MOTHER TONGUE versus TARGET LANGUAGE

2.

3. � If we did not keep making correspondences between foreign language items and mother tongue items, we would never learn foreign languages at all� (Swan, 1985).

4. �If students are speaking in their own language rather than in English during an oral communicative activity, then clearly the activity is fairly pointless� (Harmer, 1983).

5. �The students� native language has no particular role in the Communicative Approach. The target language should be used not only during communicative activities, but also, for example, in explaining the activities to the students or in assigning homework. The students learn from these classroom management exchanges, too, and realize that the target language is a vehicle for communication, not just an object to be studied� (Larsen-Freeman, 1986).

6. 1. Why use the L1 Translation/transfer is a natural phenomenon. �An English teacher is considered is a �bad� teacher by the students, if he/she does not explain all the words during the lesson� (Scholdield and Gitsaki, 1996). Humanistic approach. Efficiency.

7. How can the L1 be better integrated into teaching? Stop feeling guilty Use the L1 positively

8. Ways of using L1 positively in teaching Efficiency Learning Naturalness External relevance

9. Why teachers use the L1 To give instructions To elicit language To explain grammar To check comprehension To test To convey and check meaning of words or sentences To maintain discipline To gain contact

10. Why students use the L1 For classroom activities �is a common psycholinguistic process that facilitates L2 production and allows the learners both to initiate and sustain verbal interaction with one another� (Brooks and Donato, 1994). As part of the main learning activity.

11. Problems of overusing the L1 Despite the fact that students are capable of expressing what they mean in the target language, they speak to the teacher in the mother tongue. Students do not seem to realize that while many activities are taking place in the classroom, it is very important to use only English. Both the teacher and the students feel that they have not actually understood any item of language until it has been translated.

12. 1. Why use the L2 � The monolingual principle remains the bedrock notion from which the others derive� (Howatt, 1985)

13. Why avoid the L1 in the classroom Keeping the L2 seperated from the L1 (language compartmentalization). Encountering the language (language of real communication). Experiencing the L2 in meaningful ways. Using the L2 for social interaction. Being involved in communicative activities.

14. To sum up : L2 learning is not L1 acquisition and L2 users are not the same as L1 users

15. Conclusions Starting with the L1 provides a sense of security and validates the learners� lived experiences, allowing them to express themselves.

16. If the learner of a second language is encouraged to ignore his/her native language, he/she might well feel his/her identity threatened.

17. English should be the primary vehicle of communication in the English classroom and you should give students ample opportunities to process English receptively as well as to produce and negotiate meaning in the language.

18. A second language can be learned through raising awareness to the similarities and differences between the L1 and the L2, and the prudent use of L2 in the English classroom affirms the value of our students� L1 which is their primary means of communication and cultural expression.

19. Bringing Greek into the English classes has made learning English appear to be less of a threat to their vernacular. They learn first hand that the two languages can coexist.

20. Using Greek has led to positive attitudes toward the process of learning of learning English and better yet, encourage students to learn more English.