L1 English as a powerful tool in L2 Chinese classroom: a sociocultural analysis

Ying Zhang

Student, University of Massachusetts

In foreign language classroom, there is a tendency to prohibit the use of L1 and to completely avoid L1 use in student interactions. Some arguments against using the first language have been that it does not afford learners opportunity to use the target language to produce comprehensible output and to negotiate meaning during limited class time as well as that when the teacher uses the L1, it reduces the amount of input and exposure in the L2 to the learners. There are also arguments about language transfer and L1 interference. However, the L1 provide essential cognitive support for attending and meaning-making. The use of L1 can establish constructive interaction and encourage collaborative efforts among learners to work together to achieve a common goal. Using the native language in L2 context could reduce learner anxiety and create a more comfortable learning environment and bring the learners’ cultural background knowledge into the class. It can challenge students to perform higher level activities, hence enhancing motivation, especially for low-proficiency learners.

The present study investigates the elementary college-level L2 Chinese classroom interaction and explores the role and functions of L1 English in L2 Chinese learning process within a sociocultural perspective. Under a sociocultural analysis, the use of English in collaborative interaction emerged as a means to create a social and cognitive space in which learners were able to provide each other and themselves with help through the Chinese learning process. The use of L1 English as a powerful critical mediation tool and a scaffolding device assisted learners to gain control of the classroom talk and learners might have been extending their zone of proximal development. Through the native language English, the learners could think and self-regulate more quickly and were then able to transfer their cognitive, metacognitive and social skills to Chinese as a foreign language. Meanwhile, they could negotiate roles they are going to take, or check their understanding or enact community members’ confirmation. In this presentation I attempt to provide insight into how various features of the L1 English used by learners play a strategic role as the learners jointly attempt to make sense Chinese grammar and vocabulary. The present study argues that judicious use of the L1 English in a Chinese classroom is in fact a useful tool for novice Chinese learners and can indeed support Chinese learning and use.