"To speak or not to speak"

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate when, how and why three teachers in Sweden use Swedish language in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory is used as the background theory for this study. Furthermore, literature regarding the use of first language and target language during the foreign language teaching is presented in this thesis. Some findings on one hand support the use of first language during the foreign language teaching, but on the other hand they claim that excessive use of the first language can de-motivate the students and become a barrier in their target language learning. Researches that support the use of first language state that using the first language to mediate the target language learning and to scaffold students’ learning can be beneficial. Additionally, researches suggest that maximizing the target language during the foreign language learning can expose the students to utilize the target language. Qualitative data collection method with semi-structured interviews and observations are used for this study.