Learners’ Attitudes toward Using the Arabic Mother Tongue in Hispanic Literature Classrooms

This paper measures student attitudes towards the use of the mother tongue (Arabic) in Hispanic literature classes at the University of Jordan, using a 14-item questionnaire. The study is carried out with a random sample of 86 out of the 160 students registered in the third and fourth year of Spanish Language and Literature major. The findings reveals that there is a relatively positive attitude towards using Arabic (L1) in Hispanic literature classrooms. This attitude results from a need to use Arabic by both lecturers and students. Lecturers can ensure that students understand and are confident about their comprehension. Students consult Arabic references to support their comprehension especially in cases where getting the general idea of the Spanish text would not suffice. Five factors influencing students‟ attitudes towards using Arabic in Hispanic literature classes are analyzed. Two factors are positively correlated with students‟ attitudes: students‟ linguistic competence in Spanish and the accepted ratio of using Arabic in these classes. Three factors are not significantly influential in forming students‟ attitudes: academic level (3rd, 4th, or 5th year), type of high school track, and GPA (University Grade Point Average out of 4).