Does L1 Aid L2 Learning?
Christine L. Mace
cmace@my.ccsu.edu
Central Connecticut State University
(New Britain, CT)
Goals
• Action study
– Research project to determine if reinforcement in
L1 will assist an adult education class in their
English language studies.
• Role of L1
– Does the use of L1 facilitate learning in an L2
lower proficiency level classroom setting? What
place does it have in Second Language
Acquisition?
Does L1 belong in L2 learning?
• Comprehensible Input (Krashen 1982)
• Transfer perspective (Gass & Selinker 1983)
• Bi-Lingual Education
– Core subjects in L1
• Social Development Theory (Vygotsky 1978)
– Social interaction -> Cognition
• Second Language Acquisition
– Balanced Approach
• Goal : expand L2
L1 Facilitates Learning
• Hindrance -> Asset
• Teaching Tools
– Instruction
– Translation
– Explanation
Social Aspect of L1
• Promotes:
– Self worth
– Positive experience
– Verbal interactions
• Themselves
• Peers (Scott & de la Fuente 2008) (Storch &
Wigglesworth 2003) (Yough & Fang 2010)
When to Use L1
• Grammar
– Explanation
• Similarities/Differences L1 vs. L2 (de la Colina & del
Pilar Garcίa Mayo 2009)
• Vocabulary
– Translation (Liu 2008) (Carson & Kashihara 2012)
(Yough & Fang 2010)
– Exposure (File et al 2010)
What amount of L1 reinforcement
should be used?
• Related to proficiency level
– Comprehension level of students
• The lower proficiency level, the amount of
reinforcement in L1 use increases
• As proficiency level increases, the reinforcement in L1
decreases
(DiCamilla & Antόn 2012) (de la Colina & del Pilar Garcίa
Mayo 2009)
Moral Obligation Educators Have to
Their Students
• Provide quality education
• Promote students’ self worth (Edstrom 2006)
(Yough & Fang 2010)
Research Questions
• Is there a place for L1 in the L2 classroom?
• What is the role of native language in second
language acquisition?
• How much of the native language should be
used?
• Will the use of native language hinder or
facilitate the learning of the target language?
Participants
• ESL Survival Group
– Placement test
• 15 final participants (6 Female, 9 Males)
– Attrition: one participant
• Ages 19 – 60, median age 34
• All Spanish Native Language
• Home Countries: Ecuador, Dominican
Republic, Puerto Rico, and Mexico
Data Collection
• The Ventures Series, basic edition, published
by Cambridge University Press, 2010
• Consecutive Units
• Unit 7: Clothing
– Spanish Reinforcement
• Unit 8: Work
– Target Language Only
Unit 7: Vocabulary
Vocabulary introduced in L2 with L1 translations and visual
reinforcements.
Unit 7 : Grammar
Grammar lesson
introduced in L2
and reinforced in
L1.
L1
L2
¿Cuánto es
How much is?
¿Cuánto son
How much are?
Unit 8: Vocabulary
Vocabulary introduced in L2 with visual reinforcements.
Unit 8: Grammar
Lesson taught in Target
Language.
Reinforcement in the
form of repeated
examples in Target
Language.
Student Assessment
Unit 7
Vocabulary
Grammar
Student Assessments
Unit 8
Vocabulary
Grammar
Total Number of Errors on End of Unit
Assessments
• Total errors made on
assessments.
– 18 total errors
• Unit 7 (reinforcement in L1)
had less errors
– 6 errors
• Unit 8 (no reinforcement in
L1) students committed
twice as many errors
– 12 errors
Number of errors by units
Unit 7
Unit 8
Results of error analysis
• Twice as many errors w/o use of L1
• 72% of errors in Grammar
– Grammar difficulties
• Vocabulary errors
– all answered “yes” reinforcement in English would be
helpful
• Grammar Errors
– All answered “no” reinforcement in English wouldn’t be
helpful
• Native country, age and gender did not play a role
Questionnaire
Sex:
Age:
Questions
Length of Stay in the U.S.:
Highest Level of Education Completed:
Yes / No
Should the teacher know Spanish?
Should the teacher use Spanish?
Should the students use Spanish?
Is Spanish helpful for instructions?
Is Spanish helpful to ask questions?
Is Spanish helpful for vocabulary?
Is Spanish helpful for grammar?
Is Spanish helpful to explain the differences between Spanish and English?
Is Spanish helpful to talk to the other students about the assignments?
Results of Questionnaire
• Majority felt Spanish should not be spoken in the
classroom
– 80% said teachers shouldn’t use it
– 93% said students shouldn’t use it
• 73% felt the teacher should know Spanish
• 87% felt it was helpful to explain the differences between
Spanish and English
• It was split almost in half 53% for it being helpful in
instruction, the same percentage for its effectiveness in
vocabulary instruction.
• However, for grammar instruction it was only 33% stating
its effectiveness
Results of Questionnaire
Implications for Teaching
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
L1 has an important place in classroom
Amount of L1 spoken varies on class
How do you assess when to increase/decrease
Multiple uses for L1
Students’ attitude about L1
Teacher attitude about L1
Basic understanding of L1
Conclusions
• L1 facilitates SLA
• Data supports the use of L1 to reinforce
vocabulary and grammar in L2 instruction
• Students find the use of L2 beneficial in
vocabulary instruction
• Proper reinforcement in L1 yields a higher
success rate in L2 learning for lower proficiency
level learners
• L1 has an important role in second language
acquisition
Limitations
• Should study be done using a higher
proficiency level as a control group?
• Did curriculum being used affect results?
• Would the results have varied if participants
were children?
References
•
de la Campa, Juliane C. & Nassaji, Hossein (2009). The Amount, Purpose, and Reasons for Using L1 in L2
Classrooms. Foreign Language Annals, 42 (4), 742 – 759.
Carson, Eleanor & Kashihara (2012). Using the L1 in the L2 classroom: The students speak. The Language
Teacher, 36 (4), 47 – 52.
Centeno-Cortés, Beatriz & Jiménez, Antonio F. Jiménez (2004). Problem-solving tasks in a foreign language: the
importance of the L1 in private verbal thinking. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14 (1), 7 – 35.
de la Colina & del Pilar Garcίa Mayo, Marίa (2009). Oral interaction in task-based EFL
learning: The use of the L1 as a cognitive tool. IRAL, 47, 325 – 345.
Copland, Fiona & Neokleous, Georgios (2011). L1 to teach L2: complexities and
Contradictions. ELT Journal, 65 (3), 270 – 280.
DiCamilla, Frederick I. & Antόn, Marta (2012). Function of L1 in the collaborative interaction of beginning and
advanced second language learners. International Journal of Applied Linguistics. 22 (2), 160- 188.
Edstrom, Anne (2006). L1 Use in the L2 Classroom: One Teacher’s Self-Evaluation. The Canadian Modern
Language Review, 63 (2), 275 – 292.
File, Kiernan, A. et al. (2010). Should Vocabulary Instruction Be Integrated or Isolated? TESOL
QUARTERLY 44(2). 222 – 249.
Gass, S. & Selinker, L. (1983). Language transfer and language learning. Rowley, MA: Newburry House.
Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice In second language acquisition. New York: Pergamon.
Liu, Jing (2008). L1 Use in L2 Vocabulary Learning: Facilitator or Barrier. International
Education Studies, 1 (2), 65 – 69.
Nazary, Mustafa, (2008). The Role of L1 In L2 Acquisition: Attitudes Of Iranian University
Students. Novitas-ROYAL , 2(2), 138 – 153
Scott, Virginia, M. & de la Fuente, Marίa José (2008). What’s the Problem? L2 Learners’ Use
of the L1 During Consciousness-Raising, Form-Focused Tasks. The Modern Language
Journal, 92, 100 – 113.
Storch, Neomy & Wigglesworth, Gillian (2003). Is there a Role for the Use of the L1 in an
L2 Setting? TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 760 – 770.
Ventures Series, basic edition, published by Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes (M. Cole, V. JohnSteiner,S. Scribner, & E. Souberman, Eds.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Yough, Michael S. & Fang, Ming (2010). Keeping Native Languages in ESL Class: Accounting for the Role Beliefs
Play Towards Mastery, Mid-Western Educational Researcher, 23 (2), 27 – 32.
Appendix A.
Number of errors by participants
Participant #
M/F
Country of Origin
Unit 7
Unit 8
1
M
Puerto Rico
2
0
2
M
Ecuador
1
0
4
F
Ecuador
1
3
5
M
Dominican Republic
0
0
6
F
Mexico
0
2
7
M
Dominican Republic
0
4
8
F
Puerto Rico
1
0
9
M
Ecuador
0
0
10
F
Dominican Republic
0
0
11
M
Mexico
1
1
12
M
Ecuador
0
0
13
M
Dominican Republic
0
0
14
F
Dominican Republic
0
2
15
F
Ecuador
0
0
16
M
Dominican Republic
0
0
Note: #3 results not included. This participant did not complete study due to attendance.
Acknowledgements
• My enrollment in LING 598 Research in TESOL
& Applied Linguistics at Central Connecticut
State University where I learned the research
process
• Dr. Leyla Zidani-Eroglu for all of her instruction
and guidance throughout my research project
• Dr. Seunghun Lee for his professional
advisement on this presentation