The Use of Slovene Language in ELT Classroom in the 7th Grade of Primary SchoolKovačič, Lea (Avtor) Burazer, Lara (Mentor) Vogel, Jerica (Mentor) teaching Englishmother tongueforeign languageSlovenianlast three-year periodThe amount of use of the mother tongue as well as the situations in which it should be used in English lessons in primary school is a field with no written rules or guidelines. Teachers are therefore making such decisions by themselves with various reasons influencing their choice. The role of the mother tongue has changed immensely during the development of the field of didactics and has gained or lost its importance over time, during which the teachers have also changed their approaches. The theoretical part of my thesis introduces a review of the literature in the field of use of the mother tongue in English lessons as well as the shift in its importance and role. There are many different researches and articles written on the topic in foreign literature, whereas Slovenian literature is scarcer. The empirical part includes a survey questionnaire, observations of English classes at Ljubljana primary schools and interviews with the teachers I observed. I found that the teachers themselves also feel left to their own devices when it comes to choosing and switching between the native and the target language, which seems to suit them. The choice and/or frequency of switching is mainly influenced by the class atmosphere and the level of knowledge of each individual class. They believe that it is more essential that the students acquire the knowledge in an understandable way than the language in which the lessons are presented.20242024-10-10 11:19:55Magistrsko delo/naloga163746sl