When reading Cultura article, I find an interesting thing, using of L1. By advocating CLT(Communicative Language Teaching), language teachers consider using L2 a must in language class. They also encourage students to use L2 as much as possible out of the class. However, Culturaallows learners to use L1 for posting messages in the forums with the consideration of different target langauge proficiency, nuanced culture information, and creation of student-generated authentic texts(Bauer etal,p.34). My concern is if students from U.S don't understand Chinese, cultural information might not be effectively exchanged due to Chinese students' English proficiency. Maybe this is a limitation of Cultura.
Another problem is caused by Chinese writing system. I have noticed that some computers on campus cannot display Chinese characters( a problem I have encountered many times). When adopting Cultura in English class in China, can the teacher make sure that students' conversation partners use computers that can display Chinese characters accurately?
The idea of using L1 in term of cultural information exchange is good, but some limitations still exist due to some language and technology constrains.
Blogs for Specific Purposes
12 years ago
I thought the L1 posting aspect was interesting too. It seems like the benefit of allowing students to write in the L1 is that they can really say what they want to say, without being constrained by language proficiency. Maybe because the purpose of Cultura is related to developing deeper understanding of culture, and because the students do still get lots of L2 input and practice in using the L2 in class, there's not too much lost by posting in the L1?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amy. The purpose is to develop their cultural knowledge. Here the teacher should pay attention to Ss level in order to gain more of the interaction. I also think that it might even be useful to discuss in class the messages, phrases, or meanings they didn´t get in the target language. If they want to practice their L2, they can exchange emails and maybe chat on their own timeor out of the academic context.
ReplyDeleteYes, the purpose of 'L2 only' is so that students get enough exposure to fluent use of the L2. However, there's more to language learning than this--maybe if we are developing intercultural competence, or even meta-grammatical awareness, discussing things in our L1 is beneficial because of the complexity of the ideas. As long as students know when they should, and when they shouldn't, use their L1, I think it's not necessarily a bad thing.
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