EFL teachers' language use for classroom discipline: A look at complex interplay of variables

The issue of classroom management in the English as a foreign language (EFL) setting has not been addressed adequately despite teachers' views of it as constituting one of their prioritized tasks. Among the aspects of classroom management, in particular, classroom discipline seems to warrant research focus because it contributes to “smooth and efficient teaching and learning in the lesson” (Ur, 1996, p. 270). The current study examined Korean elementary school EFL teachers' language use for disciplinary purposes. Classroom interactions between two non-native English speaking EFL teachers and their respective students were observed in nine classes between March and June 2010, and audio-recorded. In addition, the teachers and students were interviewed in a semi-structured way. The results show that the teacher whose EFL proficiency level was high relied significantly more on the target language (TL) than on the first language (L1), while the low proficiency level teacher depended significantly more on L1 than on TL. The differences were found to be caused in complex ways by a number of factors. Based on the findings of the study, implications are suggested.