http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/mother_tongue.

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From mother tongue to other tongue

Luke Prodromou - teacher, teacher trainer, writer
British Council, Greece

The issue of whether or not to use the mother-tongue (L1) in the English language (L2) classroom is
complex. This article presents the results of a survey into student attitudes towards the use of L1 in
class and some suggestions for using the L1 and its culture as a learning resource.

• Reinstating the mother tongue

• What about the learners?
• Survey result summary
• Beyond monolingualism
• Conclusion
• References
• Survey results in full

Reinstating the mother tongue

In Teaching Monolingual Classes (1993). Atkinson suggests 'a careful, limited use of L1' to help
students get the maximum benefit from activities which in other respects will be carried out in the target
language. The mother tongue may be useful in the procedural stages of a class, for example:-

• setting up pair and group work

• sorting out an activity which is clearly not working
• checking comprehension

Beyond these basically managerial functions of L1, Atkinson also suggests using the L1 for translation
as a teaching technique.

From my research with teachers, the overall rationale for this procedural use of L1 is that it is necessary
to keep the lesson from slowing down or because things just can't be done any other way.

What about the learners?

But do the learners agree with such uses?

A questionnaire was addressed to 300 Greek students at three levels, beginner, intermediate and
advanced. The students were, for the most part, adolescents or young adults. They were asked general
questions to elicit their view on whether the teacher should know and, in principle, use the students'
mother tongue.

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Survey result summary

65% of students at beginner level and about 50% of students at intermediate and advanced level
believe the teacher should know the students' mother tongue.

Should teachers USE the mother tongue in class? Here, the figures for beginners and intermediate are
quite high (66% and 58% respectively) but only a minority of advanced learners (29%) find the use of L1
in the classroom acceptable.

The greatest differences arise when students are asked to approve particular uses of L1 in the
classroom. Overall, the higher the level of the student, the less they agree to the use of the mother-
tongue in the classroom. For example, with regard to the use of L1 to explain grammar, beginners are
significantly in favour (31%) and intermediate and advanced are almost unanimously against (7% and
0%).
 1. Explaining differences in use between L1 and L2 rules
It seems that roughly 1 in 3 beginners and 1 in 5 intermediate/advanced students find using the
L1 for 'contrastive discourse' acceptable.
2. Asking for vocabulary
'How do we say ( L1 word) in English ? ' The intermediate learner feels most strongly the
usefulness of asking for the English equivalent of a mother-tongue word (38%).

In all other instances of L1 use in the classroom, most students of intermediate and advanced levels feel
they should be hearing and using English. This feeling includes 'procedural' or managerial uses of the
target language: giving instructions; checking listening and reading. The conclusion is that procedural
language in the classroom is too good an opportunity to expose students to natural English to waste on
the mother-tongue. This contrasts very strongly with the view of Atkinson given above.

On the other hand, the general scepticism towards L1 in the ELT classroom shown by these particular
students does not mean there is no place for the L1 at all. I will go on in the next section to illustrate a
range of techniques for using the L1 to promote both learning and acquisition.

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Beyond monolingualism
In response to the survey and in the light of my own feelings that the L1 language and culture are a
valuable resource, I now make some suggestions for activities which use L1 in some way. I assume
mono-lingual classes.

1. Awareness-raising activities
A questionnaire such as the one I used opens up the debate concerning the use of L1 and so
may help deal with some of the students' scepticism.
2. Contrasting L1 and L2
Useful areas for study in this way are collocations, proverbs and idioms. Comparing verb-noun
collocations across the two languages helps students understand how L1 interference can
often give them problems. Comparing proverbs gives an insight into cultural as well as
linguistic differences.
3. Research in L1, Presentation in L2
For example, following textbook work on famous English writers, I asked the students to
research famous people from their country (using L1 and L2) and to make a presentation in a
later class, in L2. An alternative is a local history project, in which grandparents are interviewed
in the L1, and a report is made in L2.

In these examples, the foreign language is a medium through which the students explore their own
culture, using the mother-tongue as a bridge towards English. The English language can help you learn
things about your own community.

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Conclusion
In general, students seem sceptical about the use of L1 in the classroom, particularly at higher levels.
However, the bilingual / bicultural teachers are in a position to enrich the process of learning by using
the mother tongue as a resource, and then, by using the L1 culture, they can facilitate the progress of
their students towards the other tongue, the other culture.

References
Atkinson, D. 1987. 'The mother-tongue in the classroom : a neglected resource ?' (ELT Journal, 44/1 :
3-10)
Atkinson, D. 1993. Teaching Monolingual Classes (Longman)
Baynham, M. 1983. 'Mother Tongue Materials and Second Language Literacy' (ELT Journal, 37/4 : 312-
318)
Brumfit, C. 1980. Problems and principles in English Teaching. (Pergamon)
Duff. A. 1989. Translation (Oxford University Press)
Kramsch, C. 1993. Context and Culture in Language Teaching (Oxford University Press)
Kramsch, C. 1998. Culture (Oxford University Press)
Krashen, S. 1988. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning (Prentice Hall)
Medgyes, P. 1994. The Non-Native Teacher ( Macmillan)
Phillipson, R. 1992. Linguistic Imperialism (Oxford University Press)
Richards, J.C. and T. S. Rogers. 1986. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. (Cambridge
University Press)