Self-Study Action Research

Native Language Use in the Beginner Level

Second Language Acquisition Classroom

As educators we are constantly trying to discover ways in which we can better teach our

students and maximize potential learning in the classroom. No matter what subject you teach,

learning new techniques and approaches can always help to improve personal practice as well as

student learning. Teachers are immersed in the educational world and classroom context with

many questions and curiosities related to our field. In particular one of the most common, if not

most fundamental, question educators have is what works best? when teaching our students.

Many educators have come to the realization and understanding that a one-size-fits-all approach

to teaching, simply put, was not realistic and never is.

The field of education has certainly evolved from an era of teacher-centered classrooms

that focused on repetition drills and memorization, especially in the second language acquisition

(SLA) classroom. In the past, the practice of teaching and learning involved mostly lecturing and

typically students had no voice in the classroom. Students were expected to sit quiet, learn the

material, and then demonstrate their knowledge through exams and standardized tests. The

present field of education has taken major strides away from teacher-centered classrooms and

drill and kill types of teaching approaches. Subsequently, the question of what works best

has also evolved to what works best for these particular students. Especially, now that

educators recognize a one-size-fits-all approach is not conducive to students learning and does

not work.
 In this self-study action research I explore teaching approaches that can possibly help shed

light on the question: how can I implement students native language, in my lessons, to help

support their second language acquisition? For the purpose of this paper, and in my teaching

context, I use the term native language to define the primary language of use by my students,

also known as their mother tongue language. Throughout my research study I self-reflect on

bilingual teaching approaches, my teaching practice and ways in which they can benefit my

students language learning. Teaching in a classroom setting where I speak a similar native

language (Spanish) as my students has brought me to this study. Although I have found some

subtleties with my native language because I speak a different Spanish, Dominican, then my

students who speak Mexican Spanish, we have been able to use the Spanish language during

class for various purposes such as communication purposes, translations of word meanings, and

introducing new material, words, and phrases.

Bilingual education, as defined by the National Association for Bilingual Education

(NABE), refers to approaches in the classroom that use the native languages of the English

language learners (ELLs) for instruction. This includes either a full curriculum taught in the

students native language and English or using students native language for translation purposes

during lessons that are lead mostly in English. I conducted research on the latter in order to

enhance my own teaching practices, advocate constructive use of students native language in the

beginner level SLA classroom, and address some issues with English only instruction.

Many of the research studies and literature on bilingual instruction focus on curriculum

or programs that gradually transition students into English-only courses over a period of time.

These studies have primarily been conducted on children and teens in elementary and high

school contexts. My self-study action research differs from most literature in that the participants
are adult English language learners (ELLs), in a community-center classroom setting, and the

focus will be using their native language as a tool for acquiring English. Another significant

difference in my study will be the students need for the English language. As opposed to the

majority of participants in bilingual education research studies, I conducted my research on

students whose goal is to learn English for purposes other than passing academic courses or

continuing education in English, survival English. Survival English skills include learning the

language in order to become autonomous and able to complete daily tasks without the help of

English speakers.