Students’ Interview

Seven students who participated in the interview were primarily chosen according to their previous stage, whether they had taken the preparatory year or not. Also, the interviewees have had different experiences in learning English before joining the university, for example, studying in a private school that introduced English from primary school, growing up abroad in an English speaking country, or joining private institutions to improve their English. Also, one of the participants was doing an internship semester6_{. The age of the interviewee, moreover, varied (20-24).}

There was a consensus among students about their bad experiences in learning English in intermediate and secondary schools. For instance, S1 said that six years in schools without benefitting any real outcomes in English, ‘So, you can say that the first real stage of learning English was when I started learning the basics in

university’. Also, three students who had taken the preparatory year thought that they had benefited from it; although one of them believed that the teachers there were not professional enough. For example, S3 , who had experienced another university’s preparatory year, thought that the teachers in the previous university were qualified professional native English speaking teachers; while the teachers in the preparatory year here, ‘are native speakers; yet they are not experienced in educating’. Even though some of the students had a few unsuccessful experiences with native English speaking teachers, they still preferred them over Arab teachers.

However, the use of Arabic was minimised in the preparatory year due to the strict control of the administration, according to the interviewees. For instance, S7 said that ‘in the preparatory year, some of the Arab teachers used 97% English; yet here, it ranged from 85% to 90 %’.

 Students’ Views of Using L1

It is crucial to seek students’ opinions of using L1 for two reasons: they are a part of the L2 classroom and teachers’ use of L1 depends mostly on them as they confirmed in their interviews. The students were also going to be English teachers in the near future, thus we may have some hints about whether L1 could be a learning tool in the

6_{Students spend the entire second semester of the senior year, level four, performing} a teaching practice in intermediate or secondary schools, supervised by one of the

classroom or not. Students held contradictory ideas about using L1; and they thought what they believed about L1 conflicted with their practice, as students, in the

classroom. For example, S1 said ‘I believe that using English alone is the right thing during lessons; yet quite honestly, I use Arabic’. Similarly, S2 affirmed that he failed to understand one of the lessons because the teacher did not resort to Arabic at all; although he thought that the teacher did the right thing. Therefore, S4 suggested that Arabic should be involved when there is a difficult concept or to introduce new materials. In addition, S5 associated the motivation and interaction of students with using Arabic. He said that students are active and interact with the teacher when he resorted to Arabic; whereas they were passive and bored when the teacher totally avoided Arabic. However, S7 thought that the use of Arabic was ‘a big mistake’; he said that ‘I tried it - avoiding Arabic - and I learned in a month more than what I learned during the six years in the public schools and in the 3 months course’. In addition, S2, S3 and S4 suggested disadvantages in using L1 such as using it with advanced learners; and them relying on it every so often. Yet, most of the

interviewees said that using Arabic is crucial with low level students and in certain situations, e.g. explaining difficult words.

Students, therefore, said that using Arabic will be necessary when they teach in primary, intermediate or secondary schools as the level of students in English is considered as beginner. S2 said it is important to resort to Arabic especially when teaching grammar. S1 also said that since English is compulsory in schools, he will most likely find a number of students not interested in learning English, so the only way to draw their attention is to use Arabic. Interestingly, one of the students was in the final semester, an internship semester, teaching English in an intermediate school. S5 allowed his students to use Arabic and he, himself, used it, almost with every phrase and sentence, and the supervisor was encouraging him to do that. He said,

‘I allow them to use Arabic because they are in the first grade of the intermediate school; they do not have a background in English. So, I am forced to use Arabic. For example, if I say: “Write the question.” I translate it into Arabic. If I say: “Answer the question.” I ask: “What is the meaning of “answer the question?”, and if no one knows it, I ask a student whether he knows it or not, to tell them the meaning’.

S5 said that he also tells some jokes and gives the instructions in Arabic, especially in exams; e.g. ‘I gave out the answer sheets, then I asked them [in Arabic] to turn the papers over’. S5, however, admitted if the supervisor attends, the amount of Arabic decreases, but it is still considered high.

 Students’ Reported Use of L1

Since students are not the centre of the teaching process inside the classroom and the majority of the talking is done by teachers; I will focus on three situations that I found students were involved in during the observation. The three functions are: asking questions, working in pairs/groups and talking with the teacher at the beginning/end of the lesson about topics not related to the lesson.

Regarding asking questions, or seeking help, S1, S2, S4 and S5 said that they rarely used Arabic to ask a question, if the teacher understands Arabic. S2 said he

sometimes preferred to be silent over making a possible embarrassment of himself if he asks in Arabic. On the other hand, S3, S6 and S7 would never consider Arabic as an option when they ask questions.

All of the interviewees said they always/often use Arabic when they are in groups or pairs. Furthermore, S1 stated that any interaction with his peers is always in Arabic even if he is ‘asking for a pen’.

In addition, students said that they use Arabic when speaking informally with each other or with the teacher, if he is Arab. S2 asserted that ‘the teacher sometimes, when we finish our lesson, sits and talks to us in Arabic’.

However, S3 said if the teacher cannot understand us, we talk informally with him in English, about every day matters or topics. S5, said he always speaks in English in such a function, either with the teacher or with his peers.

 Students’ Preferences in how Teacher Use L1

Students’ preferences of teachers’ using L1 vary from one student to another. For example, in explaining new or difficult words some students favoured English to

explain a new vocabulary, e.g. synonyms; however Arabic could be used as a final option. S2 liked it when a native English speaking teacher tried different techniques to explain a word; he’d used Google translation and showed the translation on the board. S7 said that ‘if it gets to extent that it could not be explained, he might give the explanation in Arabic and put an end to it’. Some students said that Arabic would be useful as a first option to provide a meaning. S2 thought that Arabic was helpful in such a function; he said ‘I prefer him to use Arabic; it should be used with new words and difficult ones with all levels’. One student suggested a technique for teachers, who do not know any Arabic, is to ask a student to translate the term/word and carry on the lesson. However, in teaching grammar, almost all of the

interviewees said that there is no need for Arabic to clarify a grammar point in their stage. Yet, S2 said ‘I prefer using Arabic, but not in all levels. It is only in level one in order to learn the basics, and then it should be in English’. S2 also said ‘when I say a sentence or a question with lots of grammatical mistakes, I prefer the instructor to correct me in English. But, I prefer using Arabic in grammar’. Students also prefer their teacher to correct their mistakes in English. S3 said ‘I also prefer it to be in English. But if the mistake has been repeated more than once and becomes a problem for the student, you can explain it in Arabic’. Another function of using Arabic is giving instructions; although most of the students did not suggest L1 to interfere. S2 said that when a teacher sometimes gave them homework and the instructions in English, he noticed ‘students’ facial expressions’, which showed that they did not understand; therefore, he could explained it again in Arabic.

 The Amount of Arabic in Students’ Classroom

Students claimed that the use of Arabic varied from one teacher to another.

According to their answers about the amount of Arabic usage during the lesson, they divided their teachers into three types: unqualified Arab teachers, qualified Arab teachers and native English speaking teachers. Unqualified teachers used excessive Arabic in the classroom. S3 went so far as to say that ‘there is an instructor who speaks forty or fifty percent in Arabic and what you gain from him is the English phrases’. S4 similarly said that they use a lot of Arabic; almost half of the lesson Arabic. The qualified teachers and the native English speaking teachers, rather, used fewer words of Arabic in the classroom when compared to the unqualified teachers. For example, S2 and S5 said that qualified Arab teachers use up to 20%-25% Arabic

during the lesson; in addition, S1 and S4 confirmed that native English speaking teachers never used more than 5%- 10% Arabic. S7 compared the amount of using Arabic in the preparatory year and in the college. He said that in the preparatory year, some of the Arab teachers used 5% Arabic, but here, it is between 10%-15%.