CONFRONTING CULTURE IN LOCAL AND GLOBAL ENGLISH COURSEBOOKS: STUDENT TEACHERS’ PREFERENCES IN MATERIALS ADAPTATION

Abstract

Much of textbook research in ELT concentrates on materials evaluation and analyses of (cultural) content, whereas existing studies on textbook consumption seem preoccupied with in-service teachers’ self-reported beliefs and practices. It still remains underexplored how student teachers respond to culturally-inappropriate materials. Especially when they are mandated to follow local coursebooks as in Turkey, teacher mediation of texts becomes critical. Therefore, 58 pre-service English teachers in an urban university were surveyed to elicit their attitudes towards gendered and alienating texts from local and global English coursebooks, and identify their culturally-responsive preferences and rationales for materials adaptation. Their word associations were examined to determine prototypical views of culture. The content analysis revealed that whether local or global, over 50% of the participants preferred to use the texts unchanged or delete them altogether, while chances of fixing the materials dropped steeply in the face of foreign culture influence. The few adapters appreciated their potential for raising gender- and cultural-awareness, and increasing classroom interaction. The overwhelming majority (74%) conceptualised culture as the embodiment of daily activities, current state of being and common way of thinking within a community, and seemed concerned about the appropriacy and comprehensibility of cultural content.

Keywords

• Cultural awareness,cultural content,English coursebooks,materials adaptation

YEREL VE KÜRESEL İNGİLİZCE DERS KİTAPLARINDA KÜLTÜRLE KARŞILAŞMA: ÖĞRETMEN ADAYLARININ MALZEME UYARLAMADAKİ SEÇİMLERİ

Abstract

İngilizce öğretimi alanındaki ders kitabı araştırmalarının çoğunluğu, malzeme değerlendirme ile (kültürel) içerik çözümlemelerine odaklanırken, ders kitabı kullanımıyla ilgili mevcut çalışmalar hizmetiçi öğretmenlerin özbildirimli inançları ve uygulamaları ile meşgul görünmektedir. Öğretmen adaylarının kültürel açıdan uygun olmayan malzemelere nasıl tepki verdiği ise yeterince araştırılmamış bir konu olarak kalmıştır. Özellikle Türkiye’deki gibi yerel ders kitaplarının kullanımı zorunlu tutulduğunda, öğretmenin metinlerdeki aracılığı kritik önem arz etmektedir. Bu nedenle, yerel ve küresel İngilizce ders kitaplarındaki cinsiyetçi ve yabancılaştırıcı metinlere karşı tutumlarını ortaya çıkarmak ve malzeme uyarlamada kültürel açıdan duyarlı seçimleri ile gerekçelerini belirlemek amacıyla, kentsel bir üniversitedeki 58 İngilizce öğretmeni adayına anket uygulanmıştır. Ayrıca prototipik kültür görüşlerini betimlemek için öğretmen adaylarının sözcük çağrışımları incelenmiştir. İçerik analizinin sonuçlarına göre, katılımcılarının %50’sinden fazlası, yerel veya küresel farketmeksizin, metinleri değiştirmeden kullanmayı veya tümden kaldırmayı seçerken, malzemeleri düzeltme şansları yabancı kültürün etkisi karşısında birden düşmüştür. Az sayıdaki uyarlayıcılar ise metinlerdeki cinsi ve kültürel farkındalık yaratma, sınıfiçi etkileşimi artırma potansiyeline değer vermiştir. Ezici çoğunluk (%74), kültürü bir topluluktaki gündelik etkinliklerin, güncel yaşayış ve ortak düşünme biçiminin oluşumu olarak kavramlaştırmış ve kültürel içeriğin uygunluğu ile anlaşılırlığı konusunda kaygılı görünmüştür.

Keywords

• İngilizce ders kitapları,kültürel farkındalık,kültürel içerik,malzeme uyarlama

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