Exploring the Opinions of Lecturers and Preparatory Students About Culture in Their Language Classrooms

Year 2018, Volume: 6 Issue: 11, 33 - 51, 20.04.2018

Pınar Çankaya

https://doi.org/10.20304/humanitas.332179

Abstract

Culture teaching in EFL classrooms
has been widely investigated by researchers, program developers and teachers.
Having been regarded as challenging in terms of both instructional and
pedagogical aspects, it still occupies a remarkable place in EFL classrooms. To
this end, the primary concern of this study is to discuss culture and culture
teaching in general terms through the eyes of English language instructors and
preparatory students. Moreover, to capture the great
number of potential angles, the
contribution of the course book “English File” to culture teaching is also
explored. To serve this purpose, a mixed method research design was adopted to
reveal whether there was a conscious culture teaching at a preparatory school of
a state university in Turkey. Within this scope, 15 English language
instructors and 122 learners were randomly selected to respond a questionnaire
in addition to semi- structured interviews. Triangulation was achieved through qualitative,
quantitative data, and document analysis which provides rich insights on culture in language classrooms. While quantitative data was analyzed via SPPS
program, qualitative data was gone through content analysis. Incorporating both qualitative
and quantitative data obtained from considerable
number of respondents, the study revealed that both instructors and students agreed that culture is to be taught in
language classrooms. With the central aim being to cover all relevant
ideas with regards to culture, this study
highlights that instructors need to develop appropriate methodology in order to
make their learners aware of cultural differences which merits serious consideration.

Keywords

Culture, Intercultural Communicative Competence, Teaching Culture

Dil Sınıflarında Kültür Öğretimi Hakkında Okutman ve Hazırlık Sınıfı Öğrencilerinin Görüşlerinin İncelenmesi

Abstract

Yabancı dil sınıflarında kültür öğretimi
araştırmacılar, öğretmenler ve program geliştiriciler tarafından detaylıca
araştırılmıştır. Hem öğretimsel hem pedagojik açıdan zorlayıcı olduğu
değerlendirildiği için, yabancı dil sınıflarında önemli bir yeri vardır. Bu
bağlamda, bu çalışmanın öncelikli amacı genel olarak kültürü, öncelikli olarak
ise yabancı dil sınıflarında kültür öğretimini hem okutmanlar hem de
öğrencilerin görüşleri doğrultusunda tartışmaktır. Dahası, bu konuda daha çok
açıyı ele almak adına kullanılan ders kitabı “English File” ın kültür
öğretimine katkısı araştırılacaktır. Bu amaçla, Türkiye'de bir devlet
üniversitesinde bir hazırlık okulunda bilinçli bir kültür öğretiminin olup
olmadığını ortaya koymak için karma bir yöntem araştırma tasarımı
benimsenmiştir. Bu kapsamda, 6 öğrenciyle yapılan yarı
yapılandırılmış görüşmelere ek olarak, bir ankete yanıt vermek üzere hazırlık
sınıflarında ders veren 15 İngilizce okutmanı ve 122 öğrenci rastgele
seçilmiştir. Yabancı dil sınıflarında kültürün tüm olası açıları hakkında bilgi
veren belge analizine ek olarak, hem niteliksel hem de nicel verilerle
doğrulama sağlanmıştır. Nicel veriler SPPS programı ile analiz edilirken, nitel
veriler içerik analizi yoluyla gerçekleştirilmiştir. Önemli sayıda katılımcıdan
elde edilen hem nicel hem de nitel verileri bir araya getiren çalışma, hem
eğitmenlerin hem de öğrencilerin kültürün dil sınıflarında öğretilmesi
konusunda hem fikir oldukları gözlenmiştir. Asıl amaç kültürle ilgili tüm
fikirleri kapsamakla birlikte, bu çalışma, öğrencilerin kültürel
farklılıklardan haberdar olmaları, farkındalık ve duyarlılık
seviyelerini artırmaları için okutmanların uygun öğretim
metodları kullanmaları gerektiğini vurgulamaktadır.

Keywords

Kültür, Kültürlerarası İletişimsel Yetkinlik, Kültür Öğretimi

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