Salt-İngilizce sınıflarına farklı bir yaklaşım: Türkiye’deki lise öğrencilerinin anadil kullanımı ve Salt-İngilizce sınıflarına yönelik tutumları

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study on intermediate high school learners’ mother language use and their attitudes towards the only-English use in foreign language learning in Turkey. The participants of the study are 30 students who attend to different state high schools in the North-western region of Turkey. The study aims to investigate (a) learners’ amount of Turkish language use among specific interlocutors, (b) learners’ amount of Turkish language use in specific contexts, (c) learners’ attitudes towards only target language use, and (d) learners’ attitudes towards only target language use in specific contexts. The main data collection instrument is a questionnaire, while a semi-structured interview is conducted to supplement the primary form of data. According to the results of the questionnaire, the learners state that teachers should speak only in English in almost all circumstances, as the learners hold the belief that the maximum exposure to the foreign language is important. However, they also state that the mother tongue should be used during English language instruction when necessary. Such a necessity for the use of mother tongue is felt by learners during grammar explanations and instructions about the details of tests or assignments. Moreover, the results of the semi-structured interviews show that the use of mother tongue is associated with the identity issue from a critical perspective as well as a facilitator of the L2 learning process. Further interpretations about students’ needs to shift to Turkish are also offered.