Turkish culture in the metaphors and drawings by learners of Turkish as a foreign language

Accepted: 03.02.2020 Language teaching is a practice of teaching a culture. What is learnt is not only a language but also the culture of the target language. It is important to examine the way learners perceive Turkish culture in this learning process. That is because the way they perceive the culture will affect their enthusiasm, attitude and motivation for language learning. Therefore, this study intends to reveal Turkish as a foreign language (TFL) learners’ perception of Turkish culture through the metaphors and images in their drawings. This qualitative study employs phenomenology. The participants include 180 learners studying TFL at B1, B2 and C1 levels. To collect data, a form reading the prompt “Turkish culture is like... because...” (in order to reveal metaphorical perception towards Turkish culture), and the question “What image appears in your mind when you think of Turkish culture? Please draw.” (in order to reveal associative perception towards Turkish culture) was used. Content analysis was employed to evaluate the data. The learners’ metaphors were classified under 7 different categories which are Turkish Culture in Terms of Cultural Transmission, Turkish Culture in Terms of Richness, Turkish Culture in Terms of Being Connective, Turkish Culture with a History, Turkish Culture as a Pathfinder, Turkish Culture in Terms of Values and Turkish Culture as a Living Creature. Accordingly, the learners’ drawings were classified under 14 different categories: Religious Elements, Elements Related to Drinks, Natural Elements, Elements Related to Dishes, National Elements, Architectural Elements, Artistic Elements, Traditional Elements, Elements Related to Language Teaching, Elements Related to Animals, Metaphorical Elements, Elements Related to Notable Personages, Historical Elements and Other Elements. The results showed that although TFL learners had a positive attitude towards Turkish culture, they were not able to associate language with culture.


Introduction
Nowadays, learning one or more foreign languages has become a necessity. Learning a foreign language, as Kalfa (2013) stated, does not only mean learning the structure, rules or words of a language, but also learning the cultural structure of that language. Bölükbaş and Keskin (2010) defined language teaching as not only vocabulary or grammar teaching, but also teaching of the culture in which the language develops. This is because all languages reflect the lifestyle, way of thinking, and so on of its society (Halliday, 1978). Language and culture are two significant elements that complement one another and cannot be held separately (Caner, Direkçi & Kurt, 2019). Therefore, it can be concluded that teaching a language is also a practice of cultural teaching (Byram, 1989;Kramsch, 2004;Thanasoulas, 2001). Learning a foreign language means forming an interaction with the culture of the target language and understanding a foreign culture as well as a "different world" (Çifci, Batur & Keklik, 2013;Tapan, 1995). In other words, when students are involved in a language learning process, they are also taking part in cultural learning practices (Kramsch, 2004). Learning the language of a nation also means decoding the culture of that language (Erdem, Gün & Karateke, 2015). Therefore, language means culture, and culture means language (Çakır, 2011). In fact, culture constitutes the semantic structure within the formal structure of the language (Okur & Keskin, 2013).
The ability to speak a language competently requires the knowledge of characteristics of the target culture (Gün, 2015). In order to be successful in language learning, learners need to have learnt about the target culture (Tseng, 2002) as learning a language means learning the cultural codes (Altunbay, 2019). What is more, being informed about the target culture will increase learners' interest and improve their overall perception of the target language (Bağcı Ayrancı, 2019). Therefore, it would be right to articulate that language constitutes culture and is tightly attached to it (Barın, 2004;Jiang, 2000). Thereupon learners can use the rules and structures of a language only if they know the target culture. According to Tabak and Göçer (2014), language enables individuals to interact with the social environment where it is used. Besides, culture assists learners in grasping how a language functions, where and when it can be used and the way power relations work. As Uçak (2017) suggested, then, conveying the cultural values to learners is the most important way to raise language awareness. So as to be able to acquire communicative skills in a language, it is necessary to know about the host culture of that language (İşcan, 2014). While teaching a language, if only linguistic symbols are taught and cultural elements are avoided, then learners might attribute different meanings to these symbols (Politzer, 1959). Through a different perspective, it can be said that when cultural elements are not presented to an adequate extent, learners will be expressing the cultural elements they have seen by using inappropriate symbols while speaking the language (Brooks, 1986).
Although several studies concluded that the cultural items are transferred through coursebooks, it is also important to determine how learners perceive Turkish culture in order to maintain efficacy and continuity of the Turkish language teaching. As Erdem et al. (2015) stated, it is also required to determine how cultural transmission is perceived by the learners of TFL. According to Gömleksiz (2013), learners' perceptions of Turkish culture reflect their motivational level, assumptions, metaphors and attitude towards the language. Considering that perception affects language learning significantly (Melanlıoğlu, 2014), identifying learners' perceptions towards Turkish culture becomes more important. It has been found out that there are studies intending to reveal TFL learners' perceptions of the elements of Turkish culture such as daily life, teachers of Turkish language, Turkish Language Centre (TOMER), Turkish language, Turkey, and Turks (Akkaya, 2013;Alyılmaz, Biçer & Çoban, 2015;Aydın, 2017;Boylu & Işık, 2017;Dilek, 2016;Güleç & İnce, 2013;Gürbüz & Güleç, 2016;Kalenderoğlu & Armut, 2019;Kartallıoğlu, 2017;Özer Duran, Hızlı & Çınar, 2014;Şengül, 2017;Tunçel, 2016;Uçak, 2017;Yaylı, 2007). Although these studies investigated learner's perceptions of Turkish culture, they seemed to fail in generating a relatively large amount of information directly on how Turkish culture was perceived.
One way of identifying how learners of TFL perceive Turkish culture is employing metaphors in a scientific research. A metaphor is defined as transferring or conveying the properties of something onto another thing and making sense of something in relation to this another thing. As for the symbolic use of language, it is defined as expressing one concept through another one (Demirci, 2016;Kuyumcu & Özsarı, 2016;Lakoff & Johnson, 2005). According to Goldstein (2005), metaphors can be used to reconceptualize problems. Metaphors indeed are seen as a cognitive tool in the process of making sense of the real world (Nikitina & Furuoka, 2008) and helping people explain what they see through different similes (Cerit, 2008). They would also reveal how learners perceive Turkish culture. Only a few studies were found in the literature that revealed TFL learners' perceptions of Turkish culture in a metaphorical way. One of these is the study by Alptekin and Kaplan (2018) that examined 43 B1 level learners' metaphorical perceptions of Turkish culture. This study categorized the perception of Turkish culture only as "a concrete phenomenon" and "an abstract phenomenon". Here, it should be noted that this study was conducted with a small number of participants and the results apparently failed to reflect learners' in-depth perceptions towards Turkish culture. Therefore, it is required to study the perception towards Turkish culture with a larger number of participants and analyse learners' perceptions in detail.
Although a metaphorical study on "Turkish Culture" may reveal the perception of learners towards the culture, metaphors alone would fail to fully reflect cultural elements since they rely on similarities between two concepts. Another way of filling this gap and measuring the perceptions of the learners towards Turkish culture may be resorting to learners' drawings since drawings are considered as an indication of the perception of the outside world (Yaşar & Aral, 2009). In this way, learners can depict the images in their minds through their drawings. There are only a few studies that intend to identify learners' perceptions towards Turkish culture through their drawings. To cite an example, Erişti and Belet (2010) conducted a study with a view to revealing cultural perceptions of 22 primary school students through their drawings. On the other hand no studies describing TFL learners' perceptions through drawings have been found in the literature. Hence it is seen that there is a need for such research. This would reveal the picture that learners depict in their minds when they think of Turkish culture.
Setting forth TFL learners' perceptions of Turkish culture both through their metaphors and drawings will reveal how they perceive Turkish culture literally and figuratively. Furthermore, identifying learners' perceptions through their written responses and drawings, as Erişti and Belet (2010) stated, would make it possible to reveal how learners see and interpret their inner worlds and surroundings. Thusly learners would have chances to express not only their knowledge of culture, but also their past experiences and the meanings that they attributed to these experiences. No study attempting to reflect TFL learners' perceptions of Turkish culture in this way was witnessed in the literature and this originated the need for the present study.
In this regard, the research question of the study is: "How do TFL learners perceive Turkish culture?". This study intends to reveal TFL learners' perceptions towards Turkish culture through metaphors and images in their drawings. To this end, the following are the subproblems of this study: • Which metaphors do TFL learners use to depict their perceptions towards Turkish culture? • Under which categories and subcategories could TFL learners' metaphors for Turkish culture be classified? • Which images do TFL learners use to depict their perceptions of Turkish culture in their drawings? • Under which categories and subcategories could TFL learners' images on Turkish culture in their drawings be classified?
What makes the current study unique and necessary is the fact that it aims to reveal learners' awareness of the target culture and may serve as a guide for education specialists and researchers in preparing coursebooks and creating various learning environments to improve this awareness.

Research Model
This study employs phenomenology -one of the qualitative research designs-to seek answers for the research question. This type of studies focuses on the phenomena that people are aware of, but not able to comprehend in detail. In other words, phenomenology, as a research design, is suitable for studies investigating somewhat unknown phenomena (Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2016).

Sample
The sample consists of 180 students learning TFL at B1, B2, and C1 levels at Istanbul University and Sakarya University. Convenience sampling was employed to form the sample. This sampling method is used to accelerate a study in cases where a researcher does not have the opportunity to refer to other sampling methods (Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2016). Distribution of the sample by university and language level is indicated in the table below: Additionally, all of them had at least a high school degree or the equivalent.

Data Collection
To collect data, a form reading the prompt "Turkish culture is like… because…" (in order to reveal metaphorical perception towards Turkish culture), and the question "What image appears in your mind when you think of Turkish culture? Please draw." (in order to reveal associative perception towards Turkish culture) was used.

Data Analysis
Content analysis was employed in data analysis in order to reveal the perceptions of the sample of Turkish culture. It was made sure that all the forms included in the analysis were completed thoroughly by the participants.
The metaphors produced by the sample were interpreted and classified in accordance with the five stages of content analysis suggested by Saban (2004;2009): 1. Designation, 2. Elimination and Sorting, 3. Compilation and Categorization, 4. Validity and Reliability and 5. Data transfer onto SPSS Package Program for Quantitative Data Analysis. In this regard, a list of metaphors was created to check the validity of the metaphors created by the learners at the first stage (Designation) of analysis. As for the second stage (Elimination and Sorting), after the forms that were not completed appropriately were excluded, the metaphors by 180 learners were analysed within the scope of the study. The forms that were included in the study were labelled as S1, S2 and so on. At the third stage (Compilation and Categorization), the metaphors were classified under 7 categories and 15 subcategories. At the next stage (Validity and Reliability), expert opinion was sought. In this process, a form with the metaphors and categories written on it was provided for the experts and they were asked to match them. The matchings made by the researcher and the experts were analysed. Reliability was ensured as a result of the following calculation formulated by Miles and Huberman (1994), [consensus/ (consensus + dissensus) = Reliability]. In qualitative studies, the desired reliability is ensured if the consistence between the assessments of the researcher and the expert is 90% or above (Saban, 2008). It was found out that 14 metaphors out of 180 were put under different categories by the experts. Accordingly, reliability of the study was calculated as 166/ (166+14) =0,92. At the final stage (Data transfer onto SPSS Package Program for Quantitative Data Analysis), the data were tabulated by using SPSS and Microsoft Excel.
The learners' drawings were examined in order to reveal their perception towards Turkish culture through images. The images depicted by the learners labelled with descriptive words. It was found in the learners' drawings -examined through stages similar to the aforementioned analysis method of the metaphors-that 280 images were produced in total under 14 different categories. When the expert opinion was sought for reliability, it was found out that 11 images were categorized differently than the researcher. Accordingly, the reliability was calculated by using the same formula as above [consensus/ (consensus + dissensus) = Reliability] (Miles & Huberman, 1994 as cited in Saban, 2008, p. 430). Hence, the reliability was calculated as 269/ (269+11) = 0,96.

Findings
In this section, the data on the metaphors and images through which TFL learners perceive Turkish culture were presented in association with the sub questions.

Findings on the Metaphors TFL Learners Use to Depict their Perceptions towards Turkish Culture
TFL learners depicted their perceptions towards Turkish culture through some metaphors. As a result of the data analysis, the metaphors created by the learners are listed in the table below: TFL learners created 180 metaphors in total for Turkish culture and 106 of these are different.

Findings on the Categories and Subcategories under which TFL Learners' Metaphors for Turkish Culture are classified
An analysis of the metaphors created by TFL learners for Turkish culture indicated that the metaphors were to be classified under categories. These categories are listed in the table below: It is seen in Table 3 that the metaphors were classified under 7 different categories. Within these categories, the learners frequently created metaphors in the categories of "Turkish Culture in Terms of Cultural Transmission", "Turkish Culture in Terms of Richness" and "Turkish Culture in Terms of Being Connective".
The subcategories under which the categories of the metaphors for Turkish culture are classified were also examined. The categories and subcategories of the metaphors created by TFL learners for Turkish culture are as follows:  Table 4 shows that the metaphors created by TFL learners are classified under 15 subcategories. The learners created metaphors more frequently in the subcategories of "Similarity", "Diversity", "Connective" and "Richness" compared to the other subcategories.
The categories and subcategories under which TFL learners created metaphors can also be examined. Distribution of the metaphors created on Turkish culture among categories and subcategories are indicated along with their justifications.
The metaphors created under the category of Turkish Culture in Terms of Cultural Transmission and their justifications are indicated in the table below: Family They are like our people. S128 15 We are all Muslims. S169 There are many habits in common. S147

Sibling
Our cultures are so close. S134 10 Festivals are similar. S102 They are both Islamic countries. S110 Similar cultures. S121

Mirror
It resembles my country. S130

15
Cultures are very similar. S131 For instance, there is Karagoz in Turkey; similarly, we have Wayang in Indonesia. S164 Dishes and clothes are the same, and also dances, festivals and other things are also the same. S56 Believes and traditions are so close. S143

Relative
Their lifestyle is similar to that of Syrians. S95 4 Art works such as Mosques and the streets are like those in Egypt. Along with dishes, traditions… S92

Interaction 13
Shopping We borrowed dances and dishes from them. S156

10
We are borrowing things from their culture. S157 They live together for a long time, they learn from each other. S158 They share dishes, drinks, some traditional clothes and traditional relationships with each other.

Dishes
We borrowed many things from Turks; dishes, coffee… S93 3 Other cultures borrow things from one another. S66 Grand Total 57 These findings indicated that some metaphors were created frequently by TFL learners under the category of "Turkish Culture in Terms of Cultural Transmission" and these are "family, mirror, sibling, shopping". The metaphors created under this category suggest that Turkish culture is similar to other cultures and there is an interaction between Turkish culture and others.
The metaphors and their justifications that fell under the category of Turkish Culture in Terms of Richness are indicated in the table below: According to Table 6, some metaphors -produced by TFL learners-were encountered frequently in the category of "Turkish Culture in Terms of Richness" and these are "gold, sea, rainbow, and garden". The metaphors found under this category indicate that Turkish culture is very rich in terms of diversities and differences.
The metaphors and their justifications classified under the category of Turkish Culture in Terms of Being Connective are presented in the table below:  Table 7 indicates that some metaphors were encountered frequently in the category of "Turkish Culture in Terms of Being Connective". These are "tea, family, and mirror". The metaphors that fell under this category were found to indicate that Turkish culture unites different civilizations and people live in unity and harmony. The metaphors and their justifications under the category of Turkish Culture with a History are indicated in the table below: Ottoman Their history is very old. S51 3 There are many historical works from Ottoman period. S108 It has an important history. S160 A history book It has a historical base. S25 1 Historical work Everything in Turkish culture, down to the last detail, has a historical reason. S10 1 Rich man There are too many historical facts. S161 1

Grand Total 20
According to Table 8, some metaphors under the category of "Turkish Culture with a History" have been mentioned more and these are "Ottoman and museum". The metaphors in this category indicate that Turkish culture has a long-established history. The metaphors and their justifications under the category of Turkish Culture as a Pathfinder can be seen in the table below: We learn new traditions through Turkish culture. S116 1

Grand Total 13
As Table 9 indicates, there are metaphors that were frequently created by TFL learners under the category of "Turkish Culture as a Pathfinder" and these are "sun and book". The metaphors created under this category reflect the enlightening and informative aspects of Turkish culture for humanity.
The metaphors and their justifications under the category of Turkish Culture in Terms of Values are indicated in the table below:   Table 11 shows that there are metaphors such as "water, sand, and spring" which reflect the eternity of Turkish culture and "tree, legend, sand, and seed" which indicate the continuity of Turkish culture among those that were frequently created by the learners of TFL under the category of "Turkish Culture as a Living Creature".

Findings on the Images TFL Learners Use to Depict their Perceptions towards Turkish Culture in their Drawings
In this section, the images that are used by TFL learners to depict their perceptions towards Turkish culture in their drawings are going to be analysed. The images found in learners' drawings are listed in the table below:

Findings on the Categories and Subcategories under which TFL Learners' Images on Turkish Culture are Classified
The categories under which the images in the drawings of TFL learners are classified are listed in the table below:  A look into Table 14 shows that the learners frequently drew the images of "mosque" and "whirling dervish" under the category "Religious Elements". To that end it can be interpreted that Turkey is seen as a Muslim country and Mevlana (Rumi) is valued in the country.
The images under the category of Elements Related to Drinks are indicated in the table below: According to Table 15, the learners frequently drew the images of "tea" and "Turkish coffee" under the category of "Elements Related to Drinks". It is understood that the learners noticed that Turks like tea and Turkish coffee.
A deeper look into the images in the category of Natural Elements generated the findings listed in the table below:  Table 16 shows that the images of "sea", "tulip" and "nature" fell under the category of "Natural Elements". Hence, it should be acceptable to interpret that learners' perceptions have been influenced by the facts that the land of Turkey is surrounded by water on its three sides and Istanbul hosts an annual tulip festival.
When the images that fell under the category of Elements Related to Dishes were investigated, the following list was created:  Table 17 shows that learners frequently drew the images of "simit", "Turkish delight", and "baklava" and these fell under the category of "Elements Related to Dishes". Thus it can be concluded that learners regarded "simit"-often sold on the streets-as a cultural element. In addition, Turkish delight and baklava are also identified with Turkish culture and this has probably attracted learners' attention. TFL learners' images classified under the category of National Elements are indicated in the table below: The star and crescent 6 Total 21 Table 18 reveals that the learners frequently drew an image of "flag" and this was classified under the category of "National Elements". The fact that people go out with flags in their hands on special days such as October 29 and July 15 might have formed this perception of learners.
The images under the category of Architectural Elements are indicated in the table below: According to Table 19, the learners frequently drew the images of "Bosphorus Bridge "and "Galata Tower" and these were classified under the category of "Architectural Elements".
These finding were probably generated because of the fact that the architectural works that learner mentioned are always identified with Turkey. The images found in learners' drawings and fell under the category of Artistic Elements are indicated in the table below: According to Table 20, the learners frequently drew the image of "bağlama", and this was considered under the category of "Artistic Elements". The images under the category of Traditional Elements are indicated in the table below:   As seen in Table 23, learners frequently drew the image of "cigarette". Learners probably see many smokers around Turkey, and this may be the reason why they formed such a perception.
The images under the category of Elements Related to Animals are indicated in the table below: According to Table 24, the learners drew the images of animals such as "horse, pigeon, cat, seagull". The images under the category of Metaphorical Elements are indicated in the table below:    Table 26 shows that the learners drew the images of "Mevlana" and "Orhan Pamuk" under the category of "Elements Related to Notable Personages". It is possible that the learners came across the images of these people in Turkish coursebooks. The images under the category of Historical Elements are indicated in the table below:  Table 27 shows that the learners drew the images that reflect "Battle of Gallipoli" and "Ottoman Empire" under the category of "Historical Elements".

Discussion and Conclusion
One of the fundamental aims of teaching TFL is conveying cultural elements of the Turkish society to learners (İşcan, 2011). It is necessary to know about learners' cultural perception because this will shed light on how this conveyance should be shaped.
The metaphors created by the learners and the images encountered in their drawings were analysed within the scope of this study. The analysis was performed with the purpose of determining learners' perceptions of Turkish culture through metaphors and it was discovered that learners created 106 different metaphors. These metaphors were classified under 7 different categories which can be listed as "Turkish Culture in Terms of Cultural Transmission", "Turkish Culture in Terms of Richness", "Turkish Culture in Terms of Being Connective", "Turkish Culture with a History", "Turkish Culture as a Pathfinder", "Turkish Culture in Terms of Values" and "Turkish Culture as a Living Creature".
Under the category of Turkish Culture in Terms of Cultural Transmission, the learners created metaphors indicating that Turkish culture is similar to their own cultures and that Turkish culture is in interaction with their or other cultures. This category is divided into following subcategories: Similarity and Interaction. Considering the category of Similarity, it was also found in the study by Aydın (2017) that majority of TFL learners stated that Turkish culture is similar to their own cultures. According to the study by Uçak (2017), TFL learners expressed that Turkish culture is close to the Middle Eastern (40% of the sample) and European cultures (36% of the sample). A deeper look into these studies (Aydın, 2017;Uçak 2017) revealed that learners' opinions on Turkish culture and their metaphorical perceptions are parallel. The study by Erdilmen Ocak, Çiymen and Mindivanli Akdoğan (2017) -where they studied the metaphorical perceptions of teacher candidates towards the concept of culture-also produced a category named "Interaction". This finding suggests the similarity between the metaphorical perceptions of native speakers of Turkish and TFL learners, and hence it is possible to think that the elements of Turkish culture are conveyed successfully. Moreover, Yaylı (2015) concluded that the learners who come to Turkey to learn TFL become free from prejudices after staying in Turkey for a certain length of time and understand that they can interact with people with different believes and values in Turkey. The metaphors that were created by the learners in this study support this opinion.
Under the category of Turkish Culture in Terms of Richness, the learners created metaphors indicating that Turkish culture contains many elements for it includes a great variety of cultures and also owing to the fact that diversities exist in Turkish culture. Accordingly, this category was divided into these subcategories: Richness, Diversity, and Containing Diversities. Gürgil (2017) also identified a category named "Folk Culture as a Diverse Element" in her study attempting to reveal the metaphorical perceptions of teacher candidates of folk culture. Karadağ, Kolaç and Ulaş (2012) named a category as "Diversity" in their study which intended to reveal the meanings that Turkish teacher candidates attach to the concept of culture. Similarly, Erdilmen Ocak et al.'s (2017) study that investigated the metaphorical perceptions of teacher candidates of the concept of culture identified a category named "Containing Diversities". These findings can be regarded as indicators of the similarity between perceptions of native speakers of Turkish and TFL learners of Turkish culture. Along with that the study carried out by Alptekin and Kaplan (2018) concluded that the metaphors that TFL learners produced reflected the richness aspect of Turkish culture.
Under the category of Turkish Culture in Terms of Being Connective, the learners were found to create metaphors indicating that Turkish culture has the features of connecting different cultures and establishing a cross-cultural bond. This category was divided into the subcategories of Connective and Bonding. Gürgil (2017) also generated a category named "Folk Culture as a Bonding Element" in one of her studies that concentrated upon the metaphorical perceptions of teacher candidates of folk culture. Alongside this, Erdilmen Ocak et al.'s (2017) study examined the metaphorical perceptions of teacher candidates of the concept of culture and produced a category named "Connective". It is understood from these findings that the way native speakers of Turkish and TFL learners perceive Turkish culture resemble one another. Similarly, the study by Alptekin and Kaplan (2018) underlined that the metaphors TFL learners produced showed that Turkish culture is like a host that embraces the whole world.
Under the category of Turkish Culture with a History, learners' metaphors suggested that Turkish culture has its origins in the ancient times of history and has a long-standing past. This category was divided into the subcategories of Long-Established and Historical. Similar to these findings, Alptekin and Kaplan's (2018) study underpinned that metaphors by TFL learners emphasized the deep-rooted history of Turkish culture.
Under the category of Turkish Culture as a Pathfinder, learners created metaphors indicating that Turkish culture enlightens them as well as other cultures, and it is informative. The subcategories of this category are Enlightening and Informative. Similarly, Gürgil (2017) identified a category named "Folk Culture as a Leading Element" in her study on metaphorical perception of teacher candidates towards folk culture. Together with that Karadağ et al. (2012) identified categories named "Enlightening" and "Leading the Way" in their study that focused on the meanings that teacher candidates of Turkish attributed to the concept of culture. Also, Kılcan and Akbaba (2013) analysed students' perceptions towards the level of sensitivity to cultural heritage in their study and identified a category named "Informative, Enlightening". In light of these it can be inferred that TFL learners' perceptions of Turkish culture is similar to those of native speakers of Turkish.
TFL learners' metaphors implying that people were hospitable and helpful in Turkish culture were classified under the category of Turkish Culture in Terms of Values. Accordingly, this category was divided into the subcategories of Hospitality and Helpfulness. Selanik Ay and Kurtdede Fidan (2013) studied the metaphors of teacher candidates towards the concept of cultural heritage and produced a category named "Cultural Heritage in Terms of Values". It can be concluded that TFL learners' perception of Turkish culture in terms of values is the same as that of Turks. Learners perceived the hospitability and helpfulness of Turkish people. This perception is thought to be influenced by the fact that these learners learnt the target language in Turkey and that these values are conveyed to learners through coursebooks.
The metaphors created by TFL learners indicating that Turkish culture maintains its continuity from past to present and will exist forever were classified under the category of Turkish Culture as a Living Creature, and this category was divided into these subcategories: Continuity and Eternity. Karadağ et al. (2012) generated a category named "Continuity" in their study which aimed to reveal the meanings that Turkish teacher candidates attributed to the concept of culture. This indicated the resemblance between the perceptions of TFL learners and Turks.
How TFL learners in Turkey perceive Turkish culture is seen in the examination of the metaphors for Turkish culture created by the learners. It is possible to find the properties of Turkish culture in this perception. It should be safe to say that a great majority of the metaphors produced by the learners are positive. Alptekin and Kaplan's (2018) study also found out that learners' metaphors for Turkish culture were mostly positive. It might be considered that this will have a positive impact on learners while learning Turkish.
A review of studies found in the literature showed that the categories that were generated within the scope of this study were similar to those found in other studies that focused on the metaphors created by native speakers of Turkish and perception of Turkish culture. It was found out that 3 of 7 categories (Turkish Culture in Terms of Being Connective, Turkish Culture as a Pathfinder, and Turkish Culture in Terms of Values) and 7 of 14 subcategories (Interaction, Diversity, Containing Diversities, Connective, Informative, Enlightening, and Continuity) are the same as those generated in the studies that analysed metaphors for culture by Turks. This means that culture transmission might have also been achieved while teaching Turkish. Needless to say, the fact that the learners learn Turkish in Turkey has a significant role in this. According to Glazer and Moynihan (as cited in Erişti & Belek, 2010), individuals that come from the same ethnic background (or nation) may have similar opinions on their own social realities and cultural values. Since these TFL learners started to live with Turks, they may have developed a similar perception of Turkish culture as Turks.
TFL learners' perceptions of Turkish culture is also examined through images within the scope of this study. In that sense the learners were found to depict 75 different images in their drawings. These images were classified under 14 different categories: "Religious Elements", "Elements Related to Drinks", "Natural Elements", "Elements Related to Dishes", "National Elements", "Architectural Elements", "Artistic Elements", "Traditional Elements", "Elements Related to Language Teaching", "Elements Related to Animals", "Metaphorical Elements", "Elements Related to Notable Personages", "Historical Elements" and "Other Elements". The images depicted in learners' drawings indicated how they view Turkish culture in 14 different aspects. Gürgil (2017) identified a category named "Folk Culture as a National Element" in her study that focused on the metaphorical perceptions of teacher candidates towards folk culture. Selanik Ay and Kurtdede Fidan (2013) analysed the metaphors of teacher candidates on the concept of cultural heritage and generated a category named "Cultural Heritage from A Historical Perspective". Therefore, it is understood that cultural perception of TFL learners and Turks are similar.
The study by Erişti and Belek (2010) that investigated primary school students' cultural perceptions through their drawings concluded that students' cultural perceptions were not related to daily life and that they defined culture with customs and traditions. Unlike this study, TFL learners depicted daily life in their drawings on Turkish culture. For this reason, it is possible to interpret that TFL learners' perception of the target culture is in relation with the elements of the modern daily life in Turkey. Also since the learners started living in a different culture in order to learn the language, they regarded what they saw in their daily lives as cultural elements and reflected these on their drawings. The elements found on their drawings not only depict Turkish culture from foreigners' perspective but also present the daily life elements of the culture.
The images depicted in the learners' drawings also reflect the elements that the learners see in their environment apart from those in the coursebooks. It is inferred from the studies on the cultural elements in coursebooks that not everything in the learners' drawings is found in coursebooks. The studies examining coursebooks and gathering teachers' opinions on culture transfer (Bayraktar, 2015;Erdem et al., 2015;Erdil, 2018;İşcan & Yassıtaş, 2018;Kalenderoğlu, 2015;Kutlu, 2015;Moralı & Göçer, 2019;Okur & Keskin, 2013;Ökten & Kavanoz, 2014) showed that textbooks were not capable of transferring cultural elements effectively. It is not possible to include all the cultural elements in coursebooks though. Nevertheless TFL learners' cultural perceptions and cultural elements that they depicted may be taken into consideration while preparing coursebooks. Some of the learners' drawings produced within the scope of this study can be found in Appendix 1.
When the categories that emerged as a result of the analysis of the learners' drawings are examined, they were found to be in relation with "personal information, home and environment, daily life, spare time and leisure, travel, interpersonal relationships, health and body care, education, shopping, foods and drinks, public services, sights, language, and weather condition", which are among the communication topics suggested by Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR, 2013).
It is inferred from the learners' drawings that learning a language in the country/countries where it is spoken as the native language helps learning the culture. It can be inferred that there is a call for doing in-class instructional activities related to daily life and involving some extracurricular activities in teaching processes.
Language, religion, art branches, history, geography, traditions-customs, dishes, architecture, moral principles, law, etc. are the main elements that constitute culture (Demir & Açık, 2011). In the present study, considering that the people whose perceptions towards Turkish culture are studied are TFL learners, it is wondered if the learners associate Turkish culture to the language. That is because language is one of the important tools in which culture makes its presence felt (Çakır, 2011), and language and culture are not considered separately (Bölükbaş & Keskin, 2010). Although the participants were learning a foreign language at the time of data collection, no data was found on the relation between culture and language in their metaphorical perceptions towards Turkish culture. In this sense, it is required to establish a relationship between teaching language and culture while teaching TFL and put more emphasis on this matter in classes. Although no metaphor related to language teaching was found in the metaphorical perceptions of learners towards Turkish culture, the images related to language teaching was found in the learners' drawings leastwise. These images are frequently about Turkish coursebooks. The fact that the learners see some elements of Turkish culture in the coursebooks might be the reason for this.

Recommendations
There is a limited number of studies that have examined TFL learners' perception of Turkish culture through metaphors. Furthermore, no studies that identified this perception through drawings are found. The present study aims to reveal TFL learners' perception of Turkish culture both through metaphors in written form and through their drawings in visual form. Therefore, the study has revealed the perception of Turkish culture as it is conveyed to learners by the environment, teachers, coursebook, etc. It is understood that learners' perception is shaped by both their own way of living and what is conveyed to them. Even though the learners had been learning Turkish at the time of the study, no elements related to language were encountered. The significance of this study lies in that it relates the existing and nonexisting cultural elements to the process of teaching Turkish. In this process, the classroom environment and materials like coursebooks and graded readers should be written in a way that will improve learners' perception, and extracurricular media should also be employed so that an effective cultural transfer will take place.
Culture knowledge is required for the practical use of a language. According to Kramsch (1993), in order to equip learners with effective and meaningful communicative competence, cultural elements should be involved throughout the language teaching process. This will also increase learners' motivation for language learning (Mckay, 2000). Considering that cultural transmission is of utmost importance in language teaching. The fact that learning about the target culture is necessary should be emphasized in the process of teaching Turkish. Learning about the culture of a country means learning and using the words of that culture. The present study found out that the learners do not put emphasis on this matter. The notions that language is learned together with its culture, culture is learned along with the language, and they can use the language better if they learn about the culture should be explained to students. As Pack (1998) suggested, it is necessary to consider that one of the purposes of language learning is learning about the culture and language is to become a tool in this process. In the study by Sarıtaş and Akkaya (2015), the learners put forward that they could establish a relationship between language and culture following the lessons employing Intercultural Communication Oriented Approach despite not having thought of this beforehand. The study by Göçer (2013) highlighted that the teacher candidates of Turkish perceived culture and language as an inseparable whole and they voiced that culture and language complement one another, viz. they cannot be separated from each other and each constitutes a medium for the other. The teacher candidates also shared that these contribute to the effectiveness of culture, and vice versa. TFL learners should be informed about these findings.