YUKO HORIGUCHI (RIKKYO UNIVERSITY)
NAOKO HOSODA (Rikkyo University)

STRIKING THE BALANCE: L1 VS. L2 IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION : METHODOLOGIES AND TEACHING APPROACHES

One of the enduring questions in the realm of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) pertains to the choice between using English as the medium of instruction and relying more on students’ first language. This seemingly straightforward query, however, requires nuanced and multi-faceted considerations. Factors such as students' proficiency levels, the educational context involved, and the overarching goals of language instruction all come into play. Striking the right balance between the use of the first language and the target language in instruction thus becomes imperative. Our university, situated in the specific milieu of Japanese higher education, grapples with this challenge as we offer several mandatory English courses to a diverse cohort of freshmen. These students arrive with varying language learning profiles, differing levels of proficiency, and distinct expectations regarding their language education. To shed light on this issue, we turned to the learners themselves. Through a survey involving over 200 freshmen, we sought their preferences regarding the medium of instruction for their English courses—whether to conduct classes in English or in Japanese. The results revealed that their preferences for L1, L2 or a combination of both diverge with certain discernible patterns depending on their language proficiency levels, the type of English lessons (e.g., writing or presentation), and the mode of language instruction (e.g., oral or written). In our presentation, we will share both qualitative and quantitative results and explore potential implications for English language education within the TEFL environment.

Yuko Horiguchi is a specially-appointed associate professor in the Center for Foreign Language Education and Research at Rikkyo University in Tokyo. Japan. Her research interests are applications of debate practice and systemic functional linguistics to language education, and CLIL.

Naoko Hosoda is a specially-appointed associate professor at Rikkyo University in Japan. She has been teaching English to Japanese university students for over 15 years. Her main research interests are Task-Based Language Teaching, collaborative learning, and CLIL.