I eat ago, bath, new go work: Dangers of Using L-1 in English Classroom

Among many popular teaching techniques in English classroom is the use of the native language or the translation method. This article will not discuss the controversy. Both deserve all their advocates. This article, instead, will point out some dangers of these two techniques.

While it’s probably common to use L-1 with the Beginner level students, there are some points worth considering.

First, translation can even give more burdens to the students. When teaching vocabulary, for example, students will have to recall the name of the thing in L-1 while also trying to memorize the equivalence in English. This happens especially when students have never seen the thing before.

Second, translation or the overuse of L-1 may lead students to use the frame of L-1 when trying to produce utterance in English. Students, for example, tend to use the L-1 grammar or vocab. Have a look at the following examples.

1. I school at SMP 1 Solo.*
   
2. I lunch at home.*
   

What happens in these two examples is the total transfer of grammar and vocabulary from Bahasa Indonesia (1. Saya sekolah di SMP 1 Solo. 2. Saya makan siang di rumah.) This is because students are exposed to such grammar translation as:

a. I will go to Semarang.

Saya akan pergi ke Semarang

b. He likes reading.

Dia suka membaca.

In addition, some verbs in Bahasa Indonesia have the same forms as the nouns, like sekolah (school) or makan siang (lunch). The following expressions are all acceptable in Bahasa Indonesia:

a. Saya sekolah di SMP 1 Solo. (I study at SMP 1 Solo)

b. Saya akan menemuinya di sekolah. (I will see her at school).

c. Saya selalu makan siang di rumah. (I always have lunch at home).

d. Saya tidak pernah membawa kotak makan siang. (I never bring a lunch box)

Again, when students are much exposed to such practices, however, worse production may take place. Can you guess what students actually mean in the following expressions?

1. My cat oil. (= Kucingku gemuk = My cat is fat.)
   

   Gemuk is the Javanese for used lubricant, its synonym is oli.
   

2. I eat ago, bath, new go work.
   

   (Saya makan dulu, mandi, baru berangkat kerja = I have breakfast first, take my bath, then go to work).
   

   You can guess why the learner produced such an expression, can’t you?