User:Alejandra/literature

Introduction
The use of the native tongue in the second language classroom is very controversial. Many approaches such as the direct method and the communicative approach ban the L1 from the language classroom, while other methods such as the grammar translation method and suggestopedia agree that L1 is quite useful in the L2 classroom when used accordingly. Some of the problems that are commonly suggested with the use of L2 is that the students do not take advantage of the practice that is necessary to learn the foreign language. Another factor that is commonly spoken of is the fact that the students get used to being able to use L1 and they do not push themselves to use more L2. Although there are authors that suggest that the use of L1 in the L2 classroom may help students along their learning process. One of the ways in which the use of L1 may be appropriate is when students need to clarify doubts they have regarding the language. Another aspect in which students should be allowed to use L1 is when they are reviewing an important topic. Some authors even say that the exclusion of the L1 may cause high filters in the L2 classroom because of the exclusion of the students own culture.

Certain methods help promote the use of English as a Foreign Language in the classroom
Communicative language teaching promotes speaking. According to Richards (1993) the British inventors of the communicative language teaching sought to improve communicative expertise instead of obtaining the maximum level of knowledge in grammatical structures, changing the perception of grammar based language teaching. In Communicative language teaching students are motivated to learn through communication. Richards (1993) argues that communicative language teaching integrates the four skills rather than excluding them, as well as aims to guide the students to learn the language syntax through the process of struggling to communicate. In communicative language teaching the most important thing is to promote speaking and induce students to produce oral language even though the grammatical aspects may not be absolutely correct. Communicative language teaching or CLT doesn’t exclude other language skills instead its aim is to teach them through oral production.

The Grammar Translation Method is focused on learning the language for literature analysis. Larsen-Freemen(2000) says that the aim of the Grammar translation method is to help students appreciate literature in the target language as well as help the students become more familiarized with their own language to better comprehend the target language. One of the main characteristics of the grammar translation method is translation. The students are often told to translate texts in order to become more familiarized with the meaning of the words in the target language through the use of their native language. Another very important characteristic of the grammar translation method is that the native tongue is not banned in the L2 classroom, instead it is encouraged. There is little use of the L2 in the grammar translation method.

The grammar translation method is very different from the communicative language teaching therefore the way in which they are conducted may be considered as opposite. While the communicative language teaching focuses on teaching all of the skills through the use of communication or oral production the grammar translation method is focused on using writing in the native tongue to learn the L2. Another very important characteristic of the grammar translation method is that the intention of learning a second language is to help students become more intellectual instead of actually using the language, while the communicative language teaching is based on communication. Another characteristic in which they differ is the use of the L1 in the L2 classroom. While the communicative language teaching or the CLT tries to avoid the use of L1 and promotes learning the L2 through the hesitation of trying to find the correct words, the GTM encourages the use of translation in language learning. Some experts would suggest that using the CLT is more adequate than using the GTM because of the exposure received with the L2 in the foreign language classroom.

Suggestopedia is a humanistic learning approach in which the most important thing to do is make the students feel comfortable with themselves and the target language. Celce-Maurcia in Freeman D. (2000) calls this an effective humanistic approach, an approach in which there is respect for the student’s feelings. When this approach is used it is common for teachers to decorate the classroom with bright colors and cheerful and encouraging phrases. The teachers attitude is usually calm and soothing and tries to make the students believe that learning the language is fun and easy, thus motivating and decreasing emotional barriers. Another technique teachers use in this method is to help the students feel confident by encouraging them to be someone else, this way it doesn’t matter if they make a mistake. The identity change process includes name changes and biographies to make the character more believable.

The Direct Method promotes oral production through visual aids and modeling. Diller in Freeman (2000) says, “..the direct method receives its name from the fact that meaning is to be conveyed directly in the target language through the use of demonstrations and visual aids, with no resources to the students native language. One of the main characteristics of the direct method (DM) is that the teacher always tries to convey meaning with realia, pictures and modeling, always avoiding the use of translation. Another main attribute of the DM is that the syllabus is based on situations, in order to create a real English speaking environment. Another trait of the DM is that grammar is taught inductively never deductively. Using the direct method as opposed to suggestopedia may have different effects on students in the English classroom. First of all one of the main trait that may cause a variation in the effect is the lack of L1 in the DM as opposed to using it accordingly in suggestopedia. Some students may feel pressured when using the DM and they may become blocked or build on the effective filter, instead of decreasing it as suggested in the suggestopedia. While the DM is focused on communication, suggestopedia is focused on making the students feel good in order to accelerate the English learning process. Using suggestopedia instead of the direct method may reduce anxiety.

Teachers avoid L1 in the English classroom for various reasons.
In communicative language teaching students are allowed to use the L1 only when they feel it is absolutely necessary. Robinson et Ellis (2008) “Language is based on usage, and masses of detailed patterns of usage including relative frequencies- are stored in language, and this is why it is so important for classroom L2 teaching to include as rich as possible a diet of L2 usage.” Promoting the use of L2 in the EFL classroom is essential in CLT, because it provides practice as well as habit. One of the reasons why CLT encourages the use of L2 is because in this method oral production is not the only important aspect, but interaction consciousness is also present. Using the L2 promotes the recognition of when it is proper to use certain types of language and when it is appropriate to use others. Within this aspect what may be measured is the factor of politeness as well as recognition of the selection of discourse. It is essential to introduce as much authentic material as possible because it promotes language that is not academic but colloquial. The implementation of this type of material leads to the main objective which is to make competent users of the L2 that are able to discern when to use the different types of language.

Using the L1 in the English classroom has been banned by teachers who use the Direct Method. Many teachers think that the use of L1 is not appropriate for the L2 classroom as is the case of the DM. In the previously mentioned method the use of the L1 is avoided at all costs. The teacher uses visual aids instead of giving the meaning of an unknown word in the native tongue. Another strategy that is used to avoid the use of the L1 in the L2 classroom is to use mimic, modeling or realia. By using these strategies the students may comprehend the meaning to unknown vocabulary as well as understand the meaning of grammar structures. The DM works with a situational syllabus in order to make the vocabulary learning process easier on the students. This way the students know that they are learning a certain type of vocabulary and the meanings of the unknown words may become much narrower. Another reason why the DM avoids the use of the native language is because it provides more time for the students to practice their oral production within the target language. Another reason for avoiding the L1 in the DM is that students become more confident when they have to use the target language in real contexts. This is because the students are used to using the L2 in front of others, which reduces anxiety when attempting to produce the language in a real context or with a native speaker. There are other methods that promote the use of the L2 and limit the use of L1 in the EFL classroom. The audio lingual method says that L2 should be used and L1 should be avoided in order to form habits of using the L2 instead of the L1. In the audio lingual method students are praised when they correctly structure an idea, and the teacher tries to avoid the use of the L1 at all costs.

Including L1 in the English language classroom may prevent anxiety and motivate students.
Although many authors suggest that the use of L1 in the EFL classroom is prejudicial, many proposals have risen that advocate otherwise. Jadallah, M., Hasan F. (2011) says, “.. referring to L1 might be possible in four areas: introducing concepts, reviewing a previous lesson, capturing learner’s attention and praising them.” There are certain situations, in which the use of L1 is productive such as giving explanations and reviewing important topics. Macaro (2001) in Jadallah, M, hansan, F. (2001) argues that excluding the L1 in the L2 classroom deprives students of an important learning tool as well as discriminates their backgrounds. This sort of action may become prejudicial to the extent that it may cause a high effective filter, as mentioned in the suggestopedia, and slow down the language learning process. In many researches that have taken place teachers have tried to exclude the use of the L1, yet the results have shown that the meaning of the words or ideas were commonly miss comprehended, leading to negative learning.

The reduction of anxiety is an important reason to use L1 in the L2 classroom. There have been many studies in which students present some type of difficulty when asked to produce oral language without using any words in their native tongue. As suggested in the suggestopedia, students well being should be the biggest concern in language teaching. If students do not feel comfortable in the EFL classroom because they are being pushed too much they might end up building high affective filters, in effect slow down their learning development. As was recommended in suggestopedia, the students should be motivated to learn the target language rather than be pushed into doing it. On the contrary the direct method mentions that the use of L2 is the only usage that is allowed. It has been proven that when students’ affective filters are low their leraning development may become faster and better. It is therefore, important to take into consideration the students well being during the learning process.

Excluding L1 in the L2 classroom may provoque identity conflicts leading to problematic in the language learning process. In a study done in the mid eastern students were asked about their perceptions regarding the use of L1 in the L2 classroom. The students responded that the L1 should be used sparingly in order to become more fluent with the target language, yet they acknowledged the importance of including it in the learning process. One of the students said that they felt that the inclusion of the L1 in the L2 classroom was essential in his learning progression arguing that it was part of his identity and avoiding it was prejudicial for him.

Conclusion
In conclusion there are various decisions that should be taken into consideration when teaching in an EFL classroom. As previously mentioned there are different types of methodologies and approaches to language teaching. While some authors suggest that L1 should be avoided in the EFL classroom other say that it is prejudicial to exclude it and beneficial to include it. The use of the L1 in the L2 classroom differs according to the method or approach. Whilst the grammar translation method argues that L1 should be used in class, the direct method argues that it takes away practice time prejudicially. In communicative language teaching the use of L1 is not encouraged, on the other in the suggestopedia method argues that the most important aspect in language teaching is the students feelings, and if the student needs to use his or her native tongue consciously it is possible. The use of L1 in the L2 classroom has many factors to consider, and the use of L1 should be looked as something beneficial when it is used accordingly.

Annotated Bibliographies
Ellis, N., Robinson P. (2008) Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Adquisition. Routledge, New York.

In this book the authors, Robinson and Ellis, say that L2 and L1 have a very close relationship. They suggest that tL2 should be the main language and L1 should be avoided by using different types of techniques. The authors provide reasons to why L2 should be prominent in the target language classroom. The authors suggest that L1 may be used to guess unidentified L2 patterns as long as it does not interfere with the L2 learning process. This book is useful for my topic because in it described different types of knowledge and reasons to why L1 should be avoided in the L2 classroom. As a conclusion L1 frequencies are stored in language therefore the most exposure to the target language available will conduce to the optimist L2 learning process.

Freeman, D.(2000) Techniques and Principals in Language Teaching.Oxford University Press, New York This book talks about many methods and approaches. It describes the different characteristics of each of the methods and approaches. It also gives background knowledge of the creation of the approaches and methods. Something else that is important in this book is that there are examples to each of the methods in order to make the content more clear. This book also mentions experiences and observations of the examples that are provided. This book is very useful to clarify the differences between the methods as well as have more knowledge regarding each of the approaches and methods that are mentioned.

Jadallah, M., Hasan F. (2011). A review of some new trends in using L1 in the EFL classroom. Retrieved from http://www.qou.edu/english/conferences/firstNationalConference/pdfFiles/drMufeed.pdf on October 7, 2011

Jadallah, M and Hasan F. suggest that using L1 in the L2 classroom is a contradictory topic. The authors suggest that the use of the native language has been banned in many educational environments, but they suggest that it should be reconsidered. In this article they attempt to demonstrate that there are certain advantages to using the L1 in the EFL classroom. This article is useful for my research because it has various teaching methods and the usefulness of each of them. As a conclusion the authors suggest that although modern teaching methodologies suggest that L1 should be excluded in some cases such as, saving time and motivational cases.

Kroll, J., Sunderman, G. (2003) Implications of Psycholinguistic Research for Second Language Pedagogy. In Doughty C., Long M. (Eds.). The handbook of second language acquisition. Blackwell publishing, Malden MA.

In this book Kroll and Sunderman suggest that L1 semantics and lexis are directly intertwined with L2 production and comprehension. The authors suggest that there are many ways to avoid the use of L1. They provide methods and techniques that suggest that L1 should be avoided at all costs. At the same time they suggest that students might get confused when try to retrieve lexis from L2 and find themselves remembering the words in L1. They suggest that the process may get confusing and they may start to depend on the L1, all though they declare that further research is required. The usefulness of this chapter is significant because it allows the reader to have another point of view regarding the use of L1 in L2.

Macaro, E. ( 2000 ). Issues in Target Language Teaching. In Field, K. (Ed.). Issues in Modern Foreign Language Teaching. Routledge Falmer, New York.

Macacro states that there are different perspectives regarding the use of L1 in the L2 context. He states that various methodologies implement the exclusion of the L1 in the target language classroom. He suggests that L1 is a helpful tool because it allows the L2 learner to semantically and syntactically compare and contrast the L1 and the L2. All though the previous idea doesn’t mean that the comparison will always be correct, an example of this would be inter-language. This article may be useful because it allows the reader to view the reasons he states to why L1 may be helpful in some case and should be avoided in others.

Mouhanna, M. (2009). Re-examining the role of L1 in the EFL classroom. UGRU Journal. 8

In this article Mouhana reviews the importance of L1 in the EFL classroom. Mouhana suggests that L1 should be used in certain cases. After surveying 124 students from 3 levels of English proficiency at a UAE tertiary institution in the Middle East he seeks to find the students perceptions regarding the usefulness of the L1 in the L2 classroom. This article will be useful for my research because it identifies the students perceptions as well as results regarding the use of L1. The limitation in this research is that the participants of this research are all Arabic and therefore the outcome cannot be generalized. One of the findings in this research is that L1 should mostly be used in lower level classrooms. As a conclusion, L1 can be used in certain situations within the EFL classroom.

Nazary, M. (2008). The role of L1 in L2 acquisition: attitudes of Iranian university students. Novistas Royal Research on Youth and Language. 2 (2) 138- 153

In this piece of writing Musta Nazari talks about the significance of L1 in the L2 acquisition, according to Iranian students. The expression of the previous topic is expressed according to the information obtained through questionnaires that were applied to 65 English students attending Theran University who’s main focus is not the English language. The aim of this research is to find out if the students’ opinions regarding the usefulness of the L1 changes according to proficiency, as well as their perception in general towards the involvement of the L1 in the acquisition of the L2. This research will be very useful to me because it expresses what methods and approaches consider L1 as useful and prejudicial. The limitations of this study are that it only applies for a specific context. In the findings, the students agreed that L1 shouldn’t be used in their L2 classroom in order to be more exposed to the L2.

Roberts, E.(1993). Reexamining English Only in the ESL classroom. Retrieved from http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/files/rcd/BE019020/Reexamining_English_Only.pdf on October 7, 2011

This author states that the use of the native language in the target language classroom is valid in certain cases. He talks about previous research made regarding the L1 vs L2 in the English language classroom. He enlists some situations in which authors perceive that L1 is appropriate in the language classroom, such a record keeping and scene setting. He also talks about a research he conducted in Puerto Rico in a monolingual setting. His findings showed that the students agreed to the use of L1 in the English classroom and that the teachers use L1 to some extent in the L2 classroom. This is relevant to my topic because it shows how L1 plays a role in the target language classroom.

Schweers, W. (2011). Using L1 in the L2 Classroom. Retrieved from http://eca.state.gov/forum/vols/vol37/no2/p6.htm on October 7, 2011

This author states that the use of the native language in the target language classroom is valid in certain cases. He talks about previous research made regarding the L1 vs L2 in the English language classroom. He enlists some situations in which authors perceive that L1 is appropriate in the language classroom, such a record keeping and scene setting. He also talks about a research he conducted in Puerto Rico in a monolingual setting. His findings showed that the students agreed to the use of L1 in the English classroom and that the teachers use L1 to some extent in the L2 classroom. This is relevant to my topic because it shows how L1 plays a role in the target language classroom.

Tang, J. (2011). Using L1 in the English Classroom. English Teaching Forum. 40 (1)

In this research Tang gives explanations to the points of view of using L1 in the L2 and avoiding its use. He provides information gathered in interviews, questionnaires, and class observations from a group of 100 Chinese students who are studying the first year of English major in Beijing, and the teachers involved were all teachers in the same institute. Tangs aim is to share the students’ as well as the teachers’ perceptions regarding the use of L1 in the EFL classroom, as well as find out what teachers tend to use more L1 in class and the results. This research is relevant to my topic because it expresses Chinese students’ opinion regarding L1 in the EFL classroom. The findings of this research are that the students in the previously mentioned school do not find the use of L1 as prejudicial instead as a tool that helps the L2 learning process.

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 * Word count is approximately 268. You need approximately 2,500 words.  Feedback is more effective if you make the changes then I follow up with additional feedback.  If you make the changes I suggested earlier, either today or tomorrow, send me an email and I will provide further feedback.  Work on your introduction, making sure that you state a problem in the first paragraph and that you include a thesis statement in your second paragraph that links to your problem.  The reasons section of your thesis statement will be your topics you cover in each of the three sections of your literature review.  Click here to see some helpful videos.  Link your conclusion to your thesis statement and summarize the main points that you've previously discussed. Remember not to include any new information in your conclusion. Also, discuss future implications and ideas for further research related to your topic.   --Bnleez 18:15, 7 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Add references as you go. --Bnleez 05:01, 30 November 2011 (UTC)
 * See Adriana's annotated bibliography as an example. Alphabetize your references, one double space between references, APA formating, avoid bold text, etc. Also, you need a level II headings for your annotated bibliography and your literature review. The literature review heading should be at the top. --Bnleez 13:36, 19 October 2011 (UTC)