Reflection, conceptualisation and exolinguistic interaction: Observations on the role of the first language

Contrastive analysis has been the object of much criticism, particularly for its incapacity to identify and interpret the true difficulties of learning and communicating in a foreign language. Recent new insights into the relations in learning between L1 and L2 include: reflections (inspired by Vygotskian and Brunerian traditions, and by conversation analysis) on the theme ‘language learning and face‐to‐face verbal interaction'; the conjunction of research in language learning and in bilingualism; and work on the role of metalinguistic activities in language learning and use. These activities, when associated with the solution of communication tasks, are mostly reflexive (focusing on forms that briefly acquire an autonomous status). They can also serve as infrastructure for conceptualisation. The data we have collected (ethnographic rather than experimental) show that resort to L1 plays a central role in all these processes.