ATTITUDES OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TOWARDS USING MOTHER TONGUE IN EFL CLASSROOMS IN SIRTE

Abstract

The mother tongue (L1) use is a common occurrence in foreign language teaching contexts despite the fact that it often receives criticism for its interference with target language acquisition. The aim of this study was to investigate attitudes of teachers and students towards using mother tongue in English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom at Al-Etehad secondary school in Sirte. The study was involved a totally of eighty students and four teachers. The data were collected through classroom observation and semi-structured interviews then the collected data were coded and analyzed descriptively. The results revealed that, the teachers was used L1 on occasions when English explanations fail to work, and they used L1 mainly for pedagogical reasons. Also, the results revealed that, both teachers and students have positive attitudes towards the use of L1 in the EFL classroom and they found the benefits of the use of L1in the classroom only when it was needed. The significance of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of teachers' and students' attitudes toward the use of L1 in teaching and learning English language.