MOTHER TONGUE AS A VERITABLE INSTRUMENT IN THE LEARNING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN A LINGUISTICALLY MIXED ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Mother Tongue is a veritable tool due to several reasons. It is vital in framing the thinking and emotions of people. Learning to speak in the mother tongue is very necessary for a child’s Comprehensive development. Being fluent in it, which is also known as the native language benefits the child in numerous ways. It associates him to his culture, ensures enhanced cognitive development and support in the learning of other languages. This paper therefore focuses on the question on whether there is a use of the Li in second language teaching classes. If yes, to what extent and in what occasion is it used? The paper examines and collaborates the methodological strategies that English teachers employ in other to accommodate and facilitate the need of the students who have been raised and educated in a multilingual setting. Three research questions were raised and data collected were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. In conclusion, the findings from this study suggest that balanced and careful use of Li in the English Language classes seem not to affect the students’ exposure to the target language. It can even be beneficial of the learning process and may be needed for increasing comprehension. Finally the study recommended that to develop the quality of education, language policies need to take care of mother tongue learning. Models of education which ignore the mother tongue in the early years can be unproductive, ineffective and have a negative effect on children’s learning. Mother tongue teaching at least in the early years can enable teachers to teach and learner to learn further effectively.