Is it Legitimate to Bring the L1 Back from the Exile? On the Authenticity of Collaborative Translation Task (CTT) in TBLT Framework

There is a controversy on the use of L1 in second and foreign language classrooms, and language learners are usually recommended not to use their shared L1 in such situations. However, some researchers and methodologists have recently begun to have a different look atthe use of L1in language learning contexts. For instance, it may be considered as a psychological tool ora cognitive support to analyze the language with more ease (Anton DeCamilla,1988). In TBLT framework, Cook (2001) points out bringing the L1 back from exile…may liberate the task-based learning approach so that it can foster the students natural collaborative efforts in the classroom through their L1 as well as L2 (p.103) . Correspondingly, the current study tries to examine the inclusion of L1 use in a TBLT classroom by investigating the taskness of Collaborative Translation Task (CTT) in both theoretical and empirical frameworks. In theoretical framework, the taskness of CTT is justified according to the widely accepted definitions of task as well as different theories of language and language learning. It was concluded that CTT, as Ellis (2011) believes, can be viewed as a Consciousness-raising task (C-R task). In the next phase of the study, CTT is compared with a Standard Communicative Task (SCT) in terms of the amount of talk and the incidence of form-focused episodes (FFE). Nine pairs of intermediate language learners participated in the study by completing two tasks, a CTT and an SCT. Their conversations in both tasks were recorded, transcribed and finally analyzed. The results of the data showed the same amount of talk in both CTT and SCT. Also, compared to SCT, CCT showed more FFEs on lexis, grammar, morphology, and spelling but less on phonology. Thus, it was concluded that CTT as a kind of C-R task has the potential to provide learners with situations for interaction and focusing on language forms, both implicit and explicit learning, simultaneously.