Abstract:
The research paper at hand sought out the impacts of using the students’ native language in teaching
English language skills in Kechema Primary school grade seven in focus. The general objective of
this study was to investigate whether the mother tongue (Afan Oromo) had any impact in the
learning of English language in the 7th grade students in the school. In this study,the
researcher employed the one-group pretest-posttest experimental research design. This was a
design which involved both pretest and posttest study by carrying out a study on a single
group before and after a treatment was administered.The target populations were students and
English teachers in the school. The School was sampled using purposive sampling while 50 students
were sampled using comprehensive sampling technique. Three English teachers were sampled using
purposive sampling technique. Test was the major tool to gather data from the sampled students. The
students were given pretest. After the intervention that lasted for about two weeks, they were again
given a posttest. The pretest and posttest scores were analyzed via SPSS. The output data then, was
correlated, and the effect of mother tongue on English was set out. Questionnaires, observation
checklist and interview guides were also used for the sake of data triangulation. A questionnaire was
used to collect data from students, while interview guide and observation checklist were used to
collect data from the teachers. The study found out that the use of mother tongue has a significant
influence on the way students pronounce, sequence words, understand meanings and communicate in
English, hence negatively influencing the performance of English in the school
