Abstract:

The mother tongue is the first language we encounter, and we learn to think in that language. But if we start speaking, we can learn other languages. In the history of foreign language teaching, there are very different opinions about the role of the mother tongue in foreign language teaching. The most important point is the role played by the mother tongue in foreign language teaching. The question is no longer whether the mother tongue should be used in the classroom, but how often it should be integrated into the classroom. There are uncertainties and differences of opinion as to whether and how the mother tongue influences foreign language acquisition and what opportunities and limitations this influence entails. Teaching languages “right” has always been a contentious issue, particularly in the field of language education, and various methods have been developed throughout history. In foreign language teaching, knowledge of the mother tongue is needed to explain the logic of all complex and different structures. A person has at least basic language skills in the native language and therefore when learning a new foreign language, the native language can be cited as the cognitive basis influencing the foreign language learning process. The focus of this study is the search for answers to the questions of what possibilities the conscious use of the mother tongue opens in foreign language lessons and how it can contribute to the achievement of learning goals. It does not examine whether a foreign language should be taught with the mother tongue as the language of instruction. On the contrary, it is an investigation into how successful foreign language teaching with the conscious and methodical use of the mother tongue can be than the often necessary, consistently monolingual foreign language teaching.

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