Abstract

Culture teaching in EFL classrooms has been widely investigated by researchers, program developers and teachers. Having been regarded as challenging in terms of both instructional and pedagogical aspects, it still occupies a remarkable place in EFL classrooms. To this end, the primary concern of this study is to discuss culture and culture teaching in general terms through the eyes of English language instructors and preparatory students. Moreover, to capture the great number of potential angles, the contribution of the course book “English File” to culture teaching is also explored. To serve this purpose, a mixed method research design was adopted to reveal whether there was a conscious culture teaching at a preparatory school of a state university in Turkey. Within this scope, 15 English language instructors and 122 learners were randomly selected to respond a questionnaire in addition to semi- structured interviews. Triangulation was achieved through qualitative, quantitative data, and document analysis which provides rich insights on culture in language classrooms. While quantitative data was analyzed via SPPS program, qualitative data was gone through content analysis. Incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data obtained from considerable number of respondents, the study revealed that both instructors and students agreed that culture is to be taught in language classrooms. With the central aim being to cover all relevant ideas with regards to culture, this study highlights that instructors need to develop appropriate methodology in order to make their learners aware of cultural differences which merits serious consideration.

Authors and Affiliations