Teachers' And Students' Responses To The Uses Of The Target Language And The Native Language In English Classes In Elementary Schools

With a view to understanding teachers'and students'responses to the uses of target language (TL) and native language (NL) for instruction in English classes in elementary schools, this study mainly investigated the following questions: (1) the elementary school EFL students'responses to the teacher's TL and NL uses, (2) the elementary school EFL teachers'beliefs and realization about instructional language use and (3) the effect of the teacher's instructional use on high-English-proficiency (HEP) and low-English-proficiency (LEP) students'TL learning outcome.The subjects in the study were four elementary school English teachers and sixty-eight students from two forth-grade classes. The four teachers were interviewed to express their beliefs and realization about instructional language use, and the students were asked to fill out two questionnaires so as to elicit their perceptions of the teacher's TL and NL uses in the classroom. Besides, the students'performance on TL achievement tests was analyzed to explore whether the teacher's instructional language use affected the students'TL learning outcome. The major findings in the study are presented below.1. Concerning the students'responses to the teacher's TL and NL uses, the main findings were illustrated as below:(1) Most of the HEP students preferred more TL use for the teacher's language use, and most of the LEP students preferred half TL use and half NL use.(2) The teacher's TL-only use did not give rise to more of the students'anxiety, and the teacher's bilingual (both the TL and the NL) use made the students more dependent on the teacher's NL translation to solve comprehension problems.(3) Most of the HEP students perceived that the teacher's TL use helped them more concentrate on their TL learning in the classroom, but the LEP students did not perceive significant help.(4) Most of the students in TL-only class perceived that the teacher's TL use had improved their listening ability. (5) Most of the students expressed the least need for NL use in"praising students"and had more need for NL use in"introducing new words","conveying the meanings of sentences","introducing domestic or American festivals","administering tests"an"explaining the rules of games".2. The teachers interviewed in the study expressed that it was hard for them to implement the TL-only teaching to elementary EFL students due to limited teaching time, and they would give NL translation when students could not understand the TL use.3. The results of achievement tests showed that the teacher's TL-only use had a positive effect on LEP students'learning outcome.In conclusion, it is suggested that the TL-only be a recommendable instructional language use for EFL teachers because it can help the students perform well in TL achievement tests. However, in the classroom with limited teaching time, the NL use is helpful for EFL teachers to save teaching time, and it is not necessary to exclude the NL from the classroom.