Factores de riesgo 1. Velocidad excesiva

Although it is largely the teacher’s responsibility to determine the language use in the classroom and whether or not to allow any L1 use either by the students or themselves, it is nonetheless highly important to know the opinions that students have regarding the use of their native language in the foreign language classroom. After all, getting student feedback about L1 use could help to better engage them in the TL and allow for a more productive and comfortable environment that facilitates learning.

Inspired by this idea, Rodríguez and Oxbrow (2008) looked at the students’ beliefs of whether the use of the L1 in English (L2) classrooms is a facilitator or a hindrance to language learning. Their study found that most of the students said that the use of L1 (Spanish) through translation in the EFL classroom actually helped them improve their L2. Further, most of the students (76%) agreed they preferred when the teachers explained the grammatical structures in their L1 and not in the L2, as this was more useful for their understanding. Similarly, the students also appreciated the teachers’ translation of English vocabulary items and grammatical structures into Spanish, suggesting that this technique was helpful for language learning. However, unlike the opinion expressed in Atkinson (1993), the results from this study actually demonstrate that students do not prefer the use of the mother tongue for procedural functions, or those aspects that move class along, such as instruction giving and setting up and monitoring group work. Rodríguez and Oxbrow (2008) contend that this could be due to the fact that “the kind of language used in these procedural tasks is simple (mainly imperatives), brief, and repetitive

because the instructions are often the same, so students get used to this kind of language rapidly and can understand it without any problems” (p. 98).

Similarly, in their study of teacher language use in the classroom, Tang (2002) investigated L1 frequency, uses, and opinions. The results indicate that a high percentage of students and teachers think that the L2 should be used in the classroom. According to students, Chinese (L1) was most necessary to explain complex grammar points (72%) and to help define some new vocabulary items (69%). In the qualitative results from Viakinnou-Brinson, et al (2012) it was found that the students expressed a preference for learning French grammar with the support of English (L1), although they did see benefits to a TL approach. The results from these studies seem to indicate that L1 use is accepted by most students and preferred for linguistic or lexical content, which certainly begs the question of whether or not its exclusion from the language classroom is indeed beneficial for student learning.

Levine (2003) in his study on student anxiety found a negative relationship between the amount of TL use in class and TL anxiety. Indeed, students who reported higher TL use in their FL classes tended to report lower levels of anxiety about TL use. The important implication of this finding is that, contrary to popular belief, greater TL use does not signify greater anxiety among students. However, other answers further revealed that anxiety was lower for those students with a bilingual background, in the second year of instruction, and who expected a higher grade (p. 352). The results suggest that learner language level and other social variables might be more indicative of student anxiety from instructor TL use.

Suby and Asención-Delaney (2009) sought to understand not only the amount and variables that condition TL use in the classroom, but also the students’ attitudes and perceptions towards the teachers’ use of the TL. From the results on a student questionnaire, their study

reveals that a very low percentage of students feel frustrated when the teacher uses the L2 (Spanish) both in low and intermediate level classes. In fact, most students actually reported to feel as though they were learning a lot when the teacher spoke in Spanish. With respect to their language preferences, a majority of students indicated that they were content with the language behavior of their instructor. However, there was a considerable number (22%) who would like their instructors to use more Spanish. Most of the students that indicated this wish were from the highest language level of the three experimental groups, those with four semesters or more of Spanish instruction. In regards to how the teachers’ language use would affect student learning, most students felt that if the teacher used more Spanish in class, they would learn the same amount or more. However, the beginner students were most represented among those who indicated that they would learn less if the teacher used more Spanish (L2). While there was no attempt to assess empirically student learning and teacher language choice, the fact that beginner students felt they might learn less with more TL use is certainly revealing. This would suggest that exclusive TL use might not be appropriate with this level, as they purportedly see value in limited use of the L1 to aid in understanding.

Perhaps due to the differing instructor and student beliefs of the role for TL and L1 use in the classroom, there is not yet a consensus about the exclusivity of one language or the other. As such, the discussion about the best uses of both the L1 and the L2 in the language classroom persists. Next, previous empirical studies about the amount and contexts in which instructors in the foreign language classroom use the L1 and the TL will be discussed.