Abstract:

The population of this research prepared to make clear the reasons and situations in which students and lecturers resort to their Turkish mother tongue in French as a foreign language classroom is made up of 2010-2011 school year, Gazi University Gazi Faculty of Education, Department of French Language and Education preparatory class students and lecturers. After the required permission is taken and lecturers are informed, the contents of this research are made up speaking and grammar French classes that have been recorded a two month period, for the purpose of trying to make clear with examples the reasons for resorting to the Turkish mother tongue. The recordings have been closely examined and the communicative situations have been presented in the written form appropriate for the purpose of this research. The situations and reasons for why students and lecturers resort to the mother tongue have been presented as headings with examples. When studied the situations and reasons for which students resort to the Turkish mother tongue, it can be seen that the lack of language skill development, the inappropriacy of targeted gains in activities and the learning level, the lecturers positive or negative outlook on the use in the class, and the level of the language he/she uses, contribution, the artificiality of the class environment and also the effects of English as the first foreign language, is established as to playing a big role. However, lecturers use mother tongue in order to manage educational-instructional activities and communication in the classroom, to make it easier to understand and guide, to explain difficult areas of the target language, to motivate students, to evaluate and even though it’s not done much, to explain things not related to the lesson. Also the language skills of lecturers are important factors when it comes to the use of the mother tongue.

Keywords: