Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions on the Role of the First Language in Foreign Language and Science Classes at Bilim Innovation Lyceum
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Date
2017-06
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Publisher
Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education
Abstract
One major theoretical issue that has dominated the field of education for many years concerns the role of the mother tongue in teaching foreign languages. Existing theories on the use of L1 in foreign language classes hold opposing views regarding the use of the first language. Taking into consideration recent trend of teaching science subjects in the foreign language, this debate concerns schools in Kazakhstan that are launched for Trilingual Policy, especially Bilim Innovation Lyceum. The purpose of the study is to examine the role of the students’ native language in a foreign language class and scientific class that is taught in a foreign language through exploring what teachers and students think about using the native language in the class and what kind of practices they use. A qualitative case study design is implemented in this study. Semi-structured Interviews were conducted with 4 teachers and 10 students of 7th-9th grade at Bilim Innovation Lyceum in the Northern region of the Kazakhstan Republic. English, Turkish and Math classes were observed. The findings of the study indicate that although teachers prefer monolingual policy in teaching languages but not the scientific content, they still use L1 for pedagogical purposes that serve to make meaning of the content, to manage the classroom and for informal communication. As for the role of the languages in the classrooms, the Russian language seem to be more superior than Kazakh language, although many multilingual students’ native language is Kazakh. The study shows a need for the use of L1 in foreign language and science classes in BIL classrooms as it used for pedagogical purposes.
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Keywords
foreign language, science classes, students' perceptions, language learning, trilingual policy, Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Education
Citation
Abdrakhmanova, Madina. (2017) Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions on the Role of the First Language in Foreign Language and Science Classes at Bilim Innovation Lyceum. Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education