This paper reports on a questionnaire survey carried out in the first and last classes of a single semester English "conversation" class at a national university in Japan. While the time frame is obviously limited, the project focuses on changes in attitude to using the Learners' Mother Tongue displayed by students with regards to use by both the teacher and the students themselves. It is my contention that after experience in high school the student is unsure of the rationale for English conversation, and therefore it is interesting to understand students' initial attitudes and to examine if and how attitudes have changed. By the administration of questionnaires it can be seen if learners are more positive towards the teaching approach adopted by their classroom teacher and thus they may become even more prepared to negotiate and use practical effective communicative strategies to overcome language deficiencies. The study will attempt to explain the results and discuss classroom implications. (Contains 5 tables.)