The Role Of L1Translation In English Vocabulary Teaching And Learning

The use of students’ first language (L1) in the second or foreign language (L2)classrooms has been a bone of contention for linguists and teachers alike ever since the fall ofthe grammar translation teaching method. Even though it is still widely used throughout theworld, no teaching methodology exist that support it, and many speak out against it. The lackof positive literature available on L1use in L2classrooms, and the negative coverage itreceives by the ‘expert’ and trainers, has certainly made teachers wary of experimenting withit or doing research on it. However, more recently, some theoretical and empirical support forthe rational use of students’ mother tongue as a potential aid of L2teaching and learning canbe found. Recent researches have aimed at the positive effects of L1use on L2teaching andlearning.Does L1use really retard or promote the teaching and learning process of L2? To answerthis question, a research was done to investigate the use of L1translation in the area ofEnglish vocabulary teaching and learning for the purpose of checking the effectiveness of it interms of short-term retention, long-term retention and appropriate use. One hundred and fiftyChinese EFL students of the same English language proficiency level participated in theresearch. They were treated with three conditions of vocabulary teaching, including teachingEnglish vocabulary through Chinese translation, English definition and the combination ofChinese translation and English definition. The findings of the research show that L1translation has a positive role to play in English vocabulary teaching and learning in terms ofboth short-term retention and long-term retention, but L1translation neither accelerates norhinders the process of English vocabulary teaching and learning in terms of appropriatesituational use. In the meantime, a questionnaire with thirteen open questions was utilized tofind out the relationship between the participants’ attitudes towards and beliefs about L1useand their actual strategy use in English vocabulary teaching and learning. The findings showthat a discrepancy exists between the participants’ attitudes towards and beliefs about L1useand the learning strategies they actually use. While they advocate ‘English-only’ policy, theyare actually using L1translation in their vocabulary learning. Besides, through a comparison between the participants’ answers to the13questions in the questionnaire and their test scores,it is found that there exists a positive correlation between attitudes towards and beliefs aboutEnglish vocabulary teaching and learning strategies, actual strategy use and learning outcome.Moreover, the implications of the research results for current English vocabularyteaching and learning are discussed and suggestions are made for making students realize thevalue of L1translation, the reconsideration of the implementation of ‘English-only’ policy inmodern English language classrooms and the dominant role of native English speakers in ELTprofession and further the judicious use of students’ first language in modern Englishlanguage classrooms, the use of bilingual teaching and learning materials, the use of othertechniques and strategies besides L1translation, the combination of explicit and implicitapproaches, and the flexible use of specific teaching methods based on particular situations.