Teaching English in a Multilingual Setting

After the ethnic conflict in Macedonia, great importance was given to bring back the values of teaching and learning in multicultural and multilingual settings. The South East European University (SEEU) is the only regional university that offers equal opportunities for both Albanian and Macedonian nationalities to study in their mother tongue or choose English as a medium of instruction. The students enrolled at the SEEU come from different ethnic backgrounds. The Language Center, which operates within this university, offers English courses to all students from all SEEU faculties, starting from general English skills up to academic and ESP. Having this mixture of teachers and students, the teaching and learning of English in this environment is rather challenging for both sides. The most challenging issue in teaching a foreign language (in our case English) is the concern of teachers on whether to use the learner's first language or not. This paper focuses on the question of whether there is a use of the L1 in ELF teaching at SEEU, Language Center English classes. If, yes, to what extent and in what occasion is it used? The paper examines and elaborates the methodological strategies that English teachers employ in order to accommodate and facilitate the needs of the students who have been raised and educated in a multilingual setting. The data collected for this paper were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. In conclusion, the findings emerging from this study suggest that balanced and careful use of L1 in the English classes seem not to affect the students’ exposure to the target language.