Using effectively the mother tounge to teach English
Published: July 31, 2026
Abstract
National Academy of Public Administration - Ho Chi Minh City Campus
Using the mother tongue (L1) to teach English is still a controversial topic. It depends on many different factors such as the program goals, the desired learning outcomes, the contexts of teaching and learning activities, etc. It is important for use to have more general principles behind whether lecturers can use the mother tongue to teach English or not in specific contexts and learning levels of learners. This paper points out research conclusions that support the use of mother tongue to teach foreign languages and suggest some effective techniques to use the mother tongue to teach foreign languages.
Keywords
teaching and learning foreign languagesusing the mother tonguethe target language
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