Exploring the Problems of Teaching Intercultural Awareness: Insights from EFL Instructors in Turkey
(Exploring the Problems of Teaching Intercultural Awareness: Insights from EFL Instructors in Turkey
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Author
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Belkıs Zeynep Özışık
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Type |
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Printing Year |
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2019
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Number |
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2019/1
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Page |
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33-47
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Summary
Keywords
Abstract
This study aims to reveal problems that prevent teaching cultural issues in the EFL classroom. It tries to demonstrate EFL instructors’ opinions and their classroom experiences about handling EFL learners’ stereotypical assumptions and their prejudices towards the target culture. In order to give insights into instructors’ opinion, data was collected quantitatively and qualitatively. 163 EFL instructors from six state universities in Turkey participated in the questionnaire and 12 of them were selected randomly to be interviewed. Findings show that instructors pay a good deal of attention to teach the textbook and have little time to teach intercultural awareness. The main objective in the EFL classroom is to develop learners’ linguistic skills rather than intercultural competence. Moreover, learners are unmotivated to learn about different cultures as they have stereotypes and prejudices towards target cultures. Hence, instructors’ giving priority to teach textbooks and develop merely learners’ linguistic skills, and learners’ reluctance to learn about other cultures bring forth the problems that prevent teaching intercultural awareness.
Keywords
EFL, English teachers, intercultural awareness, target culture.