Investigating teachers’ experience of teaching bilingual students (a phenomenological study)

The purpose of this research is to know the lived experience of Ahvaz city teachers in teaching bilingual students and it was done by phenomenological method. The research community includes all primary school teachers in Ahvaz. Sampling was done in a purposeful way and all the samples were chosen voluntarily from among the teachers who dealt with bilingual students. The sample size depended on data saturation, which finally included 21 people. The data collection method is a semi-structured interview. After collecting the data, it was coded and analyzed. Analyzes have been done using thematic analysis. After analyzing the experiences of participating teachers, the findings include 6 main themes and 13 sub-themes. The main themes are: non-native language, inconsistency between the language of the teacher and the learner, learner’s disability and teacher’s fatigue, love to teaching, communication, local language, methods. The result of the research shows that establishing a friendly relationship with children, involving students and their parents in their children’s educational affairs, using educational aids suitable for the local and environmental conditions of bilingual students are more effective in their education. Also, teachers of bilingual schools should participate in classes and workshops that provide the correct methods of interaction with bilingual students and relative familiarity with their language and culture.