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FIRST LANGUAGE USE IN LEARNER-LEARNER INTERACTIONS WITH AND WITHOUT ADDITIONAL LINGUISTIC SUPPORT IN A BEGINNING SECOND-LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
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Date
2023
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Spanish
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http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/8485
Abstract
The focus of this study is the potential reduction of first language (L1) use during group activities in the second language (L2) classroom through the introduction of L2 support phrases with the goal of enabling learners to carry out three information exchange tasks without resorting to communication in L1. Many language instructors tend to limit group interaction because learners would typically revert to the language they are comfortable with and thus receive less comprehensive input and feedback from peers or get a chance to modify their output in the target language. Group work in the second language classroom is, however, most beneficial as it maximizes the number of turns students take and their overall speech production.  In the study I conducted, the participants were 16 students, forming eight pairs, from beginning Spanish language classes. Those in the L2 support class received linguistic assistance while those in the no L2 support class did not receive any additional help during the three information-exchange activities completed by the participants four to five weeks apart. The transcribed learner-learner interactions were analyzed in order to reveal the extent to which beginning Spanish language learners use the L1 rather than the target language during group work, and to make observations about the communicative functions of the languages used.
 The findings revealed that providing L2 support phrases to manage tasks and deliberate over language use did not have an impact on the amount of the use of L1. On the contrary, it demonstrates that verbalizing less in the L1 in learner-learner interactions does not produce more target language. Thus, this study contributes to the theoretical explanation for the use of an L1 during learner-learner interactions, which does not always align with pedagogical practices. 
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