Paper Title
USING L1 (BANGLA) IN ESL CLASSES IN WEST BENGAL– TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND ATTITUDES

Abstract
Using learners’ mother tongue or L1 in L2 class is a common phenomenon in a bilingual or multilingual country like India. There has been much research worldwide on using L1 in ESL classrooms. Many experts like Cummins (1980), Odlin (1989) & Cook (2001) believe that using L1 has a positive impact on learners’ L2 acquisition. Apart from faster cognitive development, it also promotes a good classroom environment and interpersonal relationships among the learners. At the same time, many linguistsadvocate that using L1 can affectnegativelythrough mother tongue influence (MTI). This paper investigates the reasons for using Bengali in English classrooms in Bengali medium schools in West Bengal. Also, the paper will look into the teachers’ attitudes and beliefs in using Bangla in ESL classes. In this study, Bengali medium schools were surveyed and teachers were interviewed to know their attitudes regarding the usage of L1 (Bengali) in English classes. Keywords –L2 learning, Use of L1, Teachers’ belief, bilingual study