Abstract : This essay reveals the fact that the limited use of the mother tongue is the most important resource in second/foreign language teaching and learning, and a bilingual approach that combines native language with target language will ultimately promote language acquisition and proficiency.
Key word: mother tongue use; translation; a bilingual approach; second/foreign language teaching
1.Introduction
Since the late nineteenth century, the common belief has been that the best way of teaching and learning a second/foreign language is a monolingual approach (i.e.), without the use of students' native language in the classrooms (Hall and Cook, 2012).
Until recently, with the development of globalization, a large number of books have been published to call for the use of the mother tongue and translation, as an alternative to the prevailing monolingual approach (Boukella, 2011).
2.The monolingual approach
The monolingual approach,according to Howatt and Widdowson (2001), basically focuses on using the foreign language as the normal way of classroom instructions and communication by excluding students' native language, with the objective of helping students to use the target language with little interference in the mother tongue and translation.
Working from the definition, the objective of second/foreign language teaching is to prepare students to speak in monolingual environments by rejecting using their native language and translation, and to emulate as far as possible the use of the target language by its native speakers.
3.Mother Tongue use in second/foreign language teaching
Although the mother tongue is avoided, it still inevitably works its way into the second/foreign language classrooms. The general advantages of using the mother tongue can be divided into three sections:
●Explaining grammar and meaning
Grammar explanation is the basic function and advantage of using native language. Furthermore, Wharton (2007) thinks translation provides the reinforcement of the key structural and sociolinguistic similarities and differences between the target language and the mother tongue, when learners are heavily focused on accuracy.
●Time saving device
Native language can be used as an economical time-saving device for many teachers. Instead of going through a long and tedious explaining in the target language, it is much easier and faster for the teachers to translate a vocabulary item or grammatical rules directly in the mother tongue for comprehension (Richards and Rodgers, 2001).
●Establishing constructive relationships
Faced with the new language environment, these learners tend to be more powerless and anxious, and the mother tongue, therefore, can be served as a comfort to clarify the difficulties of the target language and assure sense of safety (Wharton, 2007).
4.Conclusion: adopting a bilingual approach
Based on the above analysis, the solution on how to learn a second/foreign language, then, is to adopt a bilingual approach which resorts to native language as teaching aids.
Butzkamm and Caldwell (2009) offer an overview of how the bilingual approach might operate in the language classrooms practically. Based on Butzkamm's previous work, both of them emphasize the importance of the mother tongue and establish ten maxims for using it. They regard native language as the "greatest pedagogical resource" (p. 13) that a learner brings to second/foreign language learning.
Recognizing the importance of native language and translation as a teaching and learning resource and adopting a bilingual approach could be a more efficient and effective way to second/foreign language teaching and learning, and at the very least, would bear more fruit than the monolingual approach in today's second/foreign language teaching context.
References
[1]Boukella, O. (2011). L1 as a Springboard for EFL/ESL Learning: Bring Translation out of the Closet. UGRU Journal, 1-12.
[2]Hall, G., & Cook, G. (2012). Own-language use in language teaching and learning. Language Teaching, 45(3), 271-308.
[3]Howatt, A. P. R., & Widdowson, H. G. (2001). A History of English Language Teaching, 2nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[4]Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[5]Wharton, C. (2007). Informed Use of the Mother Tongue in the English Language Classroom.
