Exploring relationships between second language learners’ attitudes towards classroom language and variables that motivate their learning

ABSTRACT

Despite the increasing volume of studies on classroom language use research, scant attention has been paid to the relationship between learners’ attitudes towards classroom language choice and classroom variables that they perceive to motivate their target language learning. This study examines this issue with Korean undergraduate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners enrolled in a conversation course based on a communicative approach. A participant questionnaire was administered to 233 EFL learners. Results revealed that the participants were generally in agreement with using their L1 in learning English, and critical of the English-only approach. The participants as a group revealed a division regarding their preference for native speaking teachers of English, and did not necessarily adhere to the notion that native speaking teachers of English are more effective than their non-native counterparts in teaching conversation. More importantly, participants with a strong preference for teachers’ L1 use were found to prefer a ‘safer’ learning environment, whereas those who appreciated English-only were more receptive to challenging environments and native speaking teachers of English.

KEYWORDS:

• Attitudes
• classroom language
• English-only
• L1
• target language use

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for their insightful comments and careful reading of my manuscript. I am also indebted to the students who participated in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jang Ho Lee

Jang Ho Lee received his DPhil in education from the University of Oxford. He is presently an assistant professor in the Department of English Education at Chung-Ang University. His areas of interest are teachers’ code-switching in English classrooms and learners’ attitudes towards teachers’ language uses. His work has been published in The Modern Language Journal, TESOL Quarterly, Language Learning & Technology, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, and so on.