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

Year 2017, Volume: 13 Issue: 2, 277 - 300, 03.05.2017

Meliha R. Şimşek

https://doi.org/10.17244/eku.310224

Cited By: 1

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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