Students' attitudes towards L1 use in EFL classrooms

Mastering a foreign language, especially English, the lingua franca of the global world, is becoming more and more important day by day. In this regard, the realm of foreign language education has witnessed many debates on the best techniques and methods for years. One of the most controversial of these debates is whether to use mother tongue (L1) in English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom or not. While some argue that mother tongue should be entirely excluded from the classroom environment, others assert that L1 has significant and assistive roles in EFL classes if used to some extent and for some certain objectives. Despite many studies and arguments on the subject, there are no certain answers about where, when, and how much mother tongue should be used in foreign language classes. In this sense, the present mix-method designed study was carried out to shade light on students' attitudes on the issue. A seven-item questionnaire was applied to 228 students from five different universities' preparatory classes to find out the quantitative results while three open-ended questions was conducted with 48 students for the qualitative data. Analysed results revealed that mother tongue has some critical roles in foreign language classes. An overwhelming majority of the students see mother tongue as an inseparable part of the foreign language classes. They consult their L1 at certain times and situations such as when they have difficulties to understand the grammar subjects and new vocabulary or as a safe space when they feel fear and anxiety. On the other hand, the participants are also aware of the fact that how significant it is to use target language as much as possible and to keep L1 at a reasonable level.