Resumen

The use of the mother tongue (L1) in an English as a foreign language (EFL) class is one of the controversial issues teachers have to face in their teaching practice. Some teachers refuse to use the L1; others use it in different situations such as maintaining discipline, calling students’ attention, making students understand or explaining grammar issues in order to avoid students’ frustration, among others. Similarly, in some cases students are allowed to use the L1 in their classes, meanwhile in other settings they are not. This monograph aims to analyze the use of the L1 in a fifth grade in an EFL class at that monolingual school with an intensified English program. Readers will find the role of the L1, the characterization of its purposes, the defining of students’ English oral production level based on the school syllabus, and the relationship between the use of L1 and the development of the oral production ability in L2. This analysis comes from a series of non-participative observations, journals, audio recordings, students’ oral tests, and teacher’s interview. After the analysis, the researchers come up with the conclusions, including the homeroom teacher’s reflection and suggestions based on the research findings.