Abstract

HITOTUZI, Nilton. The Learner´s Mother Tongue in the L2 Learning-Teaching Symbiosis. profile [online]. 2006, n.7, pp.160-172. ISSN 1657-0790.

This paper has a two-fold purpose. One is to review the stances of language-oriented theorists, who are practicing foreign/second-language teachers and learners from various parts of the world, regarding the long-standing controversy over whether or not the learner´s mother tongue plays a positive role in the foreign/second-language learning-teaching context. A second purpose is to offer, from a non-native-speaker L2-teacher standpoint, some suggestions on when and how learners´ native language can be capitalised on in the process of learning another language. This implies that the learner´s mother tongue can be a valuable tool at the disposal of foreign/second-language teachers in their classrooms worldwide.

Keywords : language-oriented professionals; role of mother tongue; foreign/second-language learning context.

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