Teachers' and students' attitudes towwards the use of L1(First Language) in algerian EFL classrooms
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Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
university of Oum-El-Bouaghi
Abstract
The use of the mother tongue in teaching a foreign language is a debatable topic. Advocates of the monolingual approach suggested that the foreign language should be the only language used in the classroom. Proponentsof the bilingual approach, on the contrary, claimed that the mother tongue is a valuable tool that may facilitate learning english. This study was conducted to examine the attitudes of algerian teachers and students towards the use of the mother tongue (arabic) in EFL classrooms. To achieve this aim, two questionnaires were designed. The first one was delivered to twenty-four secondary school teachers of english in Mila, Constantine, and Oum-El-Bouaghi. The second one was administered to two classes of second-year students, studying experimental sciences and foreign languages in Mila. The results of the students'questionnaire demonstrated that the majority of the students from the two streams hold positive attitudes towards the use of their mother tongue. Most of the students said that the use of arabic is helpful and they agreed that arabic becomes very necessary when they find problems in english. In addition, 80% of them claimed that they felt comfortable when their teachers of english use arabic. The findings of the teachers' questionnaire revealed that the majority of teachers believed that the use of the mother tongue is helpful, and they added that arabic would have positive effects when it is not overused. So, the research findings showed that systematic and limited use of the mother tongue might be beneficial in learning english as foreign language.
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Keywords
Teaching : english : EFL : classroom : (Algeria)