ELT student-teachers' views about the use of L1 in language teaching before and after their participation in practicum

The use of mother tongue in language teaching is a long-standing debate that cannot be resolved. Along with the numerous theories and approaches developed one after another throughout the years, the use of mother tongue in foreign language teaching has either been supported or criticized. Today, neither experts nor teachers have been able to reach a consensus on this issue. While some advocate for the use of the mother tongue, others believe that the use of the mother tongue impedes and adversely impacts foreign language learning. The present study aims to determine whether practicum experience has an impact on student teachers' opinions about the use of mother tongue in language teaching. The study was conducted during the spring semester of 2019-2020 at Çukurova University's English Language Teaching (ELT) department within the Faculty of Education. A total of 52 student teachers participated in the study. Criterion sampling was utilized to choose participants who had previously been ELT students and had participated in the Teaching Practicum course. Two research instruments were utilized to collect data in this study: a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data from The Student Teachers' Questionnaire was analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 23 and content analysis was used to assess the qualitative data acquired through semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study indicated that while participants' favourable opinions about L1 use had more than doubled, their unfavourable opinions fell by a factor of three. This occurrence demonstrates unequivocally that student teachers' opinions about the use of L1 changed positively during their practicum experience. This study also seeks to investigate the factors that influence student teachers' opinions about the use of L1 during their practicum experience. The real classroom environment and experience, students' short attention spans, classroom management issues in schools such as crowded classrooms, seating layouts, and short lesson time, the pressure of the parents and administration as well as students' level and interest, are the factors that influence student teachers' opinions about the use of L1. These findings highlighted that student teachers must be educated that using one's mother tongue is not a sin or an ineffective technique, but it conversely may be a valuable instructional instrument for language teaching if it is employed appropriately and efficiently. Thus, student teachers must be shown real-world instances of when and why L1 could be employed in the classroom. Keywords: Mother tongue, English language teaching, student teachers, practicum, belief and attitude