This article challenges the widely held assumption in monolingual English as a foreign language (EFL) settings that students prefer their teachers to rarely use their mother tongue (MT)--the language children initially learn in order to communicate. Through an examination of data derived from eight classrooms in four private language schools in…

This report summarizes Austin Independent School District elementary dual language teachers' Spring 2016 survey results. Teachers were asked about different aspects of the district's dual language models, instructional practices, and support.

In the literature of second language teaching and learning, the use of students' first language (L1) has been an issue of debate for many years. Despite the changing state of teaching and learning aspects over the years, the belief that L1 should not be used in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms has stood the test of time.…

The design and implementation of the professional development model of the New Zealand Numeracy Development Project has been successful in improving teacher knowledge and practice as well as raising student outcomes. Since 2000, more than 25,000 teachers in English-medium settings have participated in the project. In New Zealand the terms…

This paper calls attention to the vital need to reexamine the role of the students' first language in foreign language teaching. It provides a brief snapshot of the views concerning L1 use in L2 classes put forward by different methodological schools of thought over the last century. Through the presentation of potential uses of the first…