The first language in the foreign language classroom: teacher model and student language use - an exploratory study

This study investigates how three teachers differed in the amount of first language (L1; here, English) they used during teacher-led instruction in a foreign language (FL; here, German) class and whether differences in the three teachers' L1 were associated with similar differences in their respective students' L1 use, both during teacher-led instruction and peer work. Furthermore, this paper juxtaposes the amount of L1 use with that of L2 (FL) use. The most persistent reservation about L1 use in FL instruction is the worry that L1 use would proportionally reduce L2 use (e.g. Cook 2001; Ellis 2005; Polio 1994; Turnbull 2001). The present research argues that L1 use represents just one of many variables that compose the conversational space afforded (van Lier 2000) to classroom language learners and does not in itself predict the amount of L2 use.