EXPLORING TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF L1 USE IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOM AT LANGUAGE SCHOOLS IN ISTANBUL

Abstract

There have been numerous professional discussions on whether or not to adopt the use of learners’ own language in English language classes for best learning results since the spread of English as a primary language in various domains worldwide. Yet, lately, this hypothesis about using only English in class has been gradually investigated, and the use of own-language is still being examined. Therefore, this study aims to shed light on L1 use practices from the perspectives of teachers. The sample consists of one hundred and three English teachers in Istanbul in Turkey. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were the main methods used to collect quantitative and qualitative data on the research questions. The results revealed that the majority of the respondents agree with using L1 in language teaching and learning. Gender, age, qualifications, types of schools show some associations with the use and attitudes towards L1. Female, novice, graduated teachers in the public sector show more inclination towards the use of their own language as revealed by the one-way analysis of variance and the chi-square tests. The findings of the current study suggest that L1 use practices occupy a larger space in English curricula