Ineffectiveness of using mother tongue (L1) in EFL classrooms

This article shows the ineffectiveness of using mother tongue in English classrooms. The author tells about the study on this issue and gives achieved results.

Key words: mother tongue, useless of the first language, teaching English language, research, students

В этой статье показана неэффективность использования родного языка в английских классах. Автор рассказывает об исследовании по этому вопросу и дает достигнутые результаты.

Ключевые слова: родной язык, ненадобность родного языка, преподавание английского языка, исследование, студенты

There is much controversy over the issue of resorting to the first language in the EFL classroom. Language learning is a continuous process. That's why a focus should be given to the learners’ level, age, background and the teachers’ perceptions to teach the language. The main purpose of the study is to determine the effectiveness of English language in EFL classrooms and ban the mother tongue use completely. We learn what problems arise while teaching a foreign language, how they can be motivated to learn a new language and also, what kind of activities should be used.

It is important to consider using the mother tongue in foreign language classes. More students are exposed to English, more quickly they will learn; as they hear and use English, they will internalize it to begin to think in English. Aligned with this aspect, teachers decide when and how much L1 should be used to improve the learning process, but it must be taken into consideration that there is always a limitation for L1 inclusion in the EFL classroom and it must not be overly used, because, it debilitates learning process and makes the students lazy. Furthermore, learning foreign languages mostly happens when the students are exposed to it exclusively because it helps them to think and communicate in a foreign language as if they are in a real-life context. Also, teachers can use translation activities in the EFL classroom to raise language awareness, promote language learning, develop students’ autonomy and teaching strategies of different types, as well as provide invaluable practice of this skill, which is so vital to learners in the modern global society. Besides, the teachers should choose appropriate materials for learners according to their proficiency levels and they should prepare warm-up activities for learners. Jones [2] (2010: 8) also supports that ‘the learners’ foreign language proficiency will improve, as will the learners’ confidence in using the English. If the students find the task meaningful they will learn quickly. Otherwise, they may feel that the only way they would understand anything the teacher says is when it has been translated, or they use their mother tongue even when they are perfectly capable of expressing the same idea in English. This can significantly reduce students’ opportunities to practice English, and students fail to realize that using English in classroom activities is essential to improve their language skills. Use of foreign language provides the students with the experience of a nearly real FL context in which they think and communicate. Therefore, L1 use and code-switching reduce the students’ exposure to L2 and lengthen delays in L2 learning in a classroom (Macaro [1], 2001).

In this study, we decided to choose language learners from the University of World Languages which is situated in Uchtepa region. The target population of the study was the second year students of that University. The researcher conducted her lessons with groups: № 201 and 204. There were 11 students in 201-group and 12 students in 204-group. Their curiosity to learn English is very fascinating and the students’ levels varied from intermediate to upper-intermediate.

We used four kinds of data. The first one was questionnaire forms for teachers. The other one was pre-test that was taken before the experiment. The third one processed materials that were worksheets that were gathered during the experiment and the last one was post-test that was done at the end of the experiment. The results of these data were collected, analyzed and compared.

One of the important stages of the research is to interview five teachers in order to know their methods and techniques how to English during the lessons. Therefore, teachers were given questionnaire forms. The data was collected from the teachers in order to understand their perspective regarding the use of English. The Pre-test was taken just before the beginning of the research. The test consisted of multiple choice questions, gap filling, matching words and translation text tasks. Post-test was for 20 minutes with different types of task questions such as finding words, speaking tasks, and others.

Table 1

Comparison of pre-test results

Table 2

Comparison of the post-results

So, the results prove that the use of L2 and the activities concerning with teaching foreign language were very beneficial for learners on the way of improving learning language skills, which was verified by the analysis of the data. The difference between the means of the pre and post-tests between two groups is 2,4. Although it is a small number, it proved the hypothesis to be accurate. Besides that, it should be taken into account that the teaching practice lasted for a short period of time. So it can be concluded that the survey was successfully implemented.

References:

1. Macaro, E. (2001). Analyzing student teachers’ code-switching in foreign language classrooms: Theories and decision making. Modern Language Journal, 85(4), 531–548. doi: 10.1111/0026–7902.00124.
2. Jones, H. (2010), “First Language Communication in the Second Language Classroom: A Valuable or Damaging Resource?”, http://nativelanguageuse.weebly.com/uploads/4/0/4/5/4045990/roleofnativel anguage.pdf (accessed 6.6.2012).