The Place of Culture in EFL Classes: Perceptions and Challenges of Pre-Service and In-Service English Teachers

Öz

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Culture
• teaching culture
• teachers’ perceptions
• cultural competence

The Place of Culture in EFL Classes: Perceptions and Challenges of Pre-Service and In-Service English Teachers

Abstract

This study aims to investigate Turkish EFL pre-service and in-service teachers’ perceptions of the place of culture in English language teaching in addition to uncovering the difficulties they face while teaching/integrating culture into their practice. A total of 40 participants were administered a comprehensive questionnaire the results of which were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings of the study revealed that pre-service and in-service teachers did not differ in terms of their perceptions of culture in their practice. However, the ways of integrating culture and experienced difficulties vary to a considerable extent between the two groups. The results showed that in-service teachers are inclined to make use of course books as a way of teaching culture whereas pre-service teachers favor authentic materials to integrate culture into their teaching. Regarding the challenges faced by the teachers, the lack of time allotted for teaching of culture which is restricted by the curriculum and the dominance of UK and US culture in the textbooks were addressed as the major problems. The present study offers critical implications for foreign language teachers, teacher education programs and curriculum specialists.

Keywords

• Culture
• teaching culture
• teachers’ perceptions
• cultural competence

Kaynakça

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