The Role of the Mother Tongue in Learning English as a Foreign Language Vocabulary by 10th Grade Students at Al Safi Secondary School for Boys

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to investigate the role of the mother tongue in learning English as a foreign language vocabulary by 10^th Grade students at Al Safi Secondary School for Boys. The sample of the study consists of 30 students. The researcher used random sampling process to select the sample of the study. The age of the students ranges between 14 to 16 years old. They were homogenous in terms of their age, gender, educational system and mother tongue (Arabic Language). This experimental study used English language texts. The researcher implemented One Reading Comprehension Test and One Vocabulary Test to elicit data from the informants. The research used descriptive analysis to process the collected data. The findings of the research showed that students (Group1)  who received the mother tongue translation of new vocabulary revealed more appropriate performance on the vocabulary test compared to other students (Group 2). This study recommends that much research be conducted in the area to enhance EFL students vocabulary learning.

Keywords: Mother Tongue, Learning, Vocabulary, Secondary, 10^th Grade.