English Language Teachers' Perceptions of Using Students' First Language in English as a Foreign Language Classrooms

This study investigated EFL teachers’ perceptions regarding students’ first language (Amharic) use in English classroom. A mixed methods study, utilizing quantitative data in the form of a Likert-scale questionnaire and qualitative data through semi-structured interview, was used for this study. Data were collected from 59 EFL teachers (all involved in the questionnaire and four out of them were interviewed) in four selected secondary schools. The study employed descriptive and thematic analysis for the questionnaire items and interview questions respectively. Findings revealed that the great majority of teachers were in favor of using Amharic while teaching English. They also acknowledged the potential benefits and expressed their concerns about drawbacks of L1 (Amharic) in English instruction. Contextual factors like students’ level of proficiency in English, deficiency of teacher training on L1 use and somehow teachers’ inadequate proficiency in English were among the elicited determining reasons as to how they perceive and apply L1 in classroom. In light of these findings, recommendations were made for teacher educators and EFL teachers themselves towards harnessing the potential of L1 in English classes.