Use of Arabic in the EFL classroom : attitudes and practices of university instructors

الملخص EN

This study aims to find out the attitudes of university instructors towards the use of Arabic in teaching EFL.

It also aims to explore how often and for what purposes they use it in their classes.

Thirty-two instructors from three universities participated in the study.

All of them were native speakers of Arabic, and they came from five Arab countries.

The data were collected through a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire that inquired into university instructors' attitudes towards the use of Arabic in the EFL classroom as well as the purposes for which they use it.

The findings revealed that all instructors were of the opinion that English should be the main language used in the classroom.

They also showed that the majority of them believed that Arabic should be used only at certain points of a lesson.

It was also found that the majority of instructors share more negative than positive attitudes towards the use of Arabic in EFL university classrooms.

In addition, the study indicated that the most frequently reported purposes of using Arabic in EFL university classrooms were to show differences between Arabic and English, to present new words, to make humorous comments, to present information about the target culture, to develop a good rapport with learners, and to provide clarification when meanings in English are unclear.