ABSTRACT

Through Q methodology, this study explores teachers’ understanding of the importance of their students’ mother tongue(s) in ensuring meaningful, effective learning in Qatar’s international English-medium primary schools. It considers the extent to which teachers believe that their students’ linguistic backgrounds are affirmed and promoted. The results indicate that the teachers provided conflicting narratives, revealing that they embraced their schools’ declared multilingual policies yet did not seem to act as agents of implementation. In conclusion, this study argues that teachers’ understanding of the matter under investigation is hampered by their poor preparation, ideological bias as native/near-native English language speakers and lack of initial training and continuing professional development in ESL education.

摘要

本研究通过 Q 方法论，探讨教师对学生母语对确保卡塔尔国际英语小学有意义、有效学习的重要性的理解。它考虑了教师认为学生的语言背景得到肯定和提升的程度。结果表明，教师提供了相互矛盾的叙述，表明他们接受了学校宣布的多语言政策，但似乎并没有作为实施的推动者。总之，本研究认为，教师对所调查问题的理解受到他们准备不足、作为母语/接近母语的英语母语者的意识形态偏见以及缺乏 ESL 教育的初步培训和持续专业发展的阻碍。