Institutional Repository | Satya Wacana Christian University: The Use of First Language at Bilingual Preschool:Satya Wacana Children Centre

THE USE OF FIRST LANGUAGE AT BILINGUAL PRESCHOOL:
SATYA WACANA CHILDREN CENTRE
Yenny Ismi Pratiwi

ABSTRACT
The existence of the students' first language (L1) in the L2 classroom has become
an ongoing debate for many years and has made the pros and cons toward the
topic emerge. Inspired by the controversion, this study aiming to discuss the use
of Indonesian (L1) in a bilingual preschool which uses Indonesian (L1) and
English (L2) as the daily language communication. The context of the study was
at a bilingual preschool, Satya Wacana Children Centre. The data for this study
were collected through classroom observation and post-interview with the teacher
as the participant. The result of this study suggest that the use of L1 in teaching
bilingual preschool was useful for the teacher in teaching L2 to young learner.
There are 7 usage of L1 used by the teacher, they were for checking
comprehension, classroom management, giving instruction, teaching new
vocabulary items, showing empathy and solidarity, delivering information and the
last are giving feedback and encouraging. This study is expected to give a better
insight for teacher in teaching bilingual school especially to those the very young
learner.
Keywords: The use of L1, TEYL, Bilingual