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The Korean Association for the Study of English Language and Linguistics
[ Article ]
Korea Journal of English Language and Linguistics - Vol. 25, No. 0, pp.1102-1124
ISSN: 1598-1398 (Print) 2586-7474 (Online)
Print publication date 31 Jan 2025
Received 22 Apr 2025 Revised 13 May 2025 Accepted 05 Aug 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15738/kjell.25..202508.1102

The Evolving Role of L1 in EFL Collaborative Tasks: A Longitudinal Study of Translanguaging and Learner Perceptions

Youn-hee Kim
Visiting Professor, Division of General English University of Seoul kimyh@uos.ac.kr


© 2025 KASELL All rights reserved
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This longitudinal study explores the evolving role of learners’ first language (L1) in a Korean EFL university classroom from a translanguaging perspective. Through transcribed pair interactions and post-task interviews over a semester, it reveals that while L1 use was initially frequent for managing low-level form issues and expressing difficulties, its use declined as learners gained confidence. However, L1 remained strategically important for vocabulary negotiation and affective support. Learners’ perceptions shifted from initial hesitation to more confident and intentional language choices. Stable peer partnerships and interactive task design fostered L2 engagement while maintaining L1’s supportive functions. The findings support the pedagogical value of integrating L1 strategically in task-based EFL contexts and suggest that translanguaging can facilitate both cognitive development and social cohesion.

Keywords:

translanguaging, L1 use, English as a foreign language, task-based language teaching, learner perceptions

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2022S1A5B5A17045207).

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