EFL Teachers' Perceptions of the Place of Culture in ELT: A Survey Study at Four Univiersities in Ankara/Turkey

Okan Önalan

Abstract


This study aims to investigate Turkish teachers’ opinions and beliefs on the place of target cultural information in English language teaching, as well as their related practices and applications in EFL classrooms in Turkish higher education context. Particularly, it tries to explore three research questions: (a) How do Turkish teachers of English define culture? (b) What are the EFL teachers’ attitudes towards incorporating cultural information into their teaching? and (c) What role do they allocate to the culture of the target language in their classrooms? The study shows that teachers mostly define culture in the sociological sense, such as values and beliefs. Their definition of culture in the framework of ELT slightly shifts towards more visible culture, such as food and clothing. The study also reveals teachers’ positive attitudes towards incorporating cultural information in their instruction.


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