Maricel,

1.  I would not use the students' L1 unless all the students have the same L1.  At times, use of L1 is a time-saver.  Also, at the very beginning level, students lack of English may impede their ability to ask questions to clarify difficulty.
I don't prohibit the use of the students' L1 in class.  At times a student who speaks the same language may understand his classmate's difficulty and clarify the difficulty.
2.  In my experience as the instructor of Level 1 to recently arrived Latinos, the students do not seem bothered when a student uses L1, even if it is not the same L1.

-------------- Original message -------------- 


> Hello -- I train pre-service adult ESL teachers 

> at San Francisco State University. For a class 

> project, two of my students are interested in 

> gathering insights from adult ESL teachers about 

> L1 use in the classroom. Here are their 

> questions: 

> 

> 1. What advice would you give to a new adult ESL 

> teacher about L1 use in the classroom? For 

> example, what strategies about L1 use do you 

> think are useful with adult ESL learners? 

> 

> 2. How do you think adult learners perceive L1 

> use in the class? 

> 

> The students have read and discussed articles by 

> Heide Wrigely (e.g., the "What Works" study), 

> Klaudia Rivera, Tomas Kalmar, Julie Belz, 

> articles out of Focus on Basics (NCSALL), among 

> others... but they are hungry to find out what 

> actually goes on in the classroom. 

> 

> I would appreciate your help and input. 

> 

> Thank you, Maricel Santos 

> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

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