The role of mother tongue in english language teaching

worksheet. 
•
Stating your aim: This is to give you practice in listening for the general idea. 
•
Making prediction: Who knows something about this topic? 
•
Revision of listening skills: Remember last lesson we learnt about… 
•
Prepare to listen: So, are you ready to listen and answer these questions? 
•
After listening: Well, that´s it. We´ll hear it again, but first finish… 
•
Going over the activity: Alright. Let´s go over that… 
(1991:137-138). 
Vandergrift sums up: 
L2 listening competence is a complex skill that needs to be developed consciously. 
It can best be developed with practice when students reflect on the process of 
listening without the threat of evaluation. Using listening activities to only test 
comprehension leads to anxiety which debilitates the development of metacognitive 
strategies. Strategy use positively impacts self-concept, attitudes, about learning and 
attributional beliefs about personal control (Borkowski et. al., 1990). Guiding 
students through the process of listening not only provides them with the knowledge 
by which they can successfully complete a listening task; it also motivates them and 
puts them in control of their learning (2005).
4.1.2. The nature of reading
Like listening, reading is a receptive
9
skill, which is according to most of foreign 
language specialists also interactive, since a reader interacts with the text to create meaning 
as the reader´s mental process work together to at different levels (Bernhardt cited in 
Barnett, 1988:152). Barnett suggests effective reading strategies that support the target 
language use including the following: 
•
Using titles and pictures to understand a passage. 
•
Skimming. 
•
Scanning. 
9
Receptive in terms of the ability to comprehend information. It may include understanding of the vocabulary 
and concepts presented, short-term memory and sequencing information (Internet 8). 

---

34 
•
Summarizing.
•
Guessing word meanings. 
•
Become aware of the reading process. 
(1988:153). 
The reading itself is divided into three stages which are pre-reading, reading and 
post-reading stages. Willis proposes when introducing a reading passage, pictures and titles 
which help us predict the subject matter, and also motivation to read with purpose and 
satisfaction (1991:150). Barnett expains that pre-reading activities should introduce pupils 
to a text, it may include for example discussing author, brainstorming, considering titles, 
skimming and scanning. Reading stage helps pupils develop reading strategies and improve 
their control of the foreign language. The teacher should provide concrete exercises such as 
guessing word meanings, word formation clues, predicting text context or reading for 
specific piece of information. Post-reading should check pupils´ comprehension and lead 
them to a deeper analysis of the text (1988:158). Moreover, none of these strategies 
requires the use of mother tongue since not every word must be understood.
It may happen that the text is too difficult for pupils. In that case, Willis suggests 
what teachers should do to avoid native language: 
•
More background information! 
•
Pre-teach key words the day before! 
•
Divide text into short chunks! 
•
Sign-post questions for main points! 
•
Add discourse markers where helpful! 
•
Ask easy questions! 
•
Paraphrase difficult ideas! 
•
Set easy tasks like matching questions and answers! 
•
Praise and encouragement! 
(1991:144).
Willis further suggests classroom language that should be used for training in reading 
skills, understanding texts etc.: 
•
Inroducing the text: What about the title?, What do you know…? 
•
Beginning to read: Before you begin reading you´ll need to understand… 
•
Talking about the text in detail: The tenth line from the top, what can he mean 
by…?, Let´s recap quickly.  
(1991:148-149). 

---

35 
4.1.3. The nature of speaking 
All of the skills are important, but Ur highlights speaking as the most important 
since “people who know the language are referred to as ‘speakers’ to that language, as if 
speaking included all other kinds of knowing in learning to speak (1996:120). If this is true, 
classroom activities that teachers use to develop pupils´ ability to express themselves is 
crucial. Ur further provides the characteristics of a successful speaking activity: 
•
Learners talk a lot. 
•