Turkish EFL Teachers’ Perspectives on Intercultural Foreign Language Teaching

Research Article

Authors

Keywords:

intercultural communication, language teaching, foreign language teaching, intercultural foreign language teaching, Turkish EFL teachers

Abstract

This study aimed to explore how Turkish EFL teachers deal with intercultural communication. To achieve this aim, 72 Turkish EFL teachers working at various universities in different parts of Turkey took part in the study. The adapted version of the Intercultural foreign language teaching questionnaire (IFLTQ) designed by Sercu (2005) was used in the present study by the researchers. The results of the study showed Turkish EFL teachers’ positive opinions on intercultural foreign language teaching. The results of this study also revealed that developing attitudes of openness and tolerance towards other peoples and cultures, providing information about shared values and beliefs and promoting the ability to empathize with people living in other cultures were the most significant culture teaching objectives for Turkish EFL teachers. Moreover, it was found in the study that Turkish EFL teachers sometimes or often used culture teaching activities during their classroom teaching time. Furthermore, Turkish EFL teachers were found to be either very familiar or sufficiently familiar with the target culture. Lastly, they were found to either deal with cultural aspects extensively or touch upon them once in a while in the EFL classroom.

Author Biographies

Murat Hismanoglu, Uşak University

Murat Hismanoglu is a full professor at Usak University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Western Languages and Literatures,  Usak, TURKEY. He teaches phonetics, phonology, linguistics, translation and ELT methodology to BA students in the ELL Department. He is interested in educational phonetics, applied semiotics, intercultural foreign language teaching, and web-based language instruction.

Ayhan Kahraman, Kütahya Dumlupınar University

Ayhan Kahraman is a full professor at Kütahya Dumlupınar University, Turkey. He received his B.A from İstanbul University and Ph.D from the ELT department at Hacettepe University, Ankara-Turkey. He is a teacher trainer and currently offers courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels at Kütahya Dumlupınar University. Beside the English language, he is a fluent speaker in German language and a basic user in French. His research interests include educational psychology, individual differences in foreign language teaching, the area of second language writing, ESP, the role of the mother tongue in ELT, and general issues encountering in teacher training.

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Published

2021-12-29

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 2 (2021): Eurasian Journal of Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies

Section

Articles