L1 and L2 in EFL Lexical Development: Happy Marriage, Marriage of Convenience or Divorce?

LÓPEZ BARRIOS, MARIO LUIS; VILLANUEVA DE DEBAT, ELBA

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 38th FAAPI Conference; 2013

Asociación de Profesores de Inglés de Buenos Aires

Research has shown that the L1 constitutes a point of reference and that it plays a scaffolding role in the construction of the L2. Although the L1 can be used as a resource to make vocabulary learning more efficient, EFL coursebooks seem to assign it a marginal role. In our presentation we analyze the involvement of the L1 in vocabulary learning in elementary EFL coursebooks, propose new roles for the L1 and show sample activities.