Psychological and Social Perspectives on Language

The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Faculty of Education (2011-12, 1st Term)
Master of Arts in English Language Teaching
ENLT 6704
Psychological and Social Perspectives on Language
Assignment 2
A Critical View on Using L1 to Teach L2 in Local Hong Kong English Classrooms
Student: Leung Chi Kit, Johnny
Student no.: 1009036200
Course Instructor: Prof. Barley Mak
Date of submission: 30th December, 2011

I declare that the assignment here submitted is original except for source material explicitly acknowledged, and that the same or related material has not been previously submitted for another course. I also acknowledge that I am aware of University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and of the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations, as contained in the website. 30 Dec 2011
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Signature Date
Leung Chi Kit (Johnny) 1009036200
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Name Student ID
ENLT 6704 Psychological and Social Perspectives on Language
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Course code Course title
A Critique of “L1 to teach L2: complexities and contradictions” and a Critical Review on Using L1 to teach L2 in Local Hong Kong English Classrooms
Introduction
Among the most common English classroom instructions or even “orders” local English language teachers use in their classes will probably be “Remember to speak in English”, “Use English only”, “No Chinese” and so on. They are actually used in my and my colleagues’ English classrooms in my school. The main reasons for us having quite an extreme fear of not using our mother tongue in classrooms are basically the pressure from our principal who believes in teaching English as a Foreign Language (FL) while most FL teachers generally believe they should optimize the use of the target language (TL) in

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