Exploring the Intercultural Awareness of EFL Instructors in Turkish Higher Education

Abstract

Korzilius, van Hoft, and Planken (2007) suggest that intercultural awareness involves being empathetic and being able to shift away from one's perspective. In a communication setting, intercultural awareness refers to the capacity to adopt the viewpoint(s) of conversation partners from a different culture and to comprehend and acknowledge their unique cultural backgrounds. In this context, the aim of this study is to explore the intercultural awareness of EFL instructors in the context of Turkish Higher Education. Participants are 50 EFL instructors from the English Language Teaching Department and the School of Foreign Languages in Türkiye. The current study adopted a quantitative design; the data tool is the English Language Instructors’ Questionnaire for Intercultural Awareness’ The data is analyzed via the Mann-Whitney U test. The data from the questionnaire is analyzed in two contexts: Intercultural Awareness of Native and Non-Native and Novice and Expert Instructors. As the findings of the study suggest there are significant differences between the attitudes of Native / Non-Native as well as for the Novice and Expert Instructors for Intercultural Awareness.

Keywords

• Intercultural awareness
• novice
• and expert instructors
• native-non-native instructors
• EFL instructors.

İngilizceyi Yabancı Dil Olarak Öğreten Eğitmenlerin Türk Yükseköğretiminde Kültürlerarası Farkındalıklarını Araştırmak

Abstract

Korzilius, van Hoft ve Planken (2007), kültürlerarası farkındalığın empatik olmayı ve kişinin bakış açısından uzaklaşabilmeyi içerdiğini ileri sürmektedir. Bir iletişim ortamında, kültürlerarası farkındalık, farklı bir kültürden muhatapların bakış açılarını benimseme ve onların benzersiz kültürel geçmişlerini anlama ve kabul etme kapasitesini ifade eder. Bu bağlamda, bu çalışmanın amacı Türk Yükseköğretimi bağlamında yabancı dil olarak öğretilen İngilizce dersi eğitmenlerinin kültürlerarası farkındalığını araştırmaktır. Katılımcılar, Türkiye'deki İngilizce Öğretmenliği (İngiliz Dili Eğitimi) bölümü ve Yabancı Diller Okulu'ndan görev yapan 50 İngilizce eğitmenidir. Mevcut çalışma nicel bir tasarımı benimsemiştir; veri toplama aracı, İngilizce Eğitmenlerinin Kültürlerarası Farkındalık Anketi'dir. Veriler, Mann-Whitney U testi ile analiz edilmiştir. Anketten elde edilen veriler iki bağlamda analiz edilmiştir; Anadili İngilizce olan ve olmayan, Az Tecrübeli ve Uzman Eğitmenlerin Kültürlerarası Farkındalığı. Araştırmanın bulguları, Kültürlerarası Farkındalık için Anadili İngilizce olan / olmayan ve Az Tecrübeli / Uzman Eğitmenlerin tutumları arasında önemli farklılıklar olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır.

Keywords

• Kültürlerarası farkındalık
• anadili İngilizce olan ve olmayan eğitmenler
• az tecrübeli ve uzman eğitmenler

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