A Study Of L1 Use In EFL Classrooms Of A Vocational-Technical Collge

In recent years, studies focused on the role of mother tongue (MT) have become one of top concerns. More and more researchers in applied linguistics have come to recognize that L1 still plays a part in ESL/EFL classrooms. Many class observations and studies show that teachers switch to the mother tongue (MT) frequently for different purposes in EFL classrooms.In China, little research is done on vocational-technical college EFL teaching. To enrich the relevant literature, this study tries to explore the teacher's use of the mother tongue (Chinese) in English classrooms of a vocational-technical college, so as to find out the features of teachers' language choice in college English classrooms. It aims at describing teachers' practice in Chinese use and answering the questions of the frequency of teachers' use of Chinese in the vocational-technical college EFL classroom, the situations of teachers' L1 use in the EFL classroom, and the possible factors affecting teachers' L1 use in the EFL classroom.The data of the study come from questionnaire, classroom observation and interview. Altogether 42 College English teachers and 226 students were investigated in a questionnaire survey and five teachers were interviewed after classroom observations. It has been found that most students and teachers approved of a judicious use of Chinese, which, according to them, could help the students learn English well, and that the extent of teachers' use of Chinese was expected to be less than 30%, but the use in natural teaching process varied according to different situations. Teachers seemed to use L1 more frequently in teaching grammar, explaining language points and managing the classroom; and teachers mainly used Chinese for translation. Students' language proficiency and cross-linguistic difference were of great concern when a teacher decided on which language to use. Cognitive factors and situational factors such as mother tongue's efficiency and atmosphere were also found important, in addition to teachers' own attitude towards the use of L1, English proficiency and personal quality (emotional state and body language, etc.).Based on the discussion of the results and findings, this study concludes that in EFL classrooms, the mother tongue plays a complementary and facilitative role, especially in vocational-technical colleges. The extent to which the mother tongue is used under different conditions should be considered by teachers themselves according to factors such as teaching environment and their own abilities. Some pedagogical implications are discussed and limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies are finally provided.