Resumen de L1 in the EFL classroom: more a help than a hindrance?

Carolina Rodríguez Juárez, Gina Oxbrow

• español

  El uso de la lengua materna en contextos monolingües de enseñanza del inglés como lengua extranjera ha estado a menudo mal considerado, realizándose las tareas docentes exclusivamente en la lengua meta. Sin embargo, el uso sensato de la lengua materna puede de hecho servir como un recurso de enseñanza/aprendizaje que puede mejorar los procesos de adquisición y ayudar a los alumnos a centrarse en las diferencias y similitudes entre su lengua y la lengua extranjera. En este trabajo, investigaremos el uso de la lengua materna y de la traducción en alumnos de primer curso de Filología Inglesa de la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España.

  Palabras clave: lengua materna, traducción, análisis contrastivo, actividades en el aula de inglés.

  1. INTRODUCTION The role of the mother tongue (L1) in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching contexts, as well as the use of translation as a language learning/teaching resource, have long been the subject of much controversy and academic debate in both Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research literature and professional teaching spheres, reflecting the constant fluctuations in language learning theory that have subsequently led to differing methodological prescriptions for classroom practice.1 Originally, translation featured as the central axis of pedagogical 1 A clear example of this is the learning versus acquisition debate, or the role of conscious contemplation of grammatical structures as opposed to informal learning (e.g. Krashen, 1988).

• English

  The use of the L1 in monolingual contexts has been somewhat frowned upon in EFL classrooms over the years, with teaching activities usually conducted exclusively in the target language. However, if used judiciously, the mother tongue may in fact become a teaching and learning resource which can greatly enhance the acquisition process and encourage learners to focus on similarities and differences between their L1 and the language under study. In the present study, we shall explore the use of L1 and translation with first-year English Language students of ¿English Philology¿ at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.