Conceptualization of French Foreign Language Aspects, Devoid in Learners’ Prior Language (Kiswahili): The Case of Past Tense Learning

In a multilingual society, the mother tongue can serve as a model to facilitate the learning and teaching of any foreign language, provided that they share some common characteristics. On the other hand, the difference between them is considered as a barrier, because they do not share common linguistic features (Punchihetti, 2007). Since French is a foreign language in Tanzania, and most Tanzanians learn it after having mastered Kiswahili (mother tongue) and secondly, English (medium of instruction for tertiary levels). It is very logical to hypothesize that learners are con-fronted with new French aspects, different from their prior languages. According to the National Council of Examinations reports of 2019 to 2022 in Tanzania (NECTA), the majority of high school candidates do not entirely comprehend French past tense questions. Regarding this re-port, we aimed at looking into the learning and teaching of French past tense (passé composé). Since languages are not very similar, this descriptive study describes how the learners deal with the new French language aspects, different from the languages they have known e.g. Kiswahili. The research answers the questions, what are the challenging aspects of French past tense for learners whose mother tongue is Kiswahili? And how these learners deal with them. The study is guided by the two theories, namely; inter-language and contrastive analysis. We collected data from high school students from Milambo and Korogwe high schools in Tanzania. The questionnaire and tests were used as instruments to obtain data. Lastly, stratified random sampling technique was helpful in findings. We finally give recommendations for the sake of improving learning and teaching French as a foreign language in Tanzania.