ATTITUDES OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TOWARD MOTHER TONGUE USAGE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
ATTITUDES OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TOWARD MOTHER TONGUE USAGE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

Summary/Abstract: This paper sheds light on the students’ opinions and attitudes about mother tongue (MT)usage in the foreign language (FL) classroom. The purpose of the paper is to determine the students’perception of MT usage and its impact on FL learning and the acquisition process. This research is acontinuation and complements to the research conducted and analyzed in the article published in theinternational journal “Vospitanie” under the title “Teachers’ perspectives on the prevalence of themother tongue in foreign language teaching”. For the purposes of this research, a survey wasconducted to observe the students’ specific attitudes, i.e, how they actually experience the foreignlanguage teaching process with and without the usage of the mother tongue, to highlight the reasonsand factors for its use, to determine whether and how often the mother tongue is used, and whether itfacilitates FL learning and content acquisition. The results of this paper conclusively indicate that MTusage is a common practice that is widely accepted by FL learners, respectively used consciously,and planned as an intermediary and auxiliary language. Understanding how the mother tongue caninterfere in FL learning and being aware of its influence during classroom activities can significantlyenhance the acquisition of a second or third foreign language. The results of this research will helpimprove the teaching of foreign languages, which will enable easier and more efficient learning andsuccessful acquisition of the foreign language.

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