Influence of Teachers'L1 Translation Use on Chinese Intermediate EFL Learners'L2 Vocabulary Learning

Huamei Jiang

College of Foreign Languages,Xinjiang University,Xinjiang,China

Email:jhuamei2019@yeah.net

[Abstract] The research aims to investigate the effect of teachers'use of L1 translations on the immediate L2 vocabulary recall of Chinese intermediate EFL learners.A quantitative method was employed in the research.According to the results,L1 translations not only contribute to the recall of L2 word meanings but also facilitate learners in the productive use of the words.From the perspective of the immediate recall of word forms,no significant differences have been found.Possible explanations for these findings are also proposed.There are several implications of the present research.Firstly,L1 translations should be properly employed in the L2 vocabulary classroom.Secondly,vocabulary should be learned in contexts and remembered through uses.Thirdly,EFL learners should enlarge their vocabulary with the focus on the expansion of their productive vocabulary knowledge.Last but not least,word selection which is of great importance to vocabulary teaching should match the learning styles of students.Moreover,instructors should select words according to certain curriculums or standards,and give"student-centred"vocabulary instructions.

[Keywords] L1 translations;L2 definitions;Vocabulary study;EFL learners;MoI(Medium of Instruction)

Introduction

Language study involves a variety of aspects.Taking English as an example,learners need to learn and improve their language proficiency from the following four perspectives:listening,speaking,reading,and writing.Vocabulary plays an indispensable role in all these aspects.Without the accumulation of vocabulary,no language can be learned successfully.Therefore,it is of great importance for learners to find an efficient and effective approach to learn vocabulary.In addition,it is also essential for instructors to explore a useful method to instruct vocabulary.

In China,it was observed that students are often exposed to bilingual English textbooks.In class,most non-native English teachers teach lessons in both English and Chinese.Besides,students need to do translation exercises to learn English.In particular,it seems that most of students prefer the Chinese translation of an English word rather than its English definition to facilitate their learning of vocabulary.Does L1 translation really work better than L2 explanation?Or,are they just the learning habits of L2 learners?

Literature Review

L1 translations can be defined as the use of the L1 to access,understand,and acquire another language.An L2 definition that explains the meaning of an L2 word using other words is the counterpart of an L1 translation.In the present research,the concept of L1 translations should be linked to teachers'instructing language in the classroom.

The medium of instruction(MoI)refers to the language used to impart course content other than language learning(Lo&Macaro,2012).In a second language classroom,vocabulary teaching usually involves two kinds of MoIs to present vocabulary information:L1 use and L2-only use.The former which refers to the process in which the meaning of the target word is interpreted by its L1 equivalence can only be used in the case that all learners use the same native language.The latter refers to the process in which the meaning of the target word is explained only through the use of L2 with some intra-lingual teaching strategies such as definitions,paraphrases,and explanations(Zhao&Macaro,2016).

Research Design

The research focus is placed on explicit vocabulary instruction on the short-term vocabulary recall of learners.The research is carried out based on the hypothesis that teachers'L1 translations can better facilitate EFL intermediate learners'L2 vocabulary short-term study than L2 definitions can.

To achieve the research objective,the following research question is examined:

1.To what extent does the use of L1 translations better promote the immediate recall of L2 vocabulary among Chinese intermediate EFL learners compared with the use of L2 definitions?The experimental procedure is shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Experimental Procedure

In the present research,potential words were selected from the General Service List(GSL)based on the frequency as the most important single criterion for word selection is the frequency(Wilkins,1972).The selection of words is the foundation of all vocabulary instructions(He&Godfroid,2019).A protocol for word selection includes the following steps(Ibid.):

1.Select high-frequency words from the existing vocabulary,corpora,or other teaching materials;

2.Choose a representative corpus and retrieve the frequency count for each word;

3.Ask the teacher to evaluate the usefulness and difficulty of these words;

4.Carry out cluster analysis on the data in terms of usefulness,frequency,and difficulty or,as a simpler option,visually examine the data;

5.Prioritise word-groups for teaching.

Since the whole protocol is complicated and time-wasting,the researcher modified the protocol.The selection of words in the present research was guided by the frequency,usefulness,and difficulty of the lexical items (Laufer &Nation,2012).Based on the modified protocol,50 potential words were selected.

Findings

The performance of participants in the L1 translation group (experimental group) and L2 definition group (control group)was examined from three dimensions,i.e.the participants'performance on the immediate recall of words in terms of forms,meanings,and productive uses.To guarantee a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups,an independent sample t-test was carried out.Two t values were obtained by comparing the participants' combination performances (forms+meanings+uses) under the different conditions of L1 translations and L2 definitions.

Table 2 shows the result of the independent t-test.(N)

Table 2 The results of the independent sample t-test

It is necessary to check the data of the Levene's Test for Equality of Variance before the explanation of the results.The results indicated F=3.800,Sig=0.069(>0.05),suggesting that the variance was homogeneous;therefore,the t-test could be interpreted without any concern about validity.

As shown in the table,the t-test for the immediate post-test revealed that the use of L1 translations and the use of L2 definitions were significantly different,Sig(2-tailed)=0.008(p<0.05).This showed that a significant difference existed between the two groups from the perspective of vocabulary recall,suggesting that the L1 translation group(mean=40.33,SD=1.323)performed better than the L2 definition group(mean=36.33,SD=3.708)in terms of recalling L2 vocabulary.Therefore,L1 translations promote the learning and teaching of L2 vocabulary.In particular,L1 translations promote the immediate recall of the meanings and productive uses of words.

Discussion

Paying attention to and maintaining the relationship between the form of words and their meanings is a prerequisite for vocabulary learning (VanPatten et al.,2004).In the present research,both the two groups performed well in the recall of word forms,indicating both groups established initial links between word forms and word meanings.

According to the results,the participants from the two groups understood the TW meanings differently in the post-test,and the responses of the L2-instructed participants showed limited knowledge of vocabulary.L1 translations which are usually shorter than L2 definitions are easier for language learners to memorise.Therefore,it can be concluded that L1 translations are simpler than L2 definitions,which may contribute to the L2 vocabulary meaning study of learners.In addition,a simplified definition is also recommended in the learning of vocabulary.

In the L2 group,most participants recalled the short expressions or phrases of the explanation but with one participant as an exception.Participant B gave an explanation by writing a semantically and grammatically correct sentence.To some extent,it may be related to his vocabulary size.According to the pre-experiment vocabulary size test,the participant knows at least 8,100 word families,which is a relatively large number for intermediate EFL learners.

According to Schmitt (2010),if 95% coverage is adequate,2,000 to 3,000 word families are required to reach a conversant level in English,if 98%coverage is needed,6,000 to 7,000 word families are required,if learners hope to read a wide variety of texts without the problem of unknown vocabulary,8,000 to 9,000 word families are realistic goals.

It is worth mentioning that this vocabulary size is the participant's receptive vocabulary size.Since receptive vocabulary size is closely related to proficiency,it is regarded as a good indicator of the overall L2 proficiency (Miralpeix&Munoz,2018).Receptive vocabulary size can be used to predict the learners'writing and reading ability about 30%.Therefore,it can be inferred that the participant's receptive vocabulary size contributes to his performance on the recall of meanings and the productive uses of vocabulary to some extent.However,it should be noted that the receptive vocabulary of learners is larger than their productive vocabulary (Webb,2008).The difference between productive vocabulary and receptive vocabulary in terms of size is especially more obvious for L1 learners(Ibid.,p.88-90).This can explain why some participants with a large vocabulary size didn't have a good performance on the recall of word meanings and the productive use of vocabulary in the tests as Participant B.

Using the target word productively is a challenging task for both L1 and L2 group participants since a learner's receptive knowledge is generally acquired before his or her productive L2 knowledge (Oxford &Scarcella,1994).Learning to use a word is a gradual process.It can be inferred that productively knowledge is difficult for intermediate EFL learners to acquire,which supports the finding of previous studies.Even though writing a sentence with TWs is a challenging task,it is indeed an efficient and effective approach to learn vocabulary since it checks learners'productive knowledge of TWs.Therefore,it is important to make use of interests and relevant contexts when introducing and practising new vocabulary.

It is also found that all participants have learned different parts of speech of the word;however,both L1 and L2 participants recalled more noun form meaning than verb form meaning,which is in line with previous studies.According to Rodgers (1969),The part of speech of words influenced their learning.According to the experiment of L2 vocabulary learning,nouns were the easiest to learn followed by adjectives and verbs and adverbs are the most difficult to learn(Rodgers,1969).In addition,this is probably because the explanation for the verb is abstract.Generally speaking,the greater the imageability of a word,the more likely it is recalled(Ellis&Beaton,1993).The level of concreteness of the TWs may affect the learning effects of vocabulary(Brown&Perry,1991).

Conclusion

The present research reveals that the teacher's L1 translation instruction facilitates the vocabulary learning ability of intermediate EFL learners compared with L2 definitions.It is also found that L1 translations enhance intermediate Chinese EFL learners'ability to recall newly learned words.In particular,L1 translations contribute to EFL learners'meaning recall and productive use of L2 vocabulary.

Therefore,it is truly reasonable to make good use of L1 translations in the practical teaching and learning of English vocabulary.Nevertheless,it is important to mention that L1 should not be overused.In addition,explicit instruction is necessary for the development and improvement of learners'productive vocabulary knowledge.