Language use in the EFL classroom : A literature review on the advantages and disadvantages of teachers’ choices of instructional language in the EFL classroom

Abstract: This literature review investigates what previous research has found regarding target language use in the Elementary EFL classroom, and what different views there might be on communicating in English during English lessons. The study is conducted with Stephen Krashen’s (1982) Second Language Acquisition Theory as theoretical perspective. Findings show that one important reason for target language use in the EFL classroom is increasing the target language exposure to provide opportunities for the pupils to develop their language proficiency, while first language is used to instruct, translate, scaffold, explain, and facilitate and confirm learning, to discipline and criticise, and to give feedback and positive reinforcement. The results from the five reviewed studies in this thesis imply that both target language and first language have their place in the EFL classroom, and that the teachers’ choice of which language to use is highly individual. They also indicate that vocabulary acquisition and communicative skills call for different language approaches, and that different language theories apply to different teaching situations. Another conclusion from this review is that further research on teachers’ choices of instructional language is needed, as are further investigations of pupils’ preferences and in what situations they benefit from target language and first language respectively.