The use of the mother tongue in the teaching of the English language

Abstract

The main aim of this research was to determine the use of mother tongue in English Language teaching at high schools in Latacunga- Ecuador.
 
Findings show that English teachers use Spanish a great amount of the class time. Teachers consider that it is necessary the use of Span ish in order to ensure students ‘comprehension,  particularly grammatical content and vocabulary.

 
These findings suggest strengthening teachers’ profile focusing on the development of communicative and pedagogical competences so that they can manage the teaching and learning process in correspondence to the current needs of this contemporary society, among them, developing students’ communicative skills in English.