EXAMINING THE ROLE OF LINGUISTICS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AS EFL AT HIGHER INSTITUTION: THE CASE OF METTU UNIVERSITY

This paper was aimed at examining the role of linguistics in English language teaching as a EFL at higher education. The participants of the study were summer students of English Language and literature department of Mettu University. Accordingly, all participants were selected through purposive sampling techniques for the questionnaire and interview. Quantitative and qualitative data were obtained and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Thus, this study employed a mixed approach. The findings of the study revealed that all participants have reached on mutual understanding and well noted that linguistics and language teaching have the same subject matter to deal with the role of linguistics to play in the process of language teaching. Therefore it can be said that language is the fundamental unit of the branch of linguistics. Without languages the subject of linguistics cannot be there. In other words languages pave the way for the growth of the field of linguistics. A language is a mental phenomenon and a way of expression of thought by means of articulate sounds. On the other hand linguistics is a branch of study that deals with languages. Finally, the findings have significant implications for adoption of linguistics in teaching language. This is the reason why the role of linguistics in English language teaching is needed for language learners.Keywords: Linguistics, Language, Language Teaching, Teaching, Role Of Linguistic