First Language Use in English Language Institutes: Are Teachers Free to Alternate between L۱ and L۲ as Means of Instruction?

Once severely rejected, first language (L۱) use is no more considered to be inherently detrimental in foreign language pedagogy. Recent research within sociocultural framework has come up with numerous facilitative roles for L۱ use (Anton and DiCamilla, ۱۹۹۹; Swain and Lapkin, ۲۰۰۰; Storch and Wigglesworth, ۲۰۰۳). Also, studies from humanistic perspectives that deal with the teachers’ and learners’ attitudes about L۱ use report generally positive attitudes from both groups (Duff and Polio, ۱۹۹۰; Macaro, ۲۰۰۱). However, contrary to this bulk of theoretical and empirical support, there seems to have been an evident animosity towards L۱ use in the Iranian private English language institutes. The present research was therefore designed to delve deeper into the apparent discrepancy between theory and practice in this regard by identifying some contextual constraints on the teachers’ language choice. After preliminary exploratory interviews and a small-scale pilot study to make sure of the reliability and validity of the instruments, two separate sets of questionnaires for young learners’ parents (۲۴۳ participants) and teachers (۳۱ participants) were designed and administered. The results of the analyses showed that both parents and teachers held significantly negative attitudes towards L۱ use. The findings also indicated that parents reflect their negative attitudes to the institutes so as to hamper L۱ use by talking directly to the teachers, threatening to change institutes in the case of dissatisfaction, and influencing the institute principals’ policies about L۱ use.

کلیدواژه ها:

first language use ، young learners ، private language institutes ، parental expectations