The role of using first language (L1) and translation in English as a foreign language ( EFL) classes - Essay Example

The plan is to conduct interviews with a number of teachers (3 additional teachers). The teachers have been chosen from different schools. I have met 5 of them in the Indian school (elementary) where they teach only English (no Arabic or Indian used at all). The students in this school are mixed, males and females who came from different countries: China, Egypt, Iraq, India and many other countries. The remaining 6 teachers have been chosen from 4 different elementary schools, in which they were employed in basic education (co-education).

First, I am planning to divide the answers in different boxes. Each box will include the number of teachers who agreed or disagreed. The first box will include part 1 Question, the second box will include part 2 questions, and the final box will include part 3 questions (see appendix 3). Then, I will change the numbers to percentages (e.g. 60% of the teachers agree/disagree). Charts will be used in this section, so that the information will be clearly presented. A second prong of the methodology involves planned observation of the teachers and the students inside the class, to know whether they are using translation or L1 in their classes.

I think one of the most underused data collection methods is observation. According to Moor (1995), “The information we collect as an observer can be used to analyze student learning, the learning environment and students attitudes toward learning and schooling.” In order to collect data in this research, I visited different schools in Oman. I joined different classes. An important objective of these visits was to get to know more about teachers, students, and what is happing inside the classrooms.

However, my main purpose was to know more about the students and the teachers inside of these classes. During these observations, I wanted to know how the teachers and students were interacting with each other in the class, how the teachers taught English, and whether or