ABSTRACT
A Case Study on Teachers’ Perceptions of Integrating Target Language Culture in
EFL Classrooms
The effects of both 1st and 2nd language culture on English Language Teaching (ELT)
have been of great importance for several reasons. Initially, in terms of academicians,
theorists and teachers of English, no matter what nationality they are, it is essential to
find out how, why and to what extent first or target language cultures affect learning
and teaching processes. Furthermore, in what ways culture can be used as a motivator
in the classroom is a concern for both educators and learners of English, especially
when English is taken as a lingua franca. Ammon claims that the way learners
respond to the target language culture influences their attitude towards the language
itself (2004). In the light of the above notion, it is essential for any culture to identify
the connection between English language learning and target language culture, along
with its depth, to be able to teach the language more efficiently. Beyond that,
teachers’ perceptions of the target language culture and their approaches to the
integration of the target culture in the English language teaching classrooms should
also be researched for non English-speaking countries.
This study aims to find out the role of the target language culture in teaching process
in terms of Turkish instructors of English. Data will be collected via a questionnaire.
Inferential statistics will be used to evaluate the data from the questionnaire. The
participants in this study are 70 Turkish instructors of English in a Turkish state
university. The findings of the study will give teachers’ perceptions of integrating the
target language culture into ELT. The conclusion will be able to be used as an
indicator to maintain students’ motivation to learn English as a foreign language.
Keywords: English Language Teaching, target language culture, Turkish instructors
of English, teachers’ perceptions, student motivation
Reference
Ammon, U. (2004). Sociolinguistics: An international handbook of the science of
language and society (2nd ed.). Walter de Gruyter.