Language ideologies in ELT: The association between language learners mother tongue and learning and using English in Iran

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of Iranian English language learners mother tongue, that is Farsi in learning and using English. Following reviewing the related literature and administering an open-ended questionnaire containing 6 questions to 15 students similar to the target participants, a 22- item, eight point Likert scale questionnaire was initially developed. To examine the content validity of the instrument, the items were consulted with a panel of experts. The questionnaire, then was pilot tested on 30 English students to ensure the readability and comprehensibility of the items. The reliability of the instrument was estimated through Cronbach alpha (a = 0.74) , indicating an acceptable coefficient of reliability. The next step was to investigate the construct validity of the instrument through exploratory factor analysis after administering the instrument to 150 English learners. The results of factor analysis revealed the existence of six components with eigenvalues of equal or more than one, explaining 61.66 % of the first variance. For both English learner and teacher participants, the most favored factor was the assumed negative effects of using Farsi in English classes on the quality and speed of learning in general and developing pronunciation and speaking skills in particular. The least preferred factor, on the other hand, was the supposed negative effects of learning English on Farsi speaking skills of learners in terms of sentence structure, word choice and pronunciation.

کلیدواژه ها:

Language ideologies ، Role of mother tongue ، learning and using English in Iran