Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to show to what extent Norwegian EFL teachers integrate mother tongue (MT) in the English foreign language (EFL) classrooms when they teach young English learners, and what functions it may have. Specifically, this thesis addressed the following research questions: (1) What are the teachers attitudes towards the use of Norwegian in the EFL classroom? (2) Do EFL teachers in Norway think that the English subject curriculum should provide clearer guidelines about when to use the MT in the EFL classroom? To answer his, a qualitative approach to research was conducted as surveys were collected from three EFL teachers in a Norwegian primary school. The data collected revealed that MT is necessary in language teaching, and that it could serve different functions. Yet, the teachers that answered the survey were also aware of the importance of using the target language (TL) as much as possible in class. Although using the TL is the main goal, they all highlighted the need of using MT in class from time to time.