Language use in the Swedish EFL Classroom : An empirical study on teachers’ language use in the Swedish elementary EFL classroom

Abstract: In this empirical study, the aim is to investigate how and why teachers in five elementary classes in Sweden use the target language and first language respectively in the EFL classroom. In addition to investigating the teacher perspective, pupils are also asked how they perceive their English teacher’s choice of spoken language in the EFL classroom. The study has a theoretical base in Krashen’s (1982) Second Language Acquisition Theory, as well as previous research on teachers’ language use in the EFL classroom. The study revealed that the participating teachers use the target language mainly to instruct, and to encourage their pupils to produce English themselves. The study also showed that the first language is used to aid comprehension and to explain when the pupils do not seem to understand what is said in English. Furthermore, some of the participating teachers expressed a desire to use more target language in their teaching, while feeling obligated to speak Swedish to make sure all pupils understand. The results of the study also show that participating pupils find English in general to be both easy and fun, in one or several aspects, and that most of the pupils in the study appreciate their teacher using the target language during English lessons. Another conclusion that can be drawn is that more research is needed regarding how teachers’ linguistic choices actually affect pupils’ communicative proficiency in the English language.