The use of L1 in teaching english at Kuching Polytechnic Sarawak : Teachers’ perspectives / Ann Report

The study was conducted in Kuching Polytechnic Sarawak. The theoretical framework used in the study was based on Conversation Analysis (CA) approach which was proposed by Auer (1984). The study aims to investigate the use of LI in teaching English at Kuching Polytechnic Sarawak. The respondents consisted of 32 English lecturers from the General Studies Department. The instruments used in the data gathering process were; 1) questionnaires and 2) observations. The questionnaires were consisted of three parts; Part 1 (Demographic Profile), Part 2 (The Use of English in Daily activities) and Part 3 (Perceptions of Using LI in the English Classroom). The observation sessions were recorded by using a camcorder. The data from the questionnaires and the video observations were analyzed by using SPSS (version 12). The results were presented using tables and interpreted through frequencies and percentage distributions. In overall, the outcomes of the research are encouraging and of relevant values within the scope of the research. The findings from the questionnaires indicate that in overall, the respondents are motivated and have positive attitude in using English in their daily lives as well as in the English classrooms. In addition, the findings from the observations revealed that LI was used in the classroom for various reasons to achieve the intended communicative purposes. Moreover, the findings of the correlation coefficient test also suggested that in general the English lecturers’ perceptions on the use of LI in the English classrooms matched with the observed reality. These findings indicate that there is a place for bilingualism in a foreign language classroom. Hopefully, teachers/lecturers, educators, researchers and anyone who has interest in the education field will gain new insights from reading this thesis