concludexxx域名

UNCORRECTEDPROOFARTICLEINFOArticlehistory:Received15December2015Receivedinrevisedform6August2016Accepted9August2016AvailableonlinexxxKeywords:Learners'perceptionsPreferencesLanguageuseLexicalexplanationABSTRACTThispaperexaminesChineselearners'contextualizedperceptionsofandpreferencestowardsteachers'lan-guageuseforexplainingunknownlexicalitems,andcomparestheperceptionsof68ChineseuniversitystudentsinthecontextofEnglish-onlyversusChinese-onlylexicalexplanations.
Aquestionnairewasad-ministeredtostudentstoinvestigatetheirgenerallanguageusepreferences.
36follow-upinterviewswerealsoconductedinordertoexaminestudents'perceptionsinthecontextofmorespecificlexicalexplanations.
Whilequestionnaireresponsessuggestedthatamajorityofstudentsheldpositiveattitudetowardsbothtypesofexplanations,interviewdataindicatedmorenegativeperceptionstowardsthelexicalexplanationstheyreceived.
TheperceiveddistinctionsoflearnerstowardstheuseofEnglishandtheuseofChineseasteach-ers'languagechoicesforlexicalexplanationswereuncoveredwithregardtothelearningoflexis.
ThepaperdiscussestheimplicationsofthestudyforclassroompracticespecificallyintheareaoflexicalexplanationsandsituatesthediscussioninthebroadercontextofthedebatearoundL1useintheL2classroom.
2016PublishedbyElsevierLtd.
Systemxxx(2016)xxx-xxxContentslistsavailableatScienceDirectSystemjournalhomepage:www.
elsevier.
comChineselearners'perceptionstowardsteachers'languageuseinlexicalexplanations:AcomparisonbetweenChinese-onlyandEnglish-onlyinstructionsLiliTiana,,MairinHennebrybaSchoolofForeignLanguages,RenminUniversityofChina,59#ZhongguancunStreet,HaidianDistrict,Beijing100872,PRChinabDivisionofEnglishLanguageEducation,FacultyofEducation,UniversityofHongKong,MengWah658,PokFuLamRoad,HongKong1.
IntroductionInrecentyearsthefieldofSecondLanguage(L2)learninghasexperiencedapendulumswingfromthepromotionofexclu-siveL2useintheclassroomto,arguably,an'anythinggoes'stanceintermsoftheuseofL1.
Indeed,itisdifficulttofindrecentstudiesarguingthattheuseofL1intheL2classroommightnotbealtogetherbeneficialforL2learning.
Inarecentpaper,Macaro(2015)arguedthatteachers'useofL1intoday'sclassroomshasbecomecharacterizedbytheuseofL1asashortcuttoexams;namelyheexplainedthatteacherstypicallyusetheL1asafastermeansofcoveringallthematerialthatneedstobecoveredinpreparationforexams,ratherthanduetoanyspecificpedagogicalprinciple.
ArguablythisresultsinteachersengagingwithL1usepracticesthatarebasednotonsoundtheoryandresearchevidenceforeffectivelearning,butinsteadshapedbyawash-backeffectofexaminations.
InthiscontextthereisaneedformorenuancedunderstandingsofhowteachersmightuseL1inaprin-cipledmanner.
OnewayofcontributingtothisaimistofocusattentiononaspecificareaforwhichL1mighttypicallybeused,namelylexicalexplanations(seeAuthor1,2014),lookingparticularlyathowteachersexplainunfamiliarlexicalitems(seeforinstance,Author1etal.
,2015)andonhowlearnersperceiveteachers'L1use.
Teachers'L1useinL2classroomshasbeenamajorfocusofL2researchersacrossavarietyofcontexts,butfewstudieshaveexaminedlearners'perceptionstowardsteachers'languageuse(e.
g.
Levine,2003).
Furthermore,previousstudieshaveforthemostpartgathereddataongeneralperceptionsnotcontextualizedinspecificpractices,allowingonlygeneralimplicationstobedrawn.
Giventheacknowledgedsignificanceofcontextinshapingperceptionsandattitudes,studiesfocusingonlearners'per-ceptionsofteachers'specificlexicalexplanationbehaviorhavethepotentialtoyieldamorefine-grainedunderstandingoftheCorrespondingauthor.
Emailaddresses:lili.
tian@ruc.
edu.
cn(L.
Tian);mhennebr@hku.
hk(M.
Hennebry)http://dx.
doi.
org/10.
1016/j.
system.
2016.
08.
0050346-251/2016PublishedbyElsevierLtd.
UNCORRECTEDPROOF2Systemxxx(2016)xxx-xxxwayinwhichstudentsreacttoteachers'practices,allowingfocusedreflectiononfactorscontributingtoeffectiveteachingandlearningoflexis.
Thispaper,partofabroaderexperimentalstudy(Author1etal.
,2012),focusesonChineselearnersinanEFLuniversitycontextandtheirperceptionsofteachers'useofL1,specificallyinofferinglexicalexplanationsforunknownlexicalitems.
AcomparisonofperceptionsisdrawnbetweeninstanceswhenlearnersareprovidedwithanEnglish-onlyexplanationandthosewhereaChinese-onlyexplanationisoffered.
ComparedwiththeclassroomcontextwhereamixtureofbothL1andL2lexicalexplanationsarerelativelylessemployedbysometeachersduetolimitedclasstime(Author1etal.
,2015),suchacontextualizedcomparisonenablesresearcherstoelicitmuchclearerperceptionsoflearners.
ThereportedbenefitsandproblemsofEnglishandChineselexicalexplanationsarepresentedandillustratedindepth.
2.
ResearchbackgroundInthe1980s,theexclusiveuseofL2andmorespecificallyimmersionlanguageenvironmentshavebeendeemedfacilitativeforlanguageacquisition(Krashen,1985).
However,asstudiesonL1useandcodeswitching(CS)inL2classroomsproliferate,theroleofL1hasbeenincreasinglyadvocated,withL1seentoserveasascaffoldingstrategyinconstructingcollaborativedia-logue(Anton&DiCamilla,1998),asmediationbetweenanL2wordanditsconcept(Kroll&Stewart,1994),asacompensatorystrategyforlexicalgaps(Ong&Zhang,2010;Zhang,2002),asatoolforofferinglexicalandgrammaticalexplanations(Levine,2003),andasamediumthroughwhichtobuildrapport(Gao&Dai,2007).
InitialresultsfromstudiesprobingintotheeffectsofL1useonL2learners'learningoutcomessuggestmixedresults.
Somestudiesindicateatleastsomeshort-termacquisitionalbenefittobegainedfromL1ratherthanL2lexicalexplanations(e.
g.
Au-thor2etal.
,2013;Lee&Macaro,2013).
However,inanexperimentalstudyof65adultChineselearnersofEnglish,Zhang(2002)foundthatChineseL1studentswhousedmothertonguemorphologicalknowledgeintheretentionandretrievalofEng-lishlexiconexperiencedlesssuccessthanthosewhousedtargetlanguagemorphologicalknowledge.
Thus,furtherresearchisneededtounpackandexplainthecomplexnatureofinteractionsbetweentheL1andtheL2intheprocessoflanguagelearning.
Akeyaspectofthisinteractionisthelearners'perceptionsoftheirteachers'lexicalexplanationsandspecificallytheteachers'codechoiceinprovidingtheexplanations.
WhereresearchhasplacedanemphasisondescribingtheamountandfunctionsofL1use,itneedsalsotospecificallyexploretheperspectiveofthelearner,asakeyplayerintheteachingandlearningprocess,ontheirteachers'specificcodechoice.
Previousstudieshaveexploredlearners'generalperceptionstowardsteachers'languageuse.
Inaquestionnairestudycon-ductedwithinamultilingualclassroom,Duff&Polio(1990)foundthatthemajorityofAmericanuniversitystudentsheldpositiveattitudestowardstheirteachers'languageuseproportions,despitethefactthattheteacher'sL1userangedfrom0to90%.
Inaddi-tion,ineveryclass,over70%ofthestudentsclaimedtounderstand"most"or"all"oftheteacher'sL2use.
Arguably,theseresultsmightbeinterpretedtoindicatethattheamountofL1usemaynotbethedecidingfactorforstudents,rathertheeffectivenessofL1useinallowingstudentstounderstandandkeepupwiththecontentofthelessonisofgreatersignificance.
IndeedthisissupportedbyMacaro's(1997)large-scalestudyonlanguageuseintheUKclassroomcontext.
Thestudyexaminedlearners'perspectivesontheirteachers'L1usethroughquestionnaireandfocusgroupinterviews.
ThemajorityofparticipantsinthisstudyreportedneedingtheirteacherstospeaktheL1sometimesinordertofacilitateunderstanding,withmanyaddingthattheycouldnotlearniftheycouldnotunderstandtheirteacher.
Levine(2003),however,foundthatstudentswhoreportedhigherTLuseintheirFLclassesactuallytendedtoreportlowerlevelsofanxietyaboutTLuse,presumablybecausetheexposureallowedtheL2tobecomeafamiliarphenomenontothestudents,thusloweringthepotentialsenseofinhibitionlearnersoftenexperiencewhenusingtheL2.
SuchfindingssupportcallsforadeeperunderstandingofwhatmightconstituteprincipleduseofL1thatfacilitatesunderstandingontheonehandbutprovidessufficientL2exposureontheother.
InChinesecontexts,thefollowingstudiesexaminedthegeneralperceptionsofChineseuniversityundergraduatestowardsteachers'L1use.
Kong&Zhang(2005),forexample,foundthatofthe20%–35%oftalkintheclassthatwasteachertalk,2%–5%wasintheL1(Chinese);aproportionwithwhichover70%ofstudentsexpressedsatisfaction.
ExaminingtheL1useoffourteachers,Zhong(2007)foundgreatervariabilityintheamountofEnglishused,rangingbetween57%and87%.
Nevertheless,88%ofthestudentsweresatisfiedwiththeproportionofteacher'scurrentEnglish/Chineseuse,withstudentscitingreasonssuchasL1helpingestablishtheirconfidence,makingthemfeelrelaxed,encouragingthemtogreaterparticipationinclassroomac-tivitiesandgenerallysupportingtheirL2learning.
Giventhefactthatinbothstudies,studentsexpressedsatisfactionwiththeirteachers'useofL1despitetheconsiderabledifferences,thereisreasontohypothesizethatwhatismoresignificanttostudentsistheeffectivenessandfunctionofL1use,ratherthantheamount.
Throughstimulatedrecallinterviews,Guo(2007)investigatedstudents'perceptionsoftheirteachers'L1use.
12ofthe16Chinesenon-English-majorundergraduatesinterviewedreportedposi-tiveattitudestowardstheuseofL1intheEnglishclassroom,explainingthatforthemL2exclusivitydestroyedtheirconfidence,makingthemfeeldeprivedandhelplessandleavingthemcravingformeaningandclarity.
However,theremainingfourstudentsexpressednegativeopinionstowardsteachers'L1use.
WhilethesestudentswereinfavorofL1useforthepurposeofexplaininglowfrequencyvocabulary,theyfounditdifficulttoseethepurposeofL1useforcaseswherestudentscouldeasilyunderstandUNCORRECTEDPROOFSystemxxx(2016)xxx-xxx3theL2,1callingintoquestionthepedagogicalprinciplesunderpinningsuchinstances.
AswithKong&Zhang(2005)andKong(2007),Guo'sstudyagainpointstowardstheimportanceofunderstandingthepedagogicalfunctionandeffectivenessofL1use,thusnecessitatingafocusonspecificinstances.
StudiesthathavefocusedonspecificinstancesofL1use,ratherthanongeneralimpressions,arefew.
Throughalarge-scalestudyinvolvingquestionnairesto798adultandyoungstudentsandinterviewswith22students,Macaro&Lee(2013)exploredKoreanstudents'attitudestowardsEnglish-onlyinstructionsversusinstructionscontainingsomeswitchingtoL1forlexicalexpla-nations.
Whileadultlearnersexpressedsignificantlymorepreferenceforteachers'English-onlylexicalexplanationsthanyounglearnersofage12iftheEnglishexplanationswereunderstandable,bothagegroupspreferredabilingualapproachtovocabu-laryexplanations.
However,itshouldbenotedthat,thegivenstatementinthequestionnairetowhichparticipantswereaskedtorespond,specificallyelicitedperceptionsofabilingualapproach("IprefermyteachertouseEnglishandKoreaninteachingEnglishvocabularybecauseusingbothlanguageswillresultinbetterunderstanding").
Itisperhapsunsurprisingthatthiswasthepreferredmodeofinstructionforallagegroupswhenrespondingtosuchagivenstatement.
Indeed,inmanycasesitisabilingualapproachthatisadoptedinthelanguageclassroom.
Author1etal.
(2015),forinstance,investigatedthreeuniversityChineseteachers'lexicalexplanations.
AmixtureofL1andL2explanationswasusedbyallthethreeteachers,butatdifferentamounts,rangingfrom7.
7%to50%oftotallexicalexplanations.
Onceagain,however,suchresearchpointstowardsthequantityofL1usage,buttellsuslittleaboutstudents'perceptionsoftheusageinthespecificinstances,withregardtolearningoflexis.
Itisclearthatmoreworkisneededtoelicitlearners'contextualizedperceptionsonlanguageusebyasharpcomparisonbetweenanEnglish-onlyversusaChinese-onlyinstructionmodeforlexicalexplanations,toallowanunderstandingofthedistinctionsbetweenthetwodifferentlinguisticmediumsandthewaysinwhicheachinteractswithlearning.
Althoughexistingstudieshavetendedtoconcludethatthemajorityoflearnersaresatisfiedwiththeirteachers'L1use,stud-iesonlearners'generalperceptionstowardsteachers'L1usehavetypicallynotdistinguishedbetweendifferentfunctions,thusprovidinggeneral,ratherthanspecific,insightsforteachers'L1practice.
Buildingonpreviousresearch,thereisnowaneedtodevelopmorespecificpedagogicalimplications,throughcloseexaminationoflearners'perceptions,rootedinteachingpracticesinthecontextofL1useintheL2classroom.
Inlightofthis,thepresentstudysoughttoanswerthefollowingresearchquestions:1)Whatarestudents'perceptionsofteachers'Chinese-onlyandEnglish-onlylexicalexplanationsinEnglishlanguageclasses2)Whatarestudents'preferencesofteachers'Chinese-onlyandEnglish-onlylexicalexplanationsinEnglishlanguageclasses3)InwhatwaysdoChinesestudentsbelieveEnglish-onlyandChinese-onlylexicalinstructionsinteractingwiththeirlearning3.
TheresearchdesignThestudyreportedhereconstitutespartofalargerresearchprojectinvestigatingtheeffectsofteachers'L1useonChineselearners'vocabularylearning.
Aquasi-experimentalmethodwasemployedtoinvestigatethevaryingeffectsofteachers'differ-entlanguageuse,inexplainingtargetvocabularyinthecontextoflisteningcomprehension.
Afterthesix-weekintervention,interviewsandquestionnaireswereadministeredtogatherstudents'contextualizedperceptionstowardsthelinguisticmediumthroughwhichtheyreceivedtheteacher'slexicalexplanations.
Thestudythusofferedanimmediatecontextinwhichlearnerscouldgroundtheirperceptions,soastoallowthemtodevelopclearandspecificbeliefsonthedifferentlinguisticmediumsoflexicalexplanations.
AdetailedaccountoftheparentstudyisavailableinAuthor1etal.
(2012).
Thefollowingisadescriptionofthemethodsandproceduresimplementedforgatheringdataonstudentperceptions.
3.
1.
Sample117first-yearuniversitystudents,majoringinEnglishfromoneuniversityinShandongProvinceofChinaparticipatedinthesurvey.
Perceptionsandpreferencesof68outofthe80students2fromthetwoexperimentalgroupsarecomparedinthecontextofEnglish-onlyversusChinese-onlyexplanations.
The37studentsinthecontrolgroup,whoreceivednolexicalexplanations,alsoexpressedtheirpreferencestowardsteachers'languageuse.
Studentparticipantswereagedaround19yearsoldandhadcompletedhighschooleducationwitheightyears'Englishstudy.
Theywereatalow-intermediatelevelofEnglishproficiency.
AsEnglishmajorstudents,theywererequiredtoengagewith20h'compulsoryandintensiveEnglishinstructionperweek.
Allparticipantswererandomlyallocatedtothreegroups;twoexperimentalgroups(L1orL2lexicalexplanations)andonecontrolgroup(nolexicalexplanations)(seeFig.
1).
1E.
g.
Theteachersaid'1994'inChinese,whichsomestudentsfelttheycouldeasilyhaveunderstoodhadtheteachersaiditinEnglish.
2Thequestionnaireandinterviewwereconductedafterthedelayedvocabularyposttestratherthanaftereachimmediateposttest,soaftersix-weekinterventionthereweredrop-outs.
102validquestionnaireswerereceived,including68fromthetwoexperimentalgroupsand34fromthecontrolgroup.
36studentsattendedtheinterviewafterwards.
UNCORRECTEDPROOF4Systemxxx(2016)xxx-xxxFig.
1.
Stratifiedrandomallocationtothethreeconditions(takenfromAuthor1etal.
,2012:374).
3.
2.
ProceduresFollowingthesix-weekinterventionreferredtoabove,studentswereinvitedtocompleteaquestionnaireexaminingtheirper-ceptionsoftheteachers'useoflanguageforlexicalexplanationsduringtheintervention;102validquestionnaireswerereceived.
Aboutathirdofthestudentsfromeachofthegroupswererandomlyselectedforinterview;36students,evenlydistributedacrossthethreegroups,acceptedtheinvitation.
Thisnumberofinterviewparticipantswasdeemedthemaximummanageableamountforelicitingqualityinterviewdata.
Thequestionnaireandinterviewwereconductedafterthedelayedvocabularyposttestratherthanaftereachimmediatevocab-ularyposttest,3inordertoavoidover-surveyingtheparticipants.
Sincethereweresiximmediateposttests,followingeachonewithaquestionnaireandinterviewwouldhaveresultedinparticipantfatigue,potentiallyinvalidatingtheresponses.
3.
3.
InstrumentsThedesignofthequestionnaire(seeAppendix)wasbasedonatooldevelopedbyLevine(2003),andwasmodifiedbasedonresultsofpiloting.
Thispaperfocusesondatageneratedonthecomparisonbetweenthetwoexperimentalgroups'perceptionsofteachers'actualpracticesastheydirectlyexperiencedthem.
Thequestionnaireforthecontrolgroupwhodidnotreceiveteacher'slexicalexplanationswastailoredaccordingly.
Inotherwords,controlgroupparticipantswereaskedonlyabouttheirgeneralpref-erencesoflanguageuseforteachers'lexicalexplanation.
Thequestionnairefortheexperimentalgroupstargetedtwoareas:learners'perceptionsoftheexperimentalteacher'slanguageuseforthespecificfunctionoflexicalexplanationinthecontextoftheintervention;learners'preferencesofteachers'languageuseforlexicalexplanation.
Theseareasforinvestigationwereselectedforthefollowingreasons.
Firstly,learners'perceptionsoftheteacher'slanguageuseduringtheexperimentnarrowsdowntheirperceptionandfocusesononeofthemostcommonpurposesofL1use,teacher'slexicalexplanation.
Thisallowedforgreaterspecificityontheunderlyingcausesfortheirperceptions,thuscontributingtoourunderstandingoftheimpactofteachers'lexicalexplanationbehavioronlearners'learning.
Secondly,exploringlearners'preferencesofteachers'languageuseforlexicalexplanationgivesfurtherinsightsintowhatstudentsbelievefacilitatesorhinderstheirlanguagelearning,helpingtoinformimplicationsforteachers'languagechoicesduringlexicalexplanationbe-havior.
Semi-structuredinterviewswithindividualstudents(seeAppendix)helpedfurtherelicitamorefine-grainedunderstandingofthereasonsforlearners'viewsandparticularlyallowedforfollow-uponpointsofinterestemergingfromquestionnaireresponses.
Interviewquestionsweretailoredtoreflectthevariationinthetrainingthatthedifferentgroupsreceived.
Basedonpreviouslit-erature(e.
g.
Guo,2007),theissuesaddressedintheinterviewswere:whetherlexicalexplanationsfromtheteacherwerehelpfulintermsofbothcomprehensionandmemorizationoftargetwords;students'preferenceofteachers'languagechoicetowardsvo-cabularyexplanationandthereasonsforsuchpreferences.
TheinterviewswereconductedinChinese,inthreedifferentroomsforthreedifferentgroupsbythreedifferentresearchers.
Oneoftheinterviewersisoneoftheauthorsofthispaper,whiletheothertwowereexperiencedteachersworkinginthesampleuniversity.
Thetwoteachersweretrainedbeforehandonthepurposesoftheresearch,thequestionstoaskstudentsandtheproceduresfortheinterviews.
Mockinterviewswereconductedinordertoprovidepracticefortheteacher-interviewersandtoallowforadegreeofstandardizationacrosstheinterviews.
Eachinter3Thesevocabularytestswerereportedintheparentstudyindetails(Author1etal.
,2012),aimingtomeasuretheeffectsofteachers'L1useontheparticipants'vocabularylearningoutcome.
UNCORRECTEDPROOFSystemxxx(2016)xxx-xxx5viewlastedforabout20min.
Alltheinterviewswereaudio-taped,givingtheresearcheranopportunitytoverifythecomparabil-ityofinterviewsacrosstheinterviewers.
3.
4.
DataanalysisAnalysisoflearners'perceptionsoftheteacher'slanguageuseforspecificlexicalexplanationsdrawsonboththequantitativeandqualitativedatafromthequestionnaire.
AllquestionnairedatawaskeyedintoExcelforstorageandSPSSforstatisticalanaly-sis.
Interviewdatawasfirsttranscribedverbatim,thenanalyzedqualitativelywithafocusonprovidinganswerstotheresearchquestions.
BroadlyspeakingtheanalysisfollowedthestagesproposedbyMiles&Huberman(1994)forgeneratingmeaningfromqualitativedata.
Thestagesinvolvecountingfrequenciesofoccurrences,notingpatternsandthemes,usinginformedintuitiontoexamineplausibility,clusteringdataintocategories,typesandclassifications,connectingdatawiththeoryfactoring(bringingalargenumberofvariablesunderasmallernumberoffrequentlyobservedhypotheticalvariables),buildingalogicalchainofev-idencedrawinginferences,hypothesizingrelationshipsbetweenvariablesandfinallydevelopingtheoriestoexplainthephenom-ena.
Aconstantcomparisonapproachwasthenadopted,allowingtheresearcherstomoveiterativelybetweenthethemeswithaspecificfocusonthemotivessupportingtheattitudesandperceptionsofthestudentparticipants.
4.
FindingsanddiscussionsQuantitativedataispresentedfirsttoprovideagenerallandscapeofstudentperceptionsandpreferencesoflexicalexplana-tionssoastoaddressthefirstandsecondresearchquestions.
Inanswertoourthirdresearchquestion,qualitativedataisthenpresentedanddiscussedtorevealindetailthedifferentwaysChinesetranslationsandEnglishlexicalexplanationswereperceivedbystudentsinteractingwithlearning.
4.
1.
Contextualizedperceptionstowardsteachers'lexicalexplanationsItcanbeseenfromTable1that,97.
1%ofstudentsfromtheEnglish-onlygroupweresatisfiedeithermostorallofthetime,while81.
8%ofstudentsfromtheChinese-onlygroupweresatisfied.
Anon-parametricindependentsamplesT-testongroupdif-ferencesrevealednosignificantdifferenceinlevelsofsatisfactionbetweenthetwoexperimentalgroups.
Themajorityofstudentsinbothgroupsexpressedsatisfactionwiththelexicalexplanationsregardlessofthelinguisticmedium.
ThisfindingisconsistentwiththatofDuff&Polio(1990)wherethemajorityofstudentsweresatisfiedwiththecurrentamountofL1usedbytheirteach-ersregardlessofwhatthatamountactuallywas(from0to90%).
ThefindingfurtherechoesthatofKong&Zhang(2005)whofoundthatover70%ofstudentsweresatisfiedwithteacher'sL1use(2–5%).
Similarly,whenaskedwhetherstudentsbelievedtheirteacher'slexicaltranslationshelpful,amajorityfrombothexperimentalgroupsexpressedpositiveviews.
80%ofstudentsfromtheEnglish-onlygroupfelttheteachers'useofL2forlexicalexplanationwashelpfulmostorallofthetime,while66.
7%ofstudentsfromtheChinese-onlygroupfeltthesameabouttheirteachers'useofL1forlexicalexplanations.
AlthoughtheproportionofpositiveresponseswaslessamongtheChinese-onlygroupthantheEnglish-onlygroup,thedifferencewasnotsignificant.
Thissuggeststhat,asmightbeexpected,students'satisfactionwiththeirteachers'lexicalexplanations,isunderpinnedbytheextenttowhichtheyfindtheexplanationhelpful.
Nevertheless,closeexaminationofparticipants'qualitativeresponsesindicateslesssatisfactionandhelpfulnessthanthequan-titativeresponses.
Qualitativedatagatheredfromtheinterviewssuggestedthatabouthalfoftheviewsexpressedaboutteachers'lexicalexplanations,wereinfactnegative.
Thisincongruitybetweenthequestionnaireandtheinterviewdatapointstowardstheneedforresearchtolookmorecloselyatstudents'perceptionsandgobeyondthegeneralimpressionsgatheredbyquestionnaires.
Theanalysisoftheinterviewdatainthisstudyoffersavaluableandmorenuancedinsightintostudents'reactionstotheirteacher'slanguagechoiceinthecontextoflexicalexplanations,whichwillbereportedinthequalitativefindingsindepth.
4.
2.
Generalpreferencestowardsteachers'lexicalexplanationsAllthreegroupswereaskedtoexpresstheirgeneralpreferencestowardsteachers'languagechoices(English-only;Chi-nese-only;amixtureofbothChineseandEnglish)inprovidinglexicalexplanationsinEnglishlanguageclasses.
Questionnairedatashowsthat56.
9%ofallparticipantspreferredteacherstousebothChineseandEnglishforvocabularyexplanations,whilealmosthalfofthestudents(43.
1%)wereinfavorofexclusiveL2useforlexicalexplanations(seeTable2).
Noneofthepartici-pantssupportedtheexclusiveuseofChineseforthispurpose.
Nomatterwhatlinguisticmediumthestudentsreceivedinthelexicalexplanations,ingeneraltheyalleitherpreferEng-lish-onlyvocabularyexplanationoramixtureofbothChineseandEnglish.
TheControlGroupwhoreceivednolexicalexplana-tionalsoreportedthesametendencyastheothertwoexperimentalgroups.
Ofcourseatonelevel,wemightarguethatthisisnotasurprisingfinding;itwouldbeunexpectedforstudentstoexpressapreferenceforexclusiveL1useforalllexicalexplanations.
UNCORRECTEDPROOFTable1Theperceivedhelpfulnessandsatisfactionofthetwoexperimentalgroupstowardstheirteacher'slexicalexplanation.
1=notatall2=mostofthetimenot3=halfofthetime4=mostofthetime5=allthetimeNMeanSDSig.
SatisfactionEnglish-onlygroup002.
9%44.
2%52.
9%354.
50.
564>0.
05Chinese-onlygroup0018.
2%24.
2%57.
6%334.
390.
788HelpfulnessEnglish-onlygroup05.
7%14.
3%51.
4%28.
6%354.
030.
822>0.
05Chinese-onlygroup012.
1%21.
2%27.
3%39.
4%333.
941.
059UNCORRECTEDPROOFSystemxxx(2016)xxx-xxx7Table2Thestudents'preferenceofteachers'languageuseforvocabularyexplanation.
NEnglish-onlyChinese-onlyBothEnglishandChineseEnglish-onlygroup3516(45.
7%)019(54.
3%)Chinese-onlygroup3312(36.
4%)021(63.
6%)Controlgroup3416(47.
1%)018(52.
9%)Total10244(43.
1%)058(56.
9%)However,thefindingisimportantbecauseitrespondstoargumentssuggestingthatallowingsomeuseofL1couldpotentiallyleadtostudentsdemandingmoreL1usethusdetractingfromstudents'exposuretothetargetlanguage.
Suchconcernsseemnottobegroundedinempiricalevidence.
Infact,itseemsthatstudents'preferencesforL2arespecificandpedagogicallygroundedratherthanseekingsimplytoeaseworkburdens.
TheabovefindingsarereflectiveofMacaro&Lee(2013).
Inthatstudy,amajorityoftheKoreanstudentspreferredtheirteachertousebothEnglishandKoreaninteachingEnglishvocabularyandalsopreferredEnglish-onlyinstructioniftheseEng-lishexplanationswereunderstandable.
WhileMacaro&Lee(2013)askedtheirparticipantstorespondtogivenstatementsinthequestionnairewithregardtoteachers'languageuse,thecurrentstudyofferedstudentsthreeoptionsofteachers'languagechoicesinthequestionnaire,forcingthemtochoosetheirpreferredlanguagechoicebyteachersforlexicalexplanations.
However,Author1etal.
(2015)reportedthatallthreeparticipantteachersemployedthethreeoptionsforlexicalexplanations,suggestinganin-congruitybetweenteacherpracticeandstudentpreference,wheretheteachersweremorelikelythanthestudentstotendtowardsL1exclusivity.
OneteacherinAuthor1etal.
(2015)devotedonlyonequarteroftotalexplanationtimetoL1-onlyexplanations,whiletwootherteachersactuallyofferedL1-onlyexplanationsoverhalfofthetotalexplanationtime.
4.
3.
ChinesetranslationsBettercomprehension:Differentiatedinstruction.
Theteacher'suseofChineseforlexicalexplanationswasseentobeameansofadaptingtostudents'Englishproficiencylevel.
SomestudentsevaluatedthemselvesasbeingoflowEnglishprofi-ciency,andfeltthatChinesecouldrelievetheiranxietytowardsanEnglish-onlyenvironment.
Forexample,astudentfromtheChinese-onlygroupstated,"theteacher'slexicalexplanationsissuitabletomyEnglishproficiencylevel,Ifeelrelievedandcom-fortable"(CS424).
ThisanxietyalsoechoesGuo'sfindings(Guo,2007)andbringstomindtheneedtomaintainalowaffectivefilterinordertofacilitatelanguagelearning(Daly,1991;Horwitz,Horwitz,&Cope,1986).
ThefindingisalsoconsistentwithMacaro&Lee(2013),whofoundproficiencyleveltobeadecidingfactorofattitudinaldifferencesamongKoreanstudentsto-wardstheirteachers'L1use.
AmongtheEnglish-onlystudentsthereverseissuewasevident,withsomereportingdifficultieswithEnglish-onlylexicalexplanations,especiallyforlowproficiencylevelstudents.
AmongthesestudentsEnglish-onlylexicalexplanationsseemedtohindertheircomprehension.
Forexample,"someEnglishexplanationsareveryunclear,especiallywithdifficultwordssuchasadjectiveandadverbs"(ES11).
ThedatasuggeststhatstudentsbelievetheEnglishexplanationstobetoodifficultandevenabarriertofullyunderstandingtheword.
Proficiencywasagainhighlightedasaninfluencingvariable:"ifthegeneralEnglishpro-ficiencylevelislow,Englishexplanationmightcauseproblemofcomprehension"(ES12).
SomeEnglish-onlystudentsoutlinedsomeofthespecificadvantagestheyperceivedintheuseofL1,"whenanEnglishex-planationishardoruncleartounderstand,Chineseshouldbeusedascomplement,suchassomenounswhicharerarelyused"(ES7);"Chinesemeaningsarequickerforunderstanding"(ES8);"Chineseisgoodwithdifficultwords,asithelpswithcom-prehension"(ES6).
ThesebenefitsofChinesetranslationslistedbytheEnglish-onlystudentsechotheadvantagesreportedbyChinese-onlygroup.
ChinesetranslationswereseentorelievethehighcognitiveloadimposedbyEnglish-onlyexplanations,inparticularforlowproficiencylevelstudents(Macaro,2001).
ItseemsthattheuseofL1lexicalexplanationswasperceivedbylow-levelstudentsasrelievinganxietyandmightalsoleadtobettervocabularylearningoutcome.
Althoughtheparentstudy(Author1etal.
,2012)claimednoconfirmationofthesignificantinfluenceofgeneralproficiencyonvocabularylearning,forthelowestproficiencylevelstudents,thoseChinese-onlystudentswhoreceivedtheteacher'suseofChineseinlexicalexplana-tionsrecalled24morewordsthanthoseEnglish-onlystudentswhoreceivedEnglishlexicalexplanations.
Further,therewerealsostudentsfromtheEnglish-onlygroupwhohighlightedtheneedforthecomplexityoftheexplanationtobeappropriatelypitchedtothelevelofthestudent.
Forexample,"itisbettertousesimpleEnglishtoexplainEnglishnewwords"(ES6).
ThesestudentsstressedtheimportanceofusingsimpleEnglishexplanations,duetotheirownexperienceofdifficultyinunderstandingsomeoftheteacher'sEnglishexplanationsduringtheintervention,whichrevealedthattheteacher'sEnglishexplanationswereaccessibletostudents,butonconditionthattheteacher'sL2isadaptedtothelevelandneedsofthestudents.
Inotherwords,ifstudents'proficiencylevelallowsthemtounderstandtheteacher'sEnglishexplanations,theseexplanationsaredeemedashelp4CS:Chinese-onlystudent;ES:English-onlystudent;CONS:controlgroupstudent.
UNCORRECTEDPROOF8Systemxxx(2016)xxx-xxxfulandasbringingtheadvantagesoutlinedabove.
Forexample,"theteacherusedeasyandsimpleEnglishtoexplainthetargetwords,whichhelpmeunderstandbetter"(ES8).
ThisechoesthefindingsofMacaro&Lee(2013)thatEnglish-onlyinstructionforlexicalexplanationwaspreferredbyKoreanstudentsonlyifEnglishexplanationswereunderstandable.
Thefindingspointtoapossibleconsiderationinoutliningwhatconstitutes'principleduseoftheL1',namely,thatteachersadapttheirlanguageuseaccordingtotheneedsoftheirlearners,perhapsprovidingmorethanonelexicalexplanationsuchthattheexplanationscaterfortheincreasinglycommonmixedabilityclass.
Inordertofacilitatethis,itisessentialtoequipteacherswitheffectivestrategiesforexplainingdifficultlexicalitemsintheL2.
Theobservationofteachers'lexicalexplanationsinAuthor1etal.
(2015)revealedawiderangeofstrategiesforexplainingdifferentlexicalitems,buttheeffectivenessofthesestrategiesisstillaconcern,especiallyforawiderangeofstudents.
Afurtherinterpretationofthedataalsosuggeststhepossibilitythatstudentsmightbeill-equippedtodealwithL2lexicalexplanations,sug-gestingtheneedforatwoprongedapproachwhereteachingistailoredtostudents'needsandstudentsareequippedwiththetoolstoaccesstheinput.
Indeed,thiswouldechothefindingsreportedinMacaro(2014b),whereL2learnerswereonlyabletousecognatestoguessthemeaningofunfamiliarwordsandfoundtheirteachers'L2lexicalexplanationsverydifficult.
Themismatchbetweenteachers'Englishlexicalexplanationsandstudents'proficiencylevelsshould,therefore,beamajorconcernforteachers'decision-makinginofferinglexicalexplanationsinEnglish.
Bettercomprehension:L1-L2correspondence.
Intheabsenceofteachers'useofL1,English-onlystudentsattemptedtouseChineseasamediatorinordertounderstandthegivenEnglishexplanations,attemptingtotranslatetheEnglishexplanationsintoChinese.
Forexample,asexpressedbyStudent11,"itishardformetofindChineseequivalentsfortheseEnglishexplanations,theEnglishmeaningsareunderstoodgenerallybutnotexactly"(ES11);"ifanEnglishexplanationisused,IwilltranslateitintoChinesetounderstanditsmeaning"(ES8).
Thesecommentsarereflectiveoftheimportanceofmentaltranslation(Prince,1996).
Literatureinthisareaprovidesevidencetosupporttheviewthatthetwolanguagesareinter-wovenintheL2user'smindinvo-cabulary(Beauvillain&Grainger,1987).
Inthelearner'smindtheL2meaningsdonotexistinisolationfromthoseoftheL1.
Ontheonehand,itmightbearguedthatthisisanindicationofincompleteproficiencyandassuchtheuseoftheL1inthiswayisviewedasascaffoldingstrategy.
Inthissenseitcouldbearguedthat,forthosewordsthatareunfamiliartostudents,theL1per-formsamediatingroleuntilafirmanddirectlinkcouldbeestablishedbetweentheL2wordanditsconcept(Jiang,2000;Wesche&Paribakht,1996).
Ontheotherhand,modelsofcompoundbilingualismsuggestingthetwolanguagesaresimultaneously'on-line'provideanalternativeinterpretationandoffertheoreticalsupportforpedagogicalpracticesthatreflecttheseprocesses,thusaligningexternalclassroomlearningwithinternalcognitiveprocesses(Kroll&Stewart,1994).
SuchviewssupportaviewoftheL1asanunavoidableandevendesirablemediatorfortheL2,withstudentsemployingtheL1inordertofacilitateadirectlinkbetweennewL2wordsandtheirconcept(Jiang,2000).
MorebroadlysuchargumentsrelatetoproposalsthataconnectionbetweenL1andL2shouldbeseenasanindisputablefactoflifeandsomethingteachersshouldworkwithratherthanagainst(Cook,2001;Stern,1992).
ChineseexplanationswerecitedbyaboutathirdoftheChinese-onlystudentsasenhancingthedirectL1-L2linkforconcretewordsinparticular.
Student18,forexample,statedthat,"ChineseexplanationhelpsunderstandeasierthoseEnglishwordsusedindailylife"(CS18).
Thestudentwentontoexplainthatbywordsusedindailylifeshewasreferringtowordssuchasvegeta-bles,fruits,furnitureandsoon,arguablyconcretewords.
Forsuchvocabulary,L1equivalentswereregardedbysomestudentsasmorehelpfulincomprehensionoftheL2concept.
Paivio(1991)statedthatconcretewordspossessstrongerimage-provokingpropertiesofL2concepts,activatingmoreeasilythevisualsystemincognitiveprocessing.
OfferingL1translationenablesamoredirectlinkbetweenthetwolanguagemodes(Jiang,2000;VanHellandDeGroot,1998).
Bettermemorization.
Inadditiontoassistingwithcomprehension,Chinesetranslationsalsoseemedtofacilitatestudents'de-ploymentofmemorizationstrategies.
About1/4ofthestudentsfromChinese-onlygroupreportedthat"Chineseexplanationsareeasytomemorize,andittakeslongertomemorizeEnglishexplanations"(CS13),and"Chinesemeaningsmakenewwordsmoreconcreteandspecific,sohelpwitheffectivememorizationofnewwords"(CS14).
ThesecommentsfromtheintervieweesindicatetheimportanceofChineseinassistancewithmemorizationofnewwords.
StudentsfromtheEnglish-onlygroupalsore-portedthat"Chinesemeaningsarequickerforunderstandingandeasierformemorization"(ES8).
Arguably,havingtomemorizeEnglishexplanationsaswellasthenewEnglishlexicalitem,createsagreatercognitiveburdenofthestudents.
Additionally,however,itisnotdifficulttosupposethat,theChineseexplanationsenableanexactanddirectlinkbetweentheChinesemeaningsandtheconceptsoftargetEnglishitems,facilitatingunderstandingandinturnmakingmemorizationprocesseseasier.
Thisideawassupportedbythefindingsoftheparentstudy(Author1etal.
,2012),whichindicatedthattheChinese-onlygrouprecalledsignificantlymoretargetwordsthantheEnglish-onlygroupintheimmediatepost-tests.
ItalsoechoesfindingsbyMacaro&Lee(2013:734),suggestingthatL1equivalentsallowedstudentsto"immediatelyunderstandwhatthewordmeant,butalsolinkittootherinformation…morelikelytoensureitsacquisition.
"Furthermore,theempiricalfindingsofZhao&Macaro(2014)lendcredencetotheideathatprovidingL1translationoflexicalitemsallowsstudentstoperformbetterthanprovidinganL2onlyexplanation,bothatpostanddelayedvocabularytests.
UNCORRECTEDPROOFSystemxxx(2016)xxx-xxx94.
4.
EnglishlexicalexplanationsLinguisticimmersion.
580%ofstudentsfromtheEnglish-onlygroupbelievedakeyadvantageofEnglishexplanationstobetheirroleincreatingwhattheyreferredtoasanEnglish'immersion'environment,whichtheyfeltwasbeneficial,particularlyfortheirlisteningcomprehensionskills.
ItisimportanttorememberthattheseparticipantswereEnglish-majorstudentsattheuniversity,amongwhomprevailsastrongbeliefinusingthetargetlanguage(Kong&Zhang,2005).
Suchabeliefisinonesensesupportedbyliteraturearguingfortheneedforsufficientcomprehensibleinputasapreconditionforlanguageacquisition(Krashen,1988).
StudentsintheChinese-onlygroupalsoexpressedthisbeliefwhencommentingonthedrawbacksofChinesetranslations,claimingthat,"asanEnglish-major,English-onlyenvironmentiscrucialtohelpcreateagoodatmosphere"(CS16).
Furthermore,whencommentingontheirpreferencesonteachers'languagechoiceinlexicalexplanations,halfofthemexpressedthesameworriesastheEnglish-onlygroup,thattheuseofChinese-onlyexplanationsmightpotentiallyunderminetheirexposuretothetargetlanguageenvironment.
Inaddition,halfofthestudentsfromthecontrolgroupwhodidnotreceiveanylexicaltreat-mentalsoreportedthesameconcern.
Indeed,whilecertainbenefitsofprincipledL1usehavebeenacknowledged,theliteraturedoessupportthesignificanceoftheinputenvironment.
Immersedinaone-wayEnglishlearningenvironment,learnerscanachieveaswellasandattimesbetterthantheirnon-immersionpeers(Genesee,2008)andthiscanbeseentoapplyregardlessofsocio-economicandethnicbackgroundsorevenwhetherthesecondlanguageisalphabet-basedorcharacter-based(Lindholm-Leary,2001;Slaughter,1997).
Thiscon-cernfromtheEnglish-majorstudentsonthetargetlanguageenvironment,regardlessofthedifferentlinguisticmediumoflexicalexplanationtheyreceived,echoestheunderlyingconcernsofmanyteachersinChina,strivingtocreatealinguisticimmersionenvironmentintheirEFLclassrooms(Guo,2007).
Similarly,theadultKoreanlearnersinthestudyofMacaro&Lee(2013)werealsoacutelyawareoftheimportanceofbeingexposedtoEnglishenvironment.
Althoughnotclearlyoutlinedingovernmentalandinstitutionallinguisticpolicies,itisawidelyaccepteddoctrineinChinathatanexclusiveEnglishenvironmentisvitalforEnglishlearnerstoacquirethelanguage.
Improvedaccuracyofcomprehension:HalfofthestudentsfromtheEnglish-onlygroupindicatedthatEnglishexplanationscouldhelpthemaccuratelyunderstandthemeaningsoftargetwords.
Forexample,"EnglishexplanationshelpwithaccurateunderstandingthemeaningsofEnglishwords"(ES3).
Thatis,Englishexplanationswereconsideredbythisgroup,tobemorecloselyandaccuratelyrelatedtothemeaningsoftargetwords,seeminglyimplyingthatcertainelementsofthemeaningmightbelostintheprocessoftranslation(Butzkamm,2003).
Asreportedbystudents,"sometimestheEnglishexplanationswouldhelpwithbetterunderstandingthewordswithsimilarmeaningsthantheChineseexplanations"(ES4).
EnglishexplanationscouldhelpdistinguishsynonymswhiletheChinesetranslationsforsomeEnglishsynonymsmightbethesame,particularlywheredistinc-tionsintheL2donotexistintheL1.
6Thislossofmeaningintranslationhasbeenfoundtooccurparticularlywithabstractratherthanconcretewordsbecauseofthelesserlikelihoodofsharedconceptualfeatures(Kroll&DeGroot,1997:187).
Abstractwordsacrosslanguagesaremorelikelytohaveroughlysimilarequivalents,ratherthanclosetranslations.
ThemoreabstracttheL2wordsare,themoredistantthemeaningmatchislikelytobebetweenthetwolanguages(Kroll&DeGroot,1997).
Insuchcases,therefore,Englishexplanations,althoughlengthy,providecloserandmoreaccuratemeanings.
Asreported,"theteachergaveustheEnglishexplanations,it'slongbutitisveryvivid,Icouldunderstandthemeanings"(ES4).
4.
5.
AbilingualapproachoflexicalexplanationsOverhalfofthestudentsfromthethreegroupsheldapreferenceforabilingualapproachinteacher'slexicalexplanation;thatis,theteacherusingbothEnglishandChineseasthelinguisticmediumforexplainingvocabulary.
Macaro&Lee(2013)recom-mendedabilingualapproachtolexicalexplanations,butdidnotgofurtherinoperationalizingwhatsuchexplanationsmightlooklike.
Thequalitativeanalysisofstudents'preferredperceptionspresentedinthisstudygoessomewaytobeginaddressingthispoint.
Ingeneral,studentsbelievethatwhentheyencountereddifficultiesinunderstandingEnglishexplanationsorwhensomewordsweretoodifficulttoexplaininEnglish,Chinesecouldbeused.
FortheEnglish-onlygroupwhoreceivedEnglish-onlylexicalexplanations,fiveoutofthenineintervieweesarguedthatEnglishshouldbeusedasthelanguageforlexicalexplanations,but"whenstudentshavedifficultiesinunderstandingEnglishexplanation,Chineseshouldbeusedtohelpwithunderstanding.
Oth-erwise,themeaningsofwordsarestillnotunderstood"(ES12).
ThisseemsratheradeficitviewoftheL1,recommendingitforuseonlywhentheL2cannotsuffice.
Suchaviewcanbeseenasechoingthe'maximalposition'thatsometeachersmightholdandoutlinedbyMacaro(2001),wherebytheuseofL1ispermittedasaconcessiontothefactthatperfectteachingconditionsdonotexistandteachersmustthereforeresorttoL1use.
5ItshouldbenotedthatanimmersionenvironmentinvolvesfarmorethansimplyexplainingnewvocabularyinL2.
ThelinguisticimmersionenvironmentreferstotheexclusivelyEnglishlanguageusebytheteacherofthisstudywithintheEFLclassroom.
6Forexample,theChinesetranslationforemptyandblankisthesamebutthesetwowordsactuallyrefertodifferentthings.
UNCORRECTEDPROOF10Systemxxx(2016)xxx-xxxSimilarviewswerereportedbystudentsfromtheChinese-onlygroup.
Although63.
6%ofthestudentsreportedapreferenceforabilingualapproachinthequestionnaire,allfourteenintervieweesagreedthattherewasvalueinbothlanguagesforlexicalexplanations,butthatEnglishshouldbethemainlanguage,withChineseusedtoaidunderstandingofdifficultwords.
Indeedhalfofthecontrolgroupparticipantsagreedwiththis,expressingviewssuchas"it'sbettertouseEnglishmoreofthetime,butforcomplexonesChinesewouldhelp"(CONS25)and"someproperwordscanbeexplainedinEnglish,andthosedifficulttounderstandcanthenbeexplainedinChinese"(CONS31).
ItisnotablethatthefirstrecoursewhenencounteringdifficultlexicalexplanationsistoresorttoanL1translationratherthandeployingotherstrategies,anissuediscussedpreviously.
Tosummarize,thecontextualizedperceptionsandpreferencesofstudentstowardsteachers'Chinese-onlyandEnglish-onlylexicalexplanationsinanEFLuniversitycontextwithregardtothelearningoflexisbringsvaluableinsightsintounderstandingteachers'classroomlanguageuseforlexicalexplanationsfromtheperspectiveofstudents.
Studentsweregenerallysatisfiedwiththeirteachers'languageuseforlexicalexplanations,buttheyallpreferredteachers'lexicalexplanationstobedeliveredeitherinL2-onlyorthroughamixtureofL1andL2.
Studentshaveperceivedteachers'useofEnglishanduseofChineseforlexicalexplanationsasfacilitativetothecomprehensionandmemorizationofEnglishlexisfromdifferentperspectives.
5.
ConclusionandimplicationsQuestionnairedataindicatedthatoverallstudentsaresatisfiedwiththeirteachers'L1useandfindithelpfulfortheirunder-standingandlearning.
SincethiswasthecaseinbothChinese-onlyandEnglish-onlygroups,itwouldseemtoimplythatthelexicalexplanationswerewell-suitedtothelevelofthestudents.
Ananalysisofstudents'qualitativeresponsesrevealsmorevaluableinsightsintothedistinctionsstudentsmadebetweenuseofEnglishanduseofChineseforlexicalexplanations.
Chinesewasseentoassistwithbettercomprehensionandtobeause-fulmeansthroughwhichtotailorinstructiontostudents'proficiencylevels.
Additionally,itwasbelievedtooffermorepreciseunderstandingthroughadirectL1-L2correspondence,thusfacilitatingmemorization.
OntheotherhandEnglishwasbelievedtobeparticularlyhelpfulinassistingstudentstounderstandthefinedistinctionbetweensimilarwords,particularlywherethesedistinctionsmaynotbepresentinChinese.
AkeyproblemofEnglishlexicalexplanationwasseentobethemismatchbetweenthecomplexityofteacher'slexicalex-planationsandstudents'proficiencylevels,whichwasreportedtoimpedestudents'comprehensionandmemorizationoftargetEnglishwords.
ThissuggestsaneedforteacherstobeequippedwitharangeofteachingstrategiestobeabletoconveycomplexlexicalitemsinsimpleEnglish,suitedtotheproficiencyleveloftheirstudents.
Inamixedabilitysettingthisrequiresparticularexpertiseonthepartoftheteachertobeabletoprovidearangeofexplanationscateringfortherangeofneeds.
Intermsofpreferencestowardsteachers'languageuseinlexicalexplanations,alltheparticipants,includingthecontrolgroup,expressedapreferenceforlexicalexplanationstobedeliveredeitherinL2-onlyorthroughamixtureofL1andL2.
Suchapref-erenceisincongruentwiththeteachers'actuallexicalexplanationbehaviorobservedbyAuthor1etal.
(2015),wherebyteach-ersemployedthethreeoptionsforlexicalexplanations.
Students'expressedneedforL1explanationswasinthecontextofL2explanationsalso,ratherthaninanexclusiveL1context,reflectingtheirconcernsthatexclusiveL1lexicalexplanationsmightpotentiallyunderminetheirexposuretotheL2.
Theviewsexpressedbythestudents,byimplicationdemandteacherstomakecriticalpedagogicaldecisionsonwhattypeoflexicalexplanationrequireswhichlanguageandwhen.
Insuchaview,teachersfunctionasbothdictionaryanddictionaryde-signer(Author1etal.
,2009)astheyhaveanarrayofchoicesattheirdisposal,forexampleL1orL2paraphrase,definition,syn-onymorcontextualization.
StudentdataexaminedinthisstudywouldsuggestthatEnglishexplanationsshouldbegivenfirst;thesubsequentuseofChineseexplanationswoulddependonstudents'comprehensionoftheEnglishexplanation.
IfstudentscouldunderstandtheEnglishexplanationofunknownlexicalitems,thenarguablytheChineseexplanationswouldnotbenecessary;butifthereisdifficultyinstudents'comprehensionofEnglishexplanations,teacherscoulduseChinesetoassistcomprehension.
Thatis,anEnglishexplanationshouldbegivenfirstfollowedbyaChinesetranslationonlywhenincomprehensibilityarises.
Aseriesoffactorsmightimpacttheabovedecision-makingprocessofteachers.
Onefactorisstudents'proficiencylevel,whichemergedastheprimaryconcernofmanystudentsfromdifferentgroupsinthisstudy.
Forthosewithlowerproficiencylevels,thecomprehensibilityofteachers'Englishexplanationsbearstopmostpriority.
TeachersthencouldofferChineseinputtoassistcomprehension.
AnotherfactorcouldbethelevelofconcretenessofL2words.
Basedonthefindings,concretewordsaremorelikelytorequireanL1translationandabstractwordsmightmoreeasilybeexplainedinL2,particularlywherenoclearL1parallelexists.
Theseproposalsrequireteacherstobehighlyskilledandadaptableintheirabilitytoadapttheirlanguageuseaccordingtostudents'proficiencyandthenatureofthevocabularytaught.
Thisrequiresconsiderableplanningand,assuch,theyneedtobetrainedwithawiderangeoflinguisticandpedagogicalstrategiesonhowtomakedecisionsaboutthebestformofexplanationandonhowtodeliverlevel-appropriatelexicalexplanations.
Studentsshouldalsobetrainedwithanarrayoflearningstrategiestocopewiththedifferentdemandsoflanguageuseinclass,inordertoenablethemtomovebeyondatranslation-onlyapproachthatdoesnotequipthemtodealwiththerangeofvocabularytheyareexposedto.
Futureresearchcouldextendunderstandingsofstudents'perceptionsofteachers'lexicalexplanationstoawiderandmoredi-versepopulationofstudents,examiningwhetherperceptionsvary,forinstanceaccordingtosubjectmajorortypeoflexis.
Itispossible,forexample,thattechnicalvocabularyrequiresdifferenttypesoflexicalexplanations.
Suchresearchwouldbeparticu-larlysignificantandinterestingincontextswherecontent-basedinstructionisimplemented.
Also,alargerpopulationofstudentsUNCORRECTEDPROOFSystemxxx(2016)xxx-xxx11couldallowfurtherin-depthexaminationintothesignificanteffectoflearnerproficiencylevelsontheirpreferenceofL1andL2lexicalexplanations.
Additionally,furtherresearchmightusefullyexaminetheeffectivenessoftheproposedbilingualapproachprinciplesforteachingdifferentwordtypes.
Finally,researchlookingatthespecificnatureoflexicalexplanations,inotherwordshowteachersactuallyformulatetheirexplanations,andtheirimpactonstudents'learningwouldmakeausefulandinsightfulcon-tributiontothefield,particularlyifcoupledwithaninvestigationofteachers'accompanyingcognitions.
AcknowledgementWefeelverygratefulforallthecommentsraisedbythereviewers.
Wealsowouldliketoexpressourgratitudeforthepartici-pantstudentswhocontributedgreatlytothestudy.
ThisstudywassupportedbytheFundamentalResearchFundsfortheCentralUniversities,andtheResearchFundsofRenminUniversityofChina.
UNCORRECTEDPROOF12Systemxxx(2016)xxx-xxxAppendix1.
QuestionnaireAppendix2.
Interviewquestions:English-onlyGroup.
1.
HowdoyougenerallystudyEnglishnewwordsWhathelpyougraspthesewordsWhatmethodshaveyouused2.
Howdoyoulearnthenewwordsinthelisteningpassagesduringthistrainingsession3.
HowdoyoufeelwhentheteacherinthetrainingsessionexplainthenewwordsinEnglish4.
Doyouthinktheteacher'sexplanationhelpsUNCORRECTEDPROOFSystemxxx(2016)xxx-xxx135.
Ifyoucouldchoose,whichtypeoflanguagedoyouthinktheteachershoulduse,ChineseorEnglish,toexplainthenewwordssoastohelpyoucomprehendandmemorizethemWhyChinese-onlyGroup.
1.
HowdoyougenerallystudyEnglishnewwordsWhathelpyougraspthesewordsWhatmethodshaveyouused2.
Howdoyoulearnthenewwordsinthelisteningpassagesduringthistrainingsession3.
HowdoyoufeelwhentheteacherinthetrainingsessionexplainthenewwordsinChinese4.
Doyouthinktheteacher'sexplanationhelps5.
Ifyoucouldchoose,whichtypeoflanguagedoyouthinktheteachershoulduse,ChineseorEnglish,toexplainthenewwordssoastohelpyoucomprehendandmemorizethemWhyControlGroup.
1.
HowdoyougenerallystudyEnglishnewwordsWhathelpyougraspthesewordsWhatmethodshaveyouused2.
Couldyoudescribewhenyouheardthethreelisteningpassageswhatwereyouthinking3.
Whatwereyouthinkingwhenanewwordcomesupinthelisteningpassage4.
Doyouthinktheteacher'sintroductionontheTEM-4exambenefityouHow5.
Ifyoucouldchoose,whichtypeoflanguagedoyouthinktheteachershoulduse,ChineseorEnglish,toexplainthenewwordssoastohelpyoucomprehendandmemorizethemWhyUncitedreferencesLiao,2006;Macaro,2014a;PolioandDuff,1994;TanakaandEllis,2003.
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