THE USE OF MOTHER TONGUE IN MASTERING A PROFESSIONAL LANGUAGE IN HIGHER EDUCATION: SHOULD IT BE AVOIDED?

Abstract

The article deals with a question issue faced by many teachers of non-linguistic universities in Russia, namely, whether it is justified from the methodological point of view to use the mother tongue (L1) when mastering the discipline ‘Foreign Language in the Professional Sphere’. Some arguments are presented ‘in favour’ of including the native language in practical foreign language classes related to professionally oriented training. These arguments are based both on the analysis of data in the course of expert evaluation and on the conducted questionnaire among senior students of the Higher School of Management at Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation. Recommendations for the effective use of native language (Russian) while doing some tasks in foreign language classes for professional purposes are offered. The researcher concludes that the need to use the native language in mastering the language of the specialty is felt not only by teachers, but also by students. It is important for students that they can contact the teacher or their classmate in their native language to solve problems or in a critical situation.