EL ESPAÑOL EN EL AULA DE INGLÉS. UN ESTUDIO EMPÍRICO

Abstract

Abstract

This experiment explores the advantages of using the L1 in the EFL classroom in activities such as explicit presentation of form-based content. Two groups of 33 pupils -the control and the experimental- were taught a specific morphosyntactic structure -the passive- in five classes. Three tests were then administered -immediate, delayed and late- and the results compared. The independent variable was the use or non-use of the L1 in the five sessions of presentation and subsequent activities. The results of all parameters analyzed showed differences in favour of the control group; in many cases these differences were statistically significant according to Ttests applied at a significance level of 5% (a < .5). This suggests that, in a monolingual classroom, the minimal role played by the L1 accorded by the current orthodoxy of foreign-language teaching methodology should be revised; it does not, however, undermine the centrality of exposure to the L2 and interaction in it.