Abstract:There are some controversial views about the use of Mother Tongue (MT) in English classes. Whether teachers use MT or not and how much MT should be used in English teaching in Junior Middle Schools? In view of these, this paper adopts questionnaires, interviews and classroom observation to make a survey of three teachers and one hundred students in Juli Junior Middle School in rural areas. The key points of the research are the attitudes of both teachers and students toward the using of MT, teachers’ purposes of using MT and the roles of MT in English teaching. Based on analysis of data, this study finds out that both teachers and students agreed to use MT in English classroom, especially when teachers explained grammar structures and complex sentences. MT would engender positive transfer in English teaching. According to transfer theory, the writer gives some constructive suggestions in English teaching in Junior Middle School in rural areas. First, teachers should acknowledge the usefulness of MT. Second, teachers should control the time and grasp the opportunity of using MT. Third, teachers must make clear the purposes of using MT. This study aims to trigger teachers to ponder of the MT use in English classes in junior middle schools in rural areas.

Keywords: Junior middle school in rural areas; English teaching; Transfer Theory; Positive Transfer

摘  要:在初中英语课堂教学中，是否使用母语，及其母语使用的量和度的问题一直备受争议。鉴于此，本文采用了问卷调查、课堂观察和访谈的方法，对弥渡县苴力中学的三名老师和一百名学生进行了调查研究。旨在调查农村中学教师和学生对英语课堂上教师使用母语的态度、教师使用母语的目的和母语在英语课堂上所起的作用的情况。结果发现在农村中学师生双方赞成使用母语辅助教学，尤其是在讲解语法结构和复杂句式的时候，母语对英语教学有正迁移作用。本文运用语言迁移理论来分析调查结果，并为农村英语教学中母语的使用提出了几点建议：1)要承认母语在英语教学中的作用；2）要控制母语使用量和母语使用的时机；3）要明确母语使用的目的。本研究旨在引发农村中学英语教师对母语使用的思考。

关键词：农村初中；英语教学；语言迁移理论；正迁移