The role of mother tongue in english language teaching

Motivation. Learners with high motivation generally do better. 
•
Self-confidence. Learners with self-confidence tend to be more successful. 
•
Anxiety. Low personal and classroom anxiety are more conducive to second 
language scquisition.
(Richards and Rodgers, 2005:183). 
It means that positive affect is necessary, but not sufficient on its own, for acquisition to 
take place.
Truly, Krashen had made the incredible contribution to the second language 
education. He argued that people learning foreign languages follow basically the same way 
as they acquire their mother tongue and thus the use of native language should be 
minimized in the learning process. Krashen himself tells about what he was trying to 
achieve: “It is possible that ‘no pain, no gain’ does not apply to language acquisition” 
(1991:423). Definitely this may be true for recent communicative methods when compared 
to older methods. Foreign language learning is a very complex process, with many factors 
involved and thus there is simply not only one comprehensive theory to guide teachers at 
their profession. According to Russell, “the pending change in second-language teaching is 
often called an ‘incomplete revolution’ because the educational establishment refuses to 
implement the system” although it has got acknowledged merits, choosing instead to 
weaken in the mediocrity we face today (Internet 6). 
This chapter focused on the changing role of mother tongue throughout the history. 
The fact is that the mother tongue use in the foreign language classroom has been always 
controversial among linguists and teachers, of course. Nowadays it can be said that the 
communicative approach has received wide support. I agree that the target language should 
be used as the main language and as a medium of communication however; I believe that 
the mother tongue has also got its role in foreign language classroom. Its role is minimal 
but facilitating pupils´ learning and language acquisition when needed. 

---

21 
3. Communicative competence 
In this chapter I will look at the term communicative competence since it is 
closely related to the second and foreign language teaching. I will consider some of the 
definitions of communicative competence in language and the ways in which this term
has been interpreted. Nowadays, one of the most important goals of foreign language 
teaching, as the preceding chapter confirmed, is the development of communicative 
competence within the current communicative approaches. Communicative competence 
is the ability to use the language correctly and appropriately to accomplish goals of 
communication. The learning process acquires the ability to communicate competently, 
not the ability to use the language exactly as a native speaker does. It means that pupils 
who have developed communicative competence in a foreign language are able to 
successfully convey and receive messages. These pupils are then able to use a foreign 
language in everyday life and situations. However, development of communicative 
competence in language teaching has gone through a long path.
3.1. Definition of communicative competence 
Communicative competence is a linguistic term which refers to a learner´s 
ability not only to apply and use grammatical rules, but also form correct utterances, 
and know how to use these utterances appropriately (Internet 8). According to 
Savignon, “the development of the concept of communicative competence as it relates 
to language teaching can be traced to two sources, one theoretical, the other practical.” 
(Savignon, 1983:10). The first one is connected to psychology, linguistics, and 
communication theory, the other one comes from pedagogical needs and concerns. The 
notion of communicative competence “looks at language not as individual behaviour 
but as one of many symbolic systems that members of a society use for communication 
among themselves.” (Savignon, 1983:10). People and the languages are viewed in their 
social context.
The term communicative competence has received several different 
interpretations. It was introduced by Dell Hymes in 1966, reacting against the perceived 
inadequacy of Noam Chomsky's distinction between competence and performance. This 
means that Chomsky coined another term, communicative performance. “Once 
communicative competence appeared 
[
it
]
became synonymous with progressive, 

---

22 
innovative teaching” (Savignon, 1983:1), it has been expanded considerably, and 
various types of competences have been proposed. However, the basic idea of 
communicative competence remains the ability to use language appropriately, both 
receptively and productively, in real situations. Savignon considers five charecteristics 
of communicative competence: 
1.
Communicative competence is a dynamic rather than a static concept. 
2.
Communicative competence applies to both written and spoken language, as