@OkanOnalan Teacher Perceptions on Culture in ELT: The Non-Native Case Dr.Okan ÖNALAN

Culture as fast as a hare (a flee) as brave as a bear (a lion) as free as a bird as neat as a word (a razor) as quiet as a mouse (a sneak) as big as a house (the worlds) as strong as an ox (an bull) OPI 2

Culture in ELT Instruction If, when or how cultural elements of the target language should be taught is still a focus of research interest considering the role of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and English as an International Language (EIL) Whose culture? Which culture? 3

Teachers’ Beliefs Teachers are highly influenced by their beliefs and these are sometimes far more influential than knowledge in determining of how teachers behave in the classroom (Williams & Burden, 2002) Teachers…make instructional choices by drawing on complex practically-oriented, personalized, and context- sensitive networks of knowledge, thoughts, and beliefs (Borg, 2003) 4

Non-Native Speaker Teachers The globalization of English as an international language (EIL) and as a Lingua Franca (ELF) provides an additional lens through which to view the beliefs of English language teachers. Native Speaker (NS) Teachers vs. Non-Native Speaker (NNS) Teachers 5

Motivation for the Study Therefore, understanding NNS Teachers’ instructional decisions as well as their own practical theories is central to: 1. a better understanding of English language as EIL and ELF 2. a deeper perspective to English language teaching (ELT) on a global scale 3. a closer look at NNS Teachers’ standpoint on cultural elements of the language they teach 6

Research Questions 1. What beliefs about teaching the cultural elements of target language are reported by NNS Teachers of English? 2. What level of importance do NNS Teachers of English attach to cultural components in their teaching? 3. What stage would NNS Teachers of English consider the MOST suitable for providing the students with cultural information in ELT? 7

Questionnaire Section 1: Demographic information Section 2: 15-item (5 Likert-scale) questionnaire ◦ Piloted on 12 NNS Teachers ◦ Revised by three native speaker experts Section 3: Two independent items 1. Rank-ordering item 2. Open-ended level-based item 8

Questionnaire 9

Participants 10 Countryn% n% Albania22,7 Mauritania11,3 Bosnia22,7 Mexico11,3 Brazil56,7 Mongolia45,3 Bulgaria912,0 Morocco22,7 Burkina Faso11,3 Oman22,7 Colombia34,0 Panama22,7 Egypt34,0 Poland22,7 Indonesia34,0 Saudi Arabia22,7 Iraq22,7 Senegal11,3 Jordan45,3 Somalia11,3 Kazakhstan11,3 Taiwan11,3 Kuwait11,3 Thailand34,0 Latvia11,3 Turkey1013,3 Lebenon34,0 Ukrain22,7 Lithuania11,3 TOTAL75100

Participants 11 Participant Ts’ Qualificationn% Certificate68,0 Diploma45,3 Bachelor’s2432,0 Post-graduate Certificate56,7 Master’s3242,7 Doctorate45,3 TOTAL75100,0 Participant Ts' Teaching Experience n% 0-4 years1520,0 5-9 years2330, years2026,7 15 years and above1722,7 TOTAL75100,0

Discussion NNS English teachers’ have shown strong belief in favor of incorporating cultural elements of the target language into their instruction. Participants have also maintained that cultural content should be an element of the foreign language teaching curriculum. 12

Discussion Participants have specified that language teachers should have culture teaching objectives and have pointed out that they should provide cultural information to the studends rather than leaving them alone in learning such elements. They have associated knowledge of target culture with effective use of the target language. 13

Discussion Teachers have reported that their students enjoy learning about the culture of the target language and it does not lead to any form of alienation from their native culture. They have indicated that language teachers should be equipped with the cultural components of the language they teach. 14

Discussion The majority of the participants have pointed out that integration of cultural elements into language instruction should start at early stages of language teaching. Interestingly, results have revealed significant uncertainty about the “explicit” teaching of cultural information. A similar reservation has appeared about the concept of culture as a “must”. 15

Conclusion The general portrait drawn from the NNS Teachers’ responses about the integration of culture into ELT instruction in this study is the one characterized by - integration of culture into the curriculum as well as into teaching practices - culture as a necessity, but not a must - incorporating cultural information from the early stages - culture percieved as an enjoyable element and not a threat - teachers’ requirement to be equipped with sufficient cultural knowledge about the language they teach - a level of uncertainty on the NNS teachers’ part about the role of explicit culture teaching 16

Culture and Mirror Translation 17 / 20

Culture

19 / 20 VociBook

@OkanOnalan THANK YOU Dr.Okan ÖNALAN

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