The Use Of The Mother Tongue In Saudi EFL Classrooms

Abstract

The issue of including or excluding the learner’s mother tongue in the EFL classroom has been the subject of ongoing discussion and controversy for a long time. This paper attempts to investigate the use of native Arabic in English classes at two Saudi technical colleges. The main objectives were to examine the purpose o L1 use and the attitudes of Saudi teachers and students towards the role of Arabic in the EFL classroom. Data were collected through two different types of questionnaires.

Results indicated that the use of Arabic (L1) was for clarification purposes and that a balanced and judicious use of L1 in the EFL classroom by both teachers and students can be useful in the language learning process and may even be essential to increase learners’ comprehension.