LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 12 December 2012
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Role of Mother Tongue in Teaching English as a Second Language to Tamil Students (Special Reference to Undergraduates of the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka)

V. Suntharesan, M.Phil.

Abstract

Using the student’s mother tongue in the ESL classes has been felt to be very productive as it is found to develop language accuracy and fluency. The objective of this paper is to discuss how mother tongue can be effectively used in teaching certain linguistic areas in order to motivate students and promote their language proficiency faster. Translation in ESL classes which enables the process of comparing students’ first language with the second language would undoubtedly enable students to attain the ability of using the language in real life situations for communicative purposes.

The beneficial role of mother tongue in second language learning is studied in this paper with the help of authentic data elicited from an experiment carried out among learners. From the Faculty of Arts, University of Jaffna, 50 undergraduates studying in the 3rd year were selected at random and divided into two groups i.e. the Control Group and the Experimental Group. An identical Pre–Test was conducted among both groups and the results were found to have very little variation. Language skills were imparted with the use of Tamil, the students’ mother tongue to the Experimental Group. Classes for the Control Group were conducted purely in English to teach the language skills. The duration of course lessons for each group was six months. At the end of this course duration, the students were required to sit for Post–Tests. Their performances in the tests showed that the Experimental Group fared much better than the Control Group. The findings stressed the benefit of using mother tongue in the ESL classes.

Key Words: Mother tongue, Monolingualism, Code Switching, Second Language, Language Skills

Introduction

Communicative Language Teaching which is currently in vogue emphasizes the greater use of English in teaching English as a Second Language. Yet, one should be alerted of the fact that neglecting the students’ mother tongue may lead to adverse effects. It should be borne in mind that greater the use of mother tongue, higher the extent of cognitive thinking, sense of security and confidence among learners. Using the mother tongue as a resource for the promotion of language learning has gained currency recently as translation seems to promote the three qualities considered to be essential for language learning: accuracy, clarity and flexibility (Ross, 2000 as quoted in Kalvaliauskiene, 2009).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

V. Suntharesan, M.Phil.
Senior Lecturer
English Language Teaching Center
University of Jaffna
Jaffna
Sri Lanka
suntharesan@yahoo.com
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