text: what are the implications of using first language in an esl class? i'm doing a research on this topic for my didactics class i want you to suggest some bibliography there is more than one philosophy about teaching esl.  however, if you need the student's l1 to explain a word or an activity, then you are trying to do something too difficult for them. the students really need to learn to use dictionaries, to negotiate meaning and to guess - itself not easy for some students. they also need to choose between these strategies sensibly. asking the teacher or a classmate for a translation will block this process.  here are some links that may help you.  good luck with your research.