Learners’ L1 Use in a Task-based Classroom: Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language from a Sociocultural Perspective

Rui Bao, Xiangyun Du

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In the past two decades, strong theoretical and pedagogical arguments have been made advocating for task-based activities in the language-learning context. However, many teachers have been reluctant to in- corporate task-based activities into their teaching practices due to concerns about learners’ extensive L1 use and off-task talk. Informed by sociocultural theory, this study explored the extent to which L1s and their func- tions were used when performing tasks. The subjects were beginner-level lower-secondary school learners of Chinese. The data shows that learners have a high amount of L1 use, but with only a very small amount oc- curring for off-task talk across tasks. L1 use mainly occurred in learners’ efforts to mediate completion of the tasks. The findings highlight the role of L1 in foreign language learning and suggest that L1 use is associated with a number of factors, such as task types, learners’ proficiency, and learning context. Implications for lan- guage teachers and task designers are also discussed.
Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Language Teaching and Research
Volume6
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)12-20
Number of pages9
ISSN1798-4769
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Keywords

  • Task-based teaching and learning
  • Chinese as a foreign language
  • socioculture perspective

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  • Tasked Based PBL in Foreign Language Education

    Du, X. (Project Participant), Kirkebæk, M. J. (Project Participant) & Bao, R. (Project Participant)

    01/01/2012 → …

    Project: Research

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