There has been some research into students’ perception of teachers’ language use in
the classroom and it was found out that many students favor the use of English in the English
classroom. In the study of Tsukamoto (2011, p. 152), which took place in a private university
in Japan, most English teachers tried to maximize the use of L2 in the classroom. In the
study, a paper-based questionnaire was administered to two groups of English major students
on the last day of the classes and the students were allowed to use Japanese to write
comments. The results revealed that most students had positive attitudes towards the use of
English by the teachers in class. They seemed to be pleased to be able to practice their
speaking and to develop their listening skills. The students expressed the development of
listening skills and speaking skills during and after classes. They were satisfied with the use
of language in the classroom the purpose of which was to increase language exposure. It is
very interesting to find out that Japanese students in the study were aware that English-only
interaction comes from the need to develop listening and speaking skills.
Another study which supported the use L2 in the classroom by the students was
conducted by Mahmoudi (2011, p. 139) in Iran at pre-university level. The study used
classroom observations and interviews to collect the data. It was found that both highachieving
and low-achieving students’ attitudes towards using L2 in the English classes were
similar. They supported the idea that L2 should be highly prioritized in L2 classes. The
Iranian university students were reluctant to use L1 in L2 classes, believing that one minute
spent using L1 would mean one minute less exposure to L2. The students of the study
emphasized that in the context of English learning in Iran, where students are solely exposed
to L2 in English classes, L1 should be used as little as possible