Abstract:

There are various opinions about using students‟ mother tongue in foreign language classes. While most of the foreign language teaching methods suggest that only the target language should be used in foreign language classes, the others suggest that mother tongue can aid in the teaching of modern foreign languages. The recent studies on the subject reveal that a judicious and limited use of mother tongue is necessary and has a facilitating role in the teaching of modern foreign languages. The subject of this study is whether Turkish should be used in English langauge classes and the reasons for this. The views of foreign language teachers and students are taken. A total of 10 English language teachers and 148, 9th grade students participated in the study. The study was carried out by administering a questionnaire at the end of the second term of the academic year. The data obtained from the study show that most of the teachers and students are not against mother tongue, and that mother tongue contributes to language learning towards various aims and at different levels. As a result, it is suggested that being conscious about the subject and making use of the positive effects of the mother tongue is a better attitude than being totally against the use of mother tongue

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