A different take on English-Only classrooms: High school learners’ use of mother tongue and their attitudes towards the English-Only classrooms in Turkey

Öz

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.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• use of L1,Turkish learners,the use of only English language in the class

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

Öz

Bu makale, lise öğrencilerinin Türkiye'de yabancı dil öğreniminde anadil kullanım miktarları ve salt İngilizce kullanımına yönelik tutumlarına ilişkin bir çalışmanın sonuçlarını sunmaktadır. Katılımcılar Türkiye'nin kuzeybatı bölgesindeki farklı devlet liselerine devam eden ve İngilizce seviyeleri orta derece olan toplam 30 öğrenciden oluşmaktadır. Çalışmanın amacı; İngilizce derslerinde (a) öğrencilerin farklı muhataplar arasındaki Türkçe kullanım miktarını, (b) öğrencilerin belirli bağlamlarda Türkçe kullanım miktarlarını, (c) öğrencilerin salt İngilizce kullanımına ilişkin tutumlarını ve (d) öğrencilerin belirli bağlamlarda salt İngilizce kullanımına yönelik tutumlarını incelemektir. Temel veri toplama aracı anket iken birincil veri formunu desteklemek için katılımcılarla yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme de yapılmıştır.  Anket sonuçlarına göre öğrencilerin yalnızca İngilizce kullanımına yönelik tutumları incelendiğinde yabancı dile azami şekilde maruz kalmanın önemli olduğuna inandıkları için öğretmenin her koşulda yalnızca İngilizce konuşması gerektiğini belirttikleri görülmüştür. Fakat aynı zamanda anadilin de İngilizce öğrenimi sırasında kullanılması gerektiğini belirtmişlerdir. Anadilin kullanım alanları incelendiğinde ise öğrencilerin en çok dilbilgisi açıklamaları ve test veya ödevlerin detayları ile ilgili talimatlar verilirken anadilde açıklamaya ihtiyaç duydukları görülmüştür. Yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme sonuçları ise yabancı dili öğrenme sürecini kolaylaştırmasının yanı sıra, anadil kullanımının eleştirel bir bakış açısı ile kimlik sorunuyla ilişkilendirildiğini göstermiştir. Öğrencilerin Türkçe’ye geçiş ihtiyaçları ile ilgili diğer yorumlar da tartışılmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• ana dil kullanımı,sınıfta salt İngilizce kullanımı,Türk öğrenciler

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