One of the more heavily debated issues in TEFL is whether it can ever be a good idea to use the students’ mother tongue to help explain finer points in EFL lessons. There is no doubt it can be helpful for elucidating a subtle point, but some EFL teachers think that only the target language should ever be used in the classroom. Does using the mother tongue stop us from ever developing fluency in the target language?

Does using our native language stop us becoming fluent in our target language?

We all learned our mother tongue as a baby without effort because were were surrounded by this language as a child. The language found its way into our brain without use having to try to learn it.

Surely that means that total immersion, without any contact with another language, is the best way to learn a new language? Perhaps not.

Some may say, as we already have a native grasp of one language, it might not be the best route to fluency in a second, especially as an adult. This is because we learn new things differently because our brains are no longer blank slates.

But what if the human brain always learns a language the same way, no matter what? If so, then using our L1 while we learn a new language could prevent us from ever becoming fluent.

Using only the target language in the classroom seems to ‘promote natural acquisition’ as linguistics scholar Peter Dickenson points out in his excellent book ‘Using the Target Language’.

This method gives students a model to follow and keeps the brain thinking in L2 mode. In this way, the thinking is that using the mother tongue creates a barrier between students and target language and interrupts the learning process.

Using the target language in context also makes it a lot easier for an EFL student to understand. This is because often the context implies what people are likely to say in a given situation, so the student can remember an appropriate response.

Do we need L1 to explain idioms and nuances?

However, with so many different and difficult nuances to a language, not to mention all the idiomatic phrases and double meanings, sometimes it can be impossible to adequately explain a new word or phrase without resorting to L1.

This is, of course, assuming the EFL teacher has proficiency in the student’s native language. So the debate continues.

The solution could be for an EFL teacher to only ever teach a lesson where he or she doesn’t know the L1 of the students – this will necessarily remove all temptation to use the mother tongue!

Share your thoughts

What do you think? Is it ever a good idea to use the students’ native language in an EFL lesson?

Or should the EFL lesson only use the target language?