learners prefer to study in a bilingual class? What reasons do the learners give for their

preferences?

2. How important is studying in a bilingual class for the learners?

3. What attitudes does a bilingual teacher adopt towards the utilization of learners’ L1 in teaching

English?

6.2. Findings

Regarding question number one, students were asked about their attitude forward bilıngual (L1&L2)

classes. The interview data revealed that participants unanimously preferred studying in a bilingual class

and this implied their positive attitude towards using L1. The reason of preferred using L1 is because

Using L1 can facilitate the communication between the teacher and learners since the teacher can

translate difficult words, phrases or concepts into learners’ L1 and learners may use L1 to express their

thoughts or ideas.

For the second question, students’ response was to prefer using L1 and L2 both in the class. The reason

is because of their low English level and the difficulty in communicating with the teacher which was
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attributed to the problem of understanding and the difficulties in asking questions. They all recognized

the L1 as a pedagogical tool as well as a cognitive tool, adopted a positive attitude towards using it and

believed that it could facilitate their learning in English (Ma, 2009).

In question three, the teacher was asked their attitude towards using L1. Teachers’ response was that he

can explain things more clearly like abstract ideas and also grammar points, especially to beginner

students. The teacher also expressed the difficulties in explaining abstract ideas to beginner level

students. One the one hand, it was ineffective to use only English to explain abstract ideas because they

could not understand the explanations in English. On the other hand, it absolutely was impossible for

him to use realia to clarify every concept in class. The teacher believed that using L1 could assist his

learners in retaining new vocabulary items. His view was similar to the students’ idea that it was easier

to remember words which were explained in the L1.

The findings of this study indicated that this group of adult immigrant English learners had a strong

preference for a bilingual (L1& L2) class, regardless of their relative proficiency level in class. Using L1

in English instruction was considered important to these participants and therefore the reasons they

suggested for selecting to review during a bilingual class were both pedagogical and cognitive, with

pedagogical benefits as their main concerns.

7. Conclusion

Above findings showed that the instructors in this study used a low but noticeable amount of L1 in their

classes and that they did so for important instructional purposes. For these instructors, L1 played an

important role in their teaching, so they used it as a pedagogical tool although some teachers say that

they do not allow the L1 in their classrooms. The findings also showed that a variety of factors

influenced these instructors’ decisions about when, how, and why they used L1 in their teaching. Some
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of these factors were based on personal beliefs about language learning and teaching; others stemmed

from the instructors’ classroom settings, their students, and the courses at the university or schools. Of

course, the use of L1 might not be a possibility when the instructor does not know the learners’ L1 or

when the students have different L1.

By analyzing the following findings from the studies, a further study might be done about how actually

and effectively L1 can be used in L2 acquisition classes on students’ different proficiency levels.
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References

Al Hariri, K. (2015). Using L1 in Teaching English to Advanced Students. International Journal of

Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 4(6). https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.4n.6p.220

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

Demir, H. (2012). The Role of Native Language in The Teaching of The FL Grammar. Journal of

Education.

Noor, Azelin. M., Embong, Abdul. M., & Aigbogun, O. (2015). USING L1 IN L2 CLASSROOMS: A

CASE STUDY AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS OF MIXED ENGLISH

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCIES. International Journal of Arts & Sciences.

Oller, J. W., & Krashen, S. D. (1988). The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications. Language, 64(1),

171. https://doi.org/10.2307/414800
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