Code-switching: L1-coded mediation in a kindergarten foreign language classroom

This paper is based on a qualitative inquiry that investigated the role of teachers' mediation in three different modes of coding in a kindergarten foreign language classroom in China (i.e. L2-coded intralinguistic mediation, L1-coded cross-lingual mediation, and L2-and-L1-mixed mediation). Through an exploratory examination of the varying effects of the three kinds of mediation on activating children's noticing and prior knowledge in learning a designated language game, the study shows that the L2-and-L1-mixed mediation optimises not only the children's exposure to the target L2, but also capitalises on the efficiency and effectiveness of mediation. The study also calls attention to the dynamic, interactive and mutually reflexive relationships among the factors involved, that is, although L2-coded mediation is a preferred choice in the setting, its effects are dependent on the realisations of five factors: the activation of learners' noticing, that of prior knowledge, the teacher's proficiency in the L2, the delivery of mediation, and the engagement of learners' interest.