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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Approval Page ………. ii
Abstract ……… iii
Acknowledgments……… iv
Table of contents ……..……… vi
List of tables ………... viii
List of appendices ……… ix
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1Background of the Study ……….……… 1
1.2Purposes of the Study ……….. 3
1.3Research Questions ………..……… 4
1.4Scope of the Study ……….……….. 4
1.5Significance of the Study ……….……… 4
1.6Definitions of the Terms ……….………. 5
1.7Organization of the Thesis……… 6
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1Arguments for the Use of L1………... 7
2.2Arguments Against the Use of L1………... 16
2.3The Stages of Teaching English to Young Learners …………. 18
2.4The Characteristics of Young Learners ……….. 22
2.5The Research and Studies of L1 ………. 28
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD 3.1Research Design ……….. 33
3.2Site and Participants ……… 33
3.2.1 Profiles of the Site and the Participants ………. 34
3.2.1.1 Schools and Students Profiles ……… 34
3.2.1.2 Teachers Profiles ………. 37
3.3Data Collection Method ………. 38
3.3.1 Observation ……… 39
3.3.2 Interview ………. 40
3.4Data Analysis ……….. 41
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 4.1The Teachers Use L1 in the Stages of Teaching English to Young Learners ………. 44
4.2The Functions of L1 in the Classroom ……… 46
4.1.1 To Ask Questions………. 49
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4.1.3 To Review……… 50
4.1.4 To Give Information ……….. 51
4.1.5 To Give Directions ………. 52
4.1.6 To Lecture ……….. 54
4.1.7 To Praise ……… 56
4.1.8 To Criticize Students ………….….……… 58
4.1.9 To Encourage ………. 60
4.1.10 To Respond Students’ Activity or Statement……… 61
4.3Teachers’ Reasons for Using L1……… 62
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1Conclusions ……….. 70
5.2Implications of the Study ………. 73
5.3Limitations of the Study and Recommendations for Further Research ………. 74
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………. 76
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
Appendix 1. Example of Transcripts of Classroom Observations ……. 80
Appendix 2. The Interview Form …..………. 93
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LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 2.1 The Reason for L1 Use ….……….. 13
Table 3.1 Classroom Observations Schedule ……… 40
Table 4.1 The Frequency of Using L1 by Teachers ……….. 44
Table 4.2 Functions of L1 Use …..……… 47
Table 4.3 Instructional Purpose ……….……… 63
Table 4.4 Managerial Purpose ……… 64
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides information of the research background which
describes the brief overview of the issues on the use first language or L1 in EYL
classroom and the reason to conduct this research, the purposes of the study, the
research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the
definition of terms, and the organization of the thesis.
1.1 Background of the Study
The issue of the L1 use in the English as a foreign language classroom has
been debated for years (Erton, 2009; Brown 2000; Miles, 2004; Tang, 2002).
Some proponents for maximizing English as a target language use emphasize the
benefits of language exposure, which, it is maintained, can bring about language
learning gains in the form of effective and confident language use, as well as
intercultural competence (Duff & Polio, 1990; Turnbull, 2001; Turnbull & Arnett,
2002). Turnbull and Dailey-O’Cain (2009) also argues that the use of L1 should
be avoided in teaching target language to make effective instruction and not to
interfere learner’s target language development. Several authors (see, Krashen,
1987; Duff & Polio, 1990; Pennycook, 1994) maintain that L1 has no essential
role to play in EFL teaching and that too much L1 use might deprive learners of
valuable input in the L2 (Ellis, 1984).
In contrast to the arguments above, some theorists perceive that L1 could
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beneficial as a cognitive tool that aids in second language learning (Antόn & DiCamila, 1998; Blyth, 1995; Brooks and Donato, 1994; Cook, 2001; Swain and
Lapkin, 2000 in Turnbull and Dailey-O’Cain, 2009:131) and these claims have
prompted them to argue in favour of some sort of principle alternation between
first and second language use in the foreign language classroom (Turnbull and
Dailey-O’Cain, 2009:131). Other research supporting the L1 issue in EFL classrooms is discussed by Schweers (1999) that reports most of the EFL students
want to use L1 in the classroom because they believe L1 could facilitate learning.
Burden (2001) also argues in his study that both students and teachers believe the
importance of L1 in explaining new vocabulary, giving instruction, talking about
tests, grammar instruction, checking for understanding and relaxing the students.
It is also interesting to note that the use of first language may contribute to
student target-language comprehension, use and learning (Turnbull and
Dailey-O’Cain, 2009:5). Skinner (1985, cited in Macaro, 2001 in Turnbull and
Dailey-O’Cain, 2009:5-6) argues that some first language use can facilitate connections
between the target language and prior knowledge and ideas already developed in
the first language. A number of recent studies on the use of mother tongue in the
EFL classroom indicated that appropriate and judicious L1 use in the EFL
classroom can play significant role in facilitating a successful second language
acquisition (Schweers, 1999; Larsen-Freeman, 2000; Nation, 2003; Tang, 2002).
Regarding the research on EFL to young learners, the following studies
support what this study intends to explore the use of L1 in EYL classroom.
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middle schools which the study particularly examined the teachers’ use of the
students’ first language (L1). In line with this, Kim and Petraki (2009) have
conducted the research concerning the use of L1 in EYL Korean classroom; they
find that L1 plays a supportive role in the language classroom, especially in the
early stage. Al-Hinai (2002) also conducted the study concerning on the use of L1
in elementary English language classroom in Oman. The classroom data suggest
that the main purpose for which Arabic is used in this study was to translate words
and instructions. Arabic was also widely used for class management and control.
So, based on the various positions and argumentations regarding the use of
L1 in the EFL/EYL classroom, the study investigates the use of L1 at elementary
school which has not been conducted yet previously specifically in Tasikmalaya.
Moreover, the study focuses on the aspects of the stages of teaching in which L1
is used, the function of L1 and teachers’ reasons for using L1 in EYL teaching
learning process. The study is expected to give contributions to the enlightenment
of the use of first language in EYL classroom.
1.2 Purposes of the Study
According to the background, the study is addressed to:
1. Investigate in what stage of teaching the teacher uses L1 in EYL classroom.
2. Investigate what function of L1 is being used in EYL classroom.
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This research attempts to answer the following questions:
1. In what stage of teaching does the teacher use L1 in EYL classroom?
2. For what function is L1 being used in EYL classroom?
3. Why do the teachers use L1 in EYL classroom?
1.4 Scope of the Study
This study is intended to find out the use of L1 in EYL classroom at three
elementary schools in Tasikmalaya, which become the representatives of higher,
medium and lower level of elementary schools. Particularly, the study also
concerns on the use of L1 in each stage of teaching teacher uses, and the
frequency of using L1. Moreover the study aims to figure out the function of L1
which is being used and to look for the teacher’s reason to use L1 in the process
of teaching learning process in EYL classroom. Therefore, this study is hopefully
expected to give the benefit for teacher and students in enhancing the teaching
learning process of young learners in learning English.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The study is significant and valuable since so far studies related to the use
of L1 focused in teaching English as a foreign language, therefore this study as a
study that focused on young learners classrooms may potentially contribute to
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Theoretically, this study imparts some information as one study attempted to fill
in the gap of related studies previously which are dominated by research on the L1
use in adult context of teaching EFL. Additionally, the study which deals with this
approach in the use of L1 to young learners is also still rare; if there is any, some
of them still focus on its role of L1 (Inbar-Lourie, 2010; Kim and Petraki, 2009).
This study will contribute to add the repertoire of those previous related studies.
Practically, this study is beneficial for the teachers to utilize L1 in some certain
situations related to the process of teaching English to young learners that students
are able to come up their English performance with the use of L1 in the
classroom. They can be guided and facilitated in developing their English. Hence,
this hopefully can help them to gain in their understanding of learning English as
a foreign language. Lastly, from professional aspect, the result of the study could
be beneficial for the English teachers who are directly involved in teaching
English to young learners classroom. The information can be used as a basic to
improve the teaching learning process of English to young learners in terms of
students needs in order to facilitate them in learning English as a foreign language
particularly by the teachers at the research site.
1.6 Definitions of the Terms
First language or L1
First language defines “a person’s mother tongue or the language acquired first.
In multilingual communities, however, where a child may gradually shift from
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refer to the language the child feels most comfortable using.” (Richards et al.,
1985:106)
Young Learners
According to Pinter (2006:2) young learners include children who are at
pre-school or in the first couple of years of pre-schooling.
Teaching English to Young Learners
The program of government as a local content which aims to teach English at
the age between 6 to 12 years old in Indonesian primary school level.
1.7 Organization of the Thesis
This thesis is organized into five chapters involving Chapter 1 which
discusses the background of the study, research questions, purposes of the study,
scope of the study, and also the significance of the study, Chapter 2 presents the
literature review of the study, Chapter 3 talks about the research methodology that
involves research design, site and participants, collecting the data, and analyzing
the data, Chapter 4 displays how the data are interpreted and discussed according
to the finding, and chapter 5 concerns on the conclusion and recommendation of
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CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHOD
This chapter presents how the procedure of doing the research in some
steps and it is divided into four sections. The first section is about the research
design which presents the method used and how the research carried out. The site
and participants of the study will be elaborated in the second section. The third
section will elaborate how the data gathered using the instrument applied in this
study. The last section presents the data analysis which covers how the data
analyzed and interpreted.
3.1 Research Design
The study will portray the use of first language or L1 in English to young
learner classrooms. In line with this, the study will use a case study design which
typically consists of a description of an entity and the entity‟s actions (Thomas,
2003:33). It also offers explanations of why entity acts as it does. In other words
case study deals with observing or investigating events, groups, individuals or
organizations. Furthermore, the study has the aim to identify the use of L1 in EYL
classroom by teachers.
3.2 Site and Participants
This study focuses on the use of first language or L1 in English to young
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Tasikmalaya, namely SD A as school 1, SDN B as school 2, and SDN C as school
3. The schools chosen as research site since they are categorized into three
different level of background – high (1), medium (2) and lower (3) schools. Thus,
the study observed three English teachers and the three classes of the third grader
as the participants of this study. Moreover, those schools have the good
background of English teachers which have been teaching and they have also
experiences in teaching English to young learners for more than five to ten years.
Another reason choosing the third grader because the nature of this study
concerning on young learners who fall between eight to nine years old. More
importantly, the reason why choosing the location in Tasikmalaya is also because
the researcher has the feasibility to get the access to conduct the research, thus the
data can be collected easily.
3.2.1 Profiles of the Site and the Participants
The site and the participants‟ profiles are presented in this section to give the
clear descriptions about three schools, three teachers and students as the subjects
in this study. It is important to be mentioned here that all participants were given
pseudonyms along the thesis to maintain anonymity.
3.2.1.1. Schools and Students Profiles
This study involved three elementary schools which have different levels of
quality background both on students input and school facilities. The first site is
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medium level, and SDN C is on lower level. The followings are the profiles of the
three schools and students.
S#1 is one of the private and favorite elementary schools in Tasikmalaya. It
has been established since 1996 and located at Jl. Sutisna Senjaya 235 Kota
Tasikmalaya. The characteristic of this school is very high especially in its facility
and the quality of students input which has the higher level background not only
from the students‟ intellectual but also from the socio-economic status of
students‟ parents. Every year this school accepts about five classes which consist
of about thirty students for each class. So, this school should be selective more in
accepting new comers especially from their intelligence. To overcome this, the
administrator conducts the psychological test to decide whether the students could
be accepted to be a student in this school annually. So, the input of students is
very considered as a higher achiever. There are four classes of the third grade, and
only one class was chosen as a sample to be observed. The characteristics of the
students are very active and smart. They are challenged to learn English especially
when teacher uses games as a technique in the classroom. This can be one of good
factors to improve their progress in learning English. There are four English
teachers who teach for twenty seven classes for 2011/2012 academic year. Three
English teachers have the same educational background concerning on English
Education Study who graduated from two higher level education or universities in
Tasikmalaya and Ciamis. The reason why this school is categorized as the higher
level because it has good average in achieving English grade that could be
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English mastery is at grade 8.48. Besides that, English is taught three hours a
week in this school.
S#2 is one of the state elementary school established in 1975 and located in
Saripin, Purbaratu subdistrict of Kota Tasikmalaya. The school has one English
teacher who has been the respondent of this study. It is categorized as medium
level background since its students‟ mastery of English had the average 7.02 last
year. English is taught two hours a week. This year, the school has 338 students
divided into twelve classrooms which are classified into two classes for each
grade (first grade up to sixth grade) and has only one English teacher. Specifically
for the third grade, it consists of 64 students and 31 students from class A became
the respondents of this study. The students‟ profiles of this class are active and
they are categorized in the medium achiever than students of the S#1. They are
diligent enough and have good motivation in learning English even the school
facility still lacks of teaching media of English.
S#3 was established in 1948. It is located at Jl. Tarumanagara No. 16 Kota
Tasikmalaya. This school is one of the state elementary schools which has the
same input of students from the lower socio economic status and also the low
students‟ capability in their intelligence. The majority of students enrolling to this
school are still learning to read and write at the first grader. Based on the
document given, the school has two English teachers and 249 students which are
classified into seven classes. They are one class for a first grader, one class for a
second grader, one class for a third grader, two classes for a fourth grader, one
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two hours a week. The average of students‟ grade of English mastery in 2010 was
6.66. This shows that graduates school had the lowest level of output of two
schools observed.
3.2.1.2. Teachers Profiles
Three English teachers who were involved as respondents in this study
have the same level of educational background. The followings are the description
of them which .
T#1 was born in 1979. She graduated from English Education Department
of a private university in 2002. She has been teaching English at S#1 since 2003
up to present. She teaches all the first grader to third grader. To support her career
in teaching English, she participated the National Seminar and Workshop on
Vygotsky in Action held by a state university in Tasikmalaya in 2011.
T#2 was born in 1986. She graduated from English Education Department
of a private university in 2007. She has been teaching English in the S#3 since
2007. When she was a university student, she has taught English in one of the
state elementary schools in Tasikmalaya for about three years. She has
participated some workshops and seminars to support her knowledge of teaching
English. In 2005, she joined a seminar entitled “A Step to Empower Nations‟
Literacy” which was held by English Students Association of Indonesia. The
second workshop is about How to learn English which was held by Education
bureau of Tasikmalaya District in 2008 and in 2011 joined the National Seminar
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T#3 was born in 1978. She graduated from one of the private universities
in Tasikmalaya. She has experienced in teaching English to young learners since
she was in the first grade of university. She was motivated to teach children
because she likes them much which have unique characteristics. She feels
comfortable to teach children because it makes her have a challenge to improve
their motivation in learning English. To encourage her interest, she had
participated in the National Seminar and Workshop on Vygotsky in Action held
by a state university in 2011.
3.3 Data Collection Method
During the collection data process, the researcher will be a non-participant
observer because she was not involved in the observation directly as stated by
Fraenkel and Wallen (1993:391) that in a nonparticipant observation study,
researchers do not participate in the activity being observed but rather „sit on the
sidelines‟ and watch; they are not directly involved in the situation they are
observing. So in this case, the researcher only sees what happens during the
observation conducted.
Related to the nature of the case study as research design of this study, in
gathering the data, there were two kinds of instruments used – observation and
interview. This is in line with what Cowie in Heigham and Croker (2009:166)
says that observation is closely associated with ethnography, but is also common
in action research, case study, and mixed methods as part of a bank of data
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research questions. It is probably rare to see observation used exclusively on its
own as it often goes in hand with interviews and questionnaires, providing
important preliminary information about participants‟ external behavior which can
then be followed up with questions about their inner values or beliefs.
3.3.1. Observation
According to Thomas (2003:60) the researcher immediately sees and hears
what is happening. Cowie in Heigham and Croker (2009:166) states that
observation is the conscious noticing and detailed examination of participants‟
behavior in a naturalistic setting.
During the observation, the researcher took some notes using observation
sheet consisting of teacher‟s talk, students‟ talk, what the teacher did in the
classroom, what the students did, what L1 words occurred in the classroom, and in
what stage of teaching learning process (pre activity – core activity – post activity)
they used those words. The participants – teacher and students were involved in
this observation.
Videotapes were used as a means to observe what happened in the
classroom during teaching learning process of English. This is really helpful as
Fraenkel and Wallen (1993:401) argue that the videotapes have several
advantages. The tapes may be replayed several times for continued study and
analysis. This also can make the classroom observation will be effective.
The observations were conducted five times for each school, so there were
fifteen classroom observations. The researcher thought that five times would be
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both participants. The following is the schedule of classroom observations
conducted.
Table 3.1
Classroom Observations Schedule
Teacher Session Day/Date Time
1
First session Wednesday/July 27, 2011 11.40 a.m. – 12.15 p.m.
Second session Friday/July 29, 2011 02.40 p.m. – 03.15 p.m.
Third session Wednesday/September 21, 2011 11.40 a.m. – 12.15 p.m. Fourth session Wednesday/October 14, 2011 02.40 a.m. – 03.15 p.m.
Fifth session Friday/October 21, 2011 02.40 a.m. – 03.15 p.m.
2
First session Tuesday/July 26, 2011 12.00 p.m. – 01.00 p.m.
Second session Tuesday/August 9, 2011 09.40 a.m. – 10.40. a.m.
Third session Tuesday/August 18, 2011 08.00 a.m. – 09.00 a.m.
Fourth session Tuesday/September 20, 2011 07.00 a.m. – 08.00 a.m. Fifth session Tuesday/September 27, 2011 11.30 a.m. – 12.30 a.m.
3
First session Thursday/ August 4, 2011 08.00 a.m. – 09.00 a.m. Second session Thursday/ August 11, 2011 08.00 a.m. – 09.00 a.m. Third session Thursday/ August 18, 2011 09.00 a.m. – 09. 00 a.m. Fourth session Thursday/ September 22, 2011 07.00 a.m. – 08.00 a.m. Fifth session Thursday/ September 29, 2011 07.00 a.m. – 08.00 a.m.
3.3.2. Interview
Interview aims to obtain in-depth information about what the researcher
wants to explore after observation. The type of interview is informal interview
because the characteristic of questions emerge from the immediate context and are
asked in the natural course of things; there is no predetermination of question
topics or wording (Fraenkel and Wallen, 1993:387). It has the strength to increase
the salience and relevance of questions; interviews are built on and emerge from
observation; the interview can be matched to individuals and circumstances. In
this case it will be appropriate with the aim of this study in investigating the use of
L1 and in what stage of teaching that teacher uses L1 in EYL classroom dealing
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The interview will be conducted during the observation (2 months)
according to participants‟ time availability and will be probably done after the
class or in their break time which involve all participants. The interview process
will be recorded by the audio-tape recorder to explore more and deep information
relating to the data which have been obtained then transcribing done.
Informal interview has also the weaknesses in research such as different
information collected from different people with different questions, less
systematic and comprehensive if certain questions do not arise “naturally”, and
data organization and analysis can be quite difficult (Fraenkel and Wallen,
1993:387).
3.4 Data Analysis
Dealing with the process of analyzing the data, the researcher used coding
and categorization based on the research questions proposed. The data from
observation were elaborated by coding it and there was a labeling after the coding
process done. Coding aims to ease the researcher finds out the categorization of
theme based on the research questions proposed. The study used coding because it
has the aim to keep track of the data has collected. It can also to identify
categories, themes, and patterns that help explain the phenomena under
consideration and the contexts in which they occur (Hood in Heigham and
Crocker, 2009: 78). Then labeling can display the reasons of participants in the
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also present what function of L1 is being used in the EYL classroom. Then the
theme or pattern will be categorized to answer the research questions.
The data gathered from the classroom observation were coded from the
observation sheet which is taken from the videotapes recorded and data from
interview were transcribed based on the categories or theme related to the research
questions. This is in line what Silverman (2005:184) states that data from
interview are in the form of tape and transcripts which also offer more than just
„something to begin with‟. In the first place, they are public record, available to
the scientific community in a way that field notes are not (Silverman, 2005:184).
Following the data analyses, there is a further discussion on the issues
captured during the classroom observations and the relevant theories they are dealt
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CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter discusses the conclusions and recommendations of this study
which are divided into three parts – conclusions, implications of the study, and
recommendations for the next researchers. Thus, the conclusions are described based
on the data which have been analyzed and interpreted in chapter four. The data were
obtained from classroom observations and interviews conducted in several times. The
following describes all parts of this chapter detail.
5.1. Conclusions
Some conclusions can be portrayed based on findings of this study which the
data obtained from the classroom observations and interviews with three English
teachers. The following description can give the conclusions of the research questions
answers outlined in chapter one clearly.
As regards the first research question; in what stage of teaching does the
teacher use L1 in EYL classroom? This study reported that according to the
frequency of the use of L1 by all respondents used bahasa Indonesia as the first
language in each stage of instructions. In other words, L1 is used in pre-activity,
whilst-activity and post-activity. This happened frequently during five times
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L1 in 208 times and 57 times of frequencies in all steps of instructions. The second
teacher and students in medium level had the highest frequencies of L1 use which
were 654 times and 151 times. Then the third teacher and students of lower level had
similar frequencies to the first teacher and students, they were 216 times and 87 times
of frequency of using L1. All teachers perceive that it is still important to use first
language (L1) as an aid to explain the difficult concepts of English especially for
children or young learners. They also believe that L1 plays an important role to
increase students’ motivation in learning English.
The second research question of this study which focuses on function of L1
can be described by the result of observations. The findings show that there are three
general categories found dealing with the purposes of L1 use, instructional purposes;
managerial purpose; and affective purpose. Then three categories of L1 functions
break down into ten subcategories – asking questions, introducing new words,
reviewing, giving information, giving directions, lecturing, praising, criticizing
students, encouraging, and responding to students’ activity or statement.
All teachers agree to use L1 as a medium to deliver the material and it is also
helpful especially to make students motivated to learn English. T#1 is the teacher
which used L1 limitedly than T#2. This happens because she teaches the higher level
students which are categorized as good achievers or have a good input. T#2 have
students who have medium level background which still need motivation, so she used
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teaching English to young learners because she agrees that students still learn how to
spell and write their native language, in this case bahasa Indonesia. T#3 has also
special case in teaching English; she faces the lower achievers/students in English
class. Even she teaches the lower level background of students, she still perceives to
use L1 limitedly. In this case, she has the opinion of language exposure can be
achieved if teaching English should use English. Because of this reason, she used L1
limitedly the same as T#1. She always attempts to make her students able to use
English as much as possible in the classroom, even L1 is also still needed but the
frequency is not as much as T#2 at the middle level students.
This summary can lead the researcher to make a whole conclusion as regards
the function of L1 in the English classroom that it is not because of the capability or
competency of teachers that they use L1 but it is because of the certain situations
which make them choose L1 as a medium or means to explain, clarify or instruct
students when teaching learning process happens. Thus, students are able to
comprehend more or respond the material well. Besides that, all teachers believe the
use of L1 brings several benefits to the success of English learning.
The last research questions relating to the teachers’ reasons for using L1 in the
EYL classroom can be described that most of the teachers use L1 since they believe
there are several advantages of L1 use to facilitate students’ understanding of
English. There are five categories of teachers’ reasons, three advantages and three
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the three teacher respondents questioned. The first category of teachers’ reasons
involves making students comfortable, avoiding boredom and tiredness, making or
checking students’ understanding of English, motivating students to learn English,
and introducing new English words. The second category of advantages of L1 use
includes easing students to understand English more, improving students’
memorizing of English words, and motivating students in learning English. The last
category of disadvantages of L1 use includes decreasing teacher’s skill of English,
limiting language exposures of teacher and students, and causing the teaching
learning process of English ineffective.
5.2. Implications of the Study
This study aimed to portray the use of L1 in English to young learners by both
teachers and students. The results of the study revealed that L1 could benefit and
facilitate teachers and students in English instructions. The teachers also had the same
perception on the use of L1 in their English classrooms. According to the purposes
and the results, the study has the following implications:
Firstly, as regards the use of L1 in the English classroom to young learners,
teacher (T#2) who teaches the middle level students should try to minimize or hinder
the use of L1 during teaching learning process, because this can cause students not
have chances to get language exposures of English.
Secondly, for the first and second teachers who are in the higher and lower
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they used L1 limitedly based on the certain situations. According to the frequency of
L1 use, they were categorized into the teachers who could minimize the use of L1.
Thirdly, for the young learners even they have limited knowledge or
comprehension of English, teachers should be confident to hinder L1 during English
teaching learning process. Thus the students can have more chances to use English in
the classroom. This is very helpful for students to reach the objective of English
learning especially when they are still in the lower level (beginner) in learning
English which is not their native language. Teachers should be able to set the
classroom instruction creatively relating to the young learners’ characteristics.
Finally, those implications are not meant to prohibit the use of L1 in the
English classroom, instead they can be an aid or guideline to the English teachers to
look for the best way to overcome or help them in solving some obstacles in teaching
English, especially to give the positive effect to the teaching and learning of English
to young learners context.
5.3. Limitations of the Study and Recommendations for Further Research
This study has some limitations. The first limitation is dealing with samples
which come from the different level students. This process needs an accurate
technique while choosing three schools as a case study of this research. The
researcher should also find the backgrounds of English teachers which have the same
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those characteristics of samples since the researcher has limited time to find out the
one that has higher, middle and lower level students. In this study, the researcher
attempts to ask each principal of elementary school in Tasikmalaya that is assumed as
the best, middle and lower level school.
The second limitation is the problem occurring in the process of collecting the
data – classroom observations. The researcher found an error when operating the
video recorder, but fortunately the researcher could overcome it to use another digital
camera which has a facility to record. This happened since the researcher did not
consider and prepare too much on the use of video recorder perfectly. Therefore, the
researcher considers that it is very important to the next researcher to conduct the
same issues or further study about the use of L1 in another context of English
teaching not only to EYL context but also adult or even teenager context as EFL
learners and to prepare everything relating to the research before it is conducted such
as making sure that the tool used during classroom observation can work well so
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