On the Mutual Effect of L1 and L2 in SLA: A Brief Look at Cook s Multi-competence

Considering the notion of multicompetence coined by Cook (1991) calls on the necessity to revisit the stance of first language in foreign language teaching.  The use of mother tongue in second language acquisition (SLA) is widely criticized by many practitioners, notably Krashen (1981). However, more recently Widdowson (2003) also called for an explicitly bilingual approach. The present paper, though arguing for the use of L1 in L2 context, did not ignore the fact that L2 can exert inevitable effects on L1.