Why use mother language in a foreign language classroom

From plurilinguism to translinguism

Abstract

A recurring question that foreign language (FL) teachers face is what to do when students
express themselves in their mother language (ML) during class. This article presents reasons
in favor of using one’s ML as a resource when learning a FL. Although the non-exclusion of
ML in the FL classroom is not an innovative idea, communicating exclusively in FL from the
first class is still considered a plus in many FL courses, as opposed to those where the FL
input is progressively increased according to the learners’ evolution. As a matter of fact, the
linguistic input and the opportunities for FL oral and written mobilization are more relevant
for learning than explanations about the structure of the language; however, it is possible and
desirable to use the ML as a resource to optimize the learning of any FL. In this article, we
present some models of multilingual teaching developed for the European reality and rethink
them according to the Brazilian reality. Thus, we defend the translingual perspective for FL
teaching, overcoming the idea of ​​plurilingualism as separate knowledges of unrelated
languages.