IS NATIVE LANGUAGE THE MOST UNTAPPED

RESOURCE IN AMERICAN ENL CLASSROOMS?

Katherine Ellingsen, Pace University
There has been a tremendous amount of research
done about the interference of native language in
the acquisition of English as a second language.

This has made the use of L1 in the classroom

controversial for many years.

Recently, there has been more research done on

how L1 hinders L2 via transference, direct
translation, and syntax.
 PURPOSE
There has been far less
research done on the
positive effects of
using L1 as a
springboard toward L2
proficiency. Even less
research, still, has been
done on how to best
utilize L1 to directly
promote better L2
acquisition.
PURPOSE
➤ Identify specific methodologies, exam practices, activities and
approaches to include native language and even culture (when
possible) in the classroom because it is such a valuable tool
toward new language acquisition.

➤ Finding new ways to implement and focus the use of L1 in the

classroom in order to support English proficiency.


➤ This information is important because many English language

learners struggle in an educational setting using immersion,
alone.

➤ In a country as linguistically diverse as ours, it is also beneficial

to help students make connections between L1 and L2 in terms
of lifelong success.
INTRODUCTION/RELEVANCE
There seems to exist little research focused on how students would
prefer to use native language. My study was based on the notion that
this question should be part of new research.

ELLs often revert to L1 when they are confused or unsure;

when they are trying to comprehend both new information and
directions.



This gap needs to be bridged in a more purposeful manner than simply
engaging in unstructured, quiet discourse among themselves when they
cannot understand the content or assignment. A student lacking
confidence is not usually an engaged student.

Questions? Why aren’t researchers spending more time asking the

students themselves what they need? Why are we, as teachers, not
allocating specific chunks of class time (ten minutes, perhaps) to
ensure that ELLs have a comprehensive outlook on their coursework?
RESEARCH METHODS
➤Self-containedfourth/fifth grade ESL class composed of seven students
whose native language is Spanish.


➤The students read the book Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman
with a Great Big Heart, by Pat Mora aloud with the teacher. The book
contained quite a bit of Spanish words as well as cultural references
familiar to the students.


➤Students are then given a writing assignment about the book.


➤Students are provided with three ten-minute “free language” periods:

one at the end of the book, one after the writing instructions were given,
and one after they finished their outline, prior to writing the essay.


➤The purpose is to find correlational evidence between engagement

levels in L1 discourse and final essay grades.
RESEARCH METHODS (CONTINUED)
➤The experiment was video-recorded and then
later transcribed for better retrieval of both
qualitative and quantitative data.

➤The students also completed a post-test survey to

ascertain whether or not they found the
structured implementation of Spanish
conversation helpful toward their understanding
of the lesson and essay assignment to follow. It
also asked them why or why not?
RESULTS
➤ The results were separated into two groups:
students who were very engaged in L1
discussion, and those who were not.
➤ The data shows that the students who were
more vocal during the language breaks
actually wrote better essays, making fewer
grammatical and sentence structure errors
throughout.
 Level of Engagement in
Student Essay Grade
L1 Discourse (1-10)
Jessica 8 96

Alan 2 78

Jennifer 1 74

Lucas 9 98

José 8 91

Brian 8 93

Rebecca 5 81

Level of engagement in L1 discourse is highly correlated with writing skill/

quality.
RESULTS
Effects of L1 Engagement on Academic Performance

Students Most Engaged


Students Least Engaged
 Survey



1. Did you enjoy the book?



2. Did you find the
language breaks helpful to
your understanding of the
assignment? Why?

3. Did you find the

language breaks
distracting? Why?

4. What would have been

more helpful during this
exercise?
WHAT DID YOU LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK?
➤ “I liked that Doña Flor speaks Spanish, too.”
➤ “I liked the pictures in the book.”
➤ “I did not like the book as much as others I have read.”

INPUT ON LANGUAGE BREAKS

➤ “I understood the instructions better after the teacher explained them in
Spanish.”
➤ “Two students were talking about food when we were going

over the directions and it was hard to concentrate.”

SUGGESTIONS
➤ Teacher could write misunderstood directions/vocabulary on the

board in Spanish.
➤ Language breaks were most helpful during the introduction and instructional
portion of the lesson.
EXPANSION
The survey itself was also meant to discern how much the students enjoyed
the book as well as whether or not they found it helpful. The groups’ results
were then compared accordingly to illustrate whether or not this had any
effect on how the book itself may have shaped the data.



One concern was that the use of a culturally relevant text would spike
student interest levels in the lesson and skew the data on whether or not
native language inclusion itself was beneficial to engagement and writing
quality.



Based on the aforementioned data, the book itself had little, if any, effect, on
the students’ desire to engage in on-task conversation after having been
given time to ask for clarification in Spanish.

 Did not enjoy
 Had no
Enjoyed the book
the book preference.

Students 4 2 1

Mean Essay

Scores 87.5% 86% 91%

Data showed that 4 students enjoyed the book Doña Flor, 2 students
reported not really enjoying the book, and 1 had no preference.
Effect of Book Interest on Academic Performance

Students who enjoyed the book: 4


Students who did not enjoy the book: 2

Students who had no preference: 1
LIMITATIONS
➤ Because so much of this research is of a qualitative nature, it can
be highly subjective.

➤ Another issue that could arise is the presence of a more diverse ENL
class. If a pull out class is composed of ten students who speak two,
three, or more languages, an educator will have a more strenuous
time attempting to include (and understand) all of them.


➤ Another way to control the novelty of a new book/activity with

cultural relevance, would be to create a more longitudinal study so
that students were already accustomed to the process, and results
would occur more naturally.


➤ A study involving a control group might also be more drastically

supportive of the benefits of L1 clarification.

 “A bilingual person has more opportunities to obtain a

“
better job and to have more achievements than a
monolingual person. Therefore, elementary schools, high
schools, and universities have to face the need for
bilingualism by educating students who are able to work
in these multicultural societies. If students receive
bilingual education from their first years of school, the
level of proficiency in the second language should
increase.”
— Mara Salmona Madriñan 

Colegio Nueva Granada, Colombia

The Use of First Language in the Second-Language Classroom:

A Support for Second Language Acquisition, 2014

“
“You must be sure that the students understand
what you expect them to do correctly as some
activities we do in the classroom take more than
10 minutes, and if they get you wrong from the
beginning, that means a 10-minute loss from your
lesson. That’s why you have to make sure that
they get it right from the beginning and this is
more possible if you use their L1 when giving
instructions to them.”
— Debreli, E. (2016)

Perceptions of Non-Native EFL Teachers' on L1 Use in L2 Classrooms:
Implications for Language Program Development.