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English Teachers´Views on the Use of the Target Language in the Classroom

<p>In our ever more international world, the English language plays an important role. This is</p><p>also reflected in its prominent position as a core subject in the Swedish school system. It is</p><p>therefore important that English teachers offer students an environment in which they have</p><p>the best possible opportunities to be successful in reaching the goals specified in the</p><p>syllabuses. One variable in a successful foreign language classroom is the teacher's usage</p><p>ofthe target language.</p><p>This study is about English teachers' views on the issue of target language usage in the</p><p>classroom, versus usage of the mother tongue. In this study, at Upper Secondary level, the</p><p>interviews show that the teachers are, more or less, in agreement that the target language</p><p>should be used all the time in the classroom. There are, however, occasions in which the</p><p>interviewed teachers do not work according to their own beliefs and methods and revert to</p><p>using Swedish. The main such occasions can briefly be said to be: explanation of grammar,</p><p>non-subject related "mentor's issues" and classroom management issues. In addition, this</p><p>study argues that the governing documents, previous research, as well as well-known</p><p>theories on the subject support a high usage of the target language by the teacher.</p>

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:hh-1388
Date January 2007
CreatorsSjöberg, Helén
PublisherHalmstad University, School of Teacher Education (LUT), Högskolan i Halmstad/Sektionen för lärarutbildning (LUT)
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, text

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