| Nowadays, the majority of learners and teachers of English are located in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context such as China. But related academia, teacher training and textbooks remain for the most part located in English-speaking countries. For many years, in theory and methodology, the English Language Teaching (ELT) in China has been influenced by Western world. The practice, though, does not always keep the same pace with the theory. The preference of English in English classes and the reality that Chinese is fundamentally used is one of the contradictions. And there are many reasons for this phenomenon. Thus this study is conducted to show the presence of L1 and L2 use in Chinese university English classrooms, and to explore the reasons of Chinese teachers'use of L1 and L2 in English classrooms.This study applies an ethnographic approach, which comprises the observation of four English major classes and four non-English major classes at a Chinese provincial university, and interviews with seven teachers respectively. This study aims to engage with Chinese teachers' voices both as they are heard in the classroom and at the interview. The framework for analysis is grounded in the socio-cultural theory of "language in use" and Vygotsy's social interaction model of learning. It suggests a new angle to describe and interpret EFL classrooms. The study also shows that Chinese EFL is quite distinct from ESL domain which it is usually influenced by.The results of this research demonstrate that in EFL context, the use of L1 in Chinese university English classrooms is not uncommon and the presence of L1 is necessary. The combination of L1 and L2 use is beneficial to students' language development and enables non-native English speaking teachers create unique cognitive, affective, educational effects 1 which further contributes to ELT and SLA field. At last, the limitation of this study and implications for further research are explored. |
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