| This study examined a contemporary issue in second language (L2) learning: the use of a student's first language (L1) as part of the L2 instructional design. Specifically, this research studied if the inclusion of students' L1 in an ESL (English as a second language) class led to better results in comparison to the same ESL class that did not include the students' L1. Using the communicative model of second language acquisition as a primary conceptual framework, this study looked at the validity of one of the principles generally associated with that model: a student's L1 should never be incorporated into that student's second language study. The setting for this study is Prince Sultan University, which is a men's college in Saudi Arabia whose students' L1 is Arabic but who learn English as part of their required coursework. The research for this study was conducted by having a control group (CG) and an experimental group (EG) of participants utilize a self-access tutorial to learn a set of vocabulary words. The control group's tutorial used only English while the experimental group's tutorial used English with Arabic translations. A repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) was used to compare scores generated by tests from the tutorials. After comparing test scores, no significant differences in learning were observed between the EG and the CG, despite the fact that the EG had use of L1 translations. However, it is worthwhile to note the effect of the tutorials on the participants' test scores. Specifically, post hoc analyses including a trend analysis and paired t tests were carried out. These analyses revealed that there was a statistically significant increase in scores following use of the tutorial. Furthermore, the analyses showed that after the tutorial ceased, a significant decrease in scores was observed. In general, this study contributes an additional body of findings to those who are interested in the issue of whether or not to use students' L1 in an L2 classroom. Specifically, the results of this study showed that the use of the L1 in an L2 classroom did not lead to worse results than use of the L2 only. Consequently, these results could provide the impetus for social change in two important ways. First, some educators who have not approved of the use of the L1 in the classroom may be prompted to review their beliefs about this and possibly incorporate the L1. Secondly, if use of the L1 in the L2 classroom leads to improved student affect, then this is likely to stem the possibility of students quitting an L2 class and may lead some students to take additional L2 classes beyond what is required by their educational institutions. |
