Students perceptions of using a second language in a mother tongue dominated environment: Contrastive Analysis

While English is an official language and holds a significant role in education not only as a medium of instruction but also a subject of study from primary to tertiary level in Rwandan education system, some students still stick on their mother tongue in academic environment and this impedes language education and quality education as a whole. Based on Communicative approach, this study explored students’ perceptions of using a second language in a mother tongue dominated environment. The study involved 36 Diploma students from language education combinations. Questionnaire was used for data collection. Analysis revealed that mother tongue environment affects second language use. It was recommended that efforts be made to practice and improve their English language for effective communication