Language Use in the Classroom: Understanding the Relationship between Perceptions, Beliefs, and Verbal Communication

This article addresses the relationship between instructors\u27 and students\u27 perceptions and beliefs about first language (L1) and target language (TL) use in the Spanish foreign language classroom and actual classroom use. Given the lack of research correlating perceptions and belief\u27s of both students and their teachers to their classroom language use, this study undertakes to discover what relationships exist. These data were gathered utilizing both questionnaires and video-recordings of classroom teaching. This Study analyzes how accurate and reliable students and teachers are in predicting how much L1 and TL are being employed in the classroom and whether their professed beliefs regarding L1 and TL are manifested in how they use language