EFL Learners' Attitudes towards Learning ICC

EFL Learners’ Attitudes towards Learning Intercultural Communicative Competence The Graduate School of Education of Bilkent University by Seda Güven In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in The Program Of Teaching English as a Foreign Language Bilkent University Ankara January 2015 BİLKENT UNIVERSITY THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION MA THESIS EXAMINATION RESULT FORM January 5, 2015 The examining committee appointed by The Graduate School of Education for the thesis examination of the MA TEFL student Seda Güven has read the thesis of the student. The committee has decided that the thesis of the student is satisfactory. Thesis Title: EFL Learners’ Attitudes towards Learning Intercultural Communicative Competence Thesis Advisor: Prof. Dr. Kimberly Trimble Bilkent University, MA TEFL Program Committee Members: Asst. Prof. Dr. Deniz Ortaçtepe Bilkent University, MA TEFL Program Asst. Prof. Dr. Patrick Henry Hart Bilkent University, Department of English Language and Literature I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Teaching English as a Foreign Language. __________________________________ (Prof. Dr. Kimberly Trimble) Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Teaching English as a Foreign Language. ___________________________________ (Asst. Prof. Dr. Deniz Ortaçtepe ) Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Teaching English as a Foreign Language. ___________________________________ (Asst. Prof. Dr. Patrick Henry Hart ) Examining Committee Member Approval of the Graduate School of Education ___________________________________ (Prof. Dr. Margaret Sands) Director iv ABSTRACT EFL LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE Seda Güven M.A. Department of Teaching English as a Foreign Language Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Kimberly Trimble January 2015 This study investigated the attitudes of Turkish university preparatory class students towards learning intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in EFL classrooms and whether the students’ attitudes change according to their gender, reasons for learning English, English proficiency levels, majors, and the medium of instruction in their departments. The study sampled 508 students studying at the preparatory schools of seven different universities: Anadolu, Akdeniz, Ataturk, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart, Istanbul, Karadeniz Technical, and Middle East Technical University. The data were gathered through a questionnaire consisting of two ranking questions, five point Likert-scale items, and several demographic questions. The analysis of data revealed that students generally have positive attitudes towards learning ICC, and gender, proficiency levels and medium of instruction do not play a significant role in students’ attitudes towards learning ICC. However, the students from the departments of social sciences tended to have more positive attitudes v towards learning ICC. Students’ reasons for learning English, their motivation types, also had an effect on their attitudes. The higher their integrative and personal motivation was, the more positive attitudes towards learning ICC they had. On the other hand, there was a negative correlation between instrumental motivation and student attitudes. The responses provided by the participants indicated that most of the students were interested in learning about every aspect of culture but in a communicative way. The students preferred video films and documentaries for introducing cultural information in their English language classes. Keywords: EFL learners, attitudes towards learning ICC, culture learning, motivation. vi ÖZET İNGİLİZCEYİ YABANCI DİL OLARAK ÖĞRENEN ÖĞRENCİLERİN KÜLTÜRLERARASI İLETİŞİMSEL YETERLİK ÖĞRENMEYE KARŞI TUTUMLARI Seda Güven Yüksek Lisans, Yabancı Dil Olarak İngilizce Öğretimi Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Kimberly Trimble Ocak 2015 Bu tez, Türk üniversite hazırlık sınıfı öğrencilerinin, İngilizcenin yabancı dil olarak öğretildiği sınıflarda, kültürlerarası iletişimsel yeterlik öğrenmeye karşı tutumlarını ve bu tutumların öğrencilerin cinsiyet, İngilizce öğrenme sebepleri, İngilizce yeterlilik seviyeleri, eğitim alacakları bölümler ve bölümlerdeki eğitim diline göre değişim gösterip göstermediğini incelemiştir. Çalışma, Anadolu, Akdeniz, Atatürk, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart, İstanbul, Karadeniz Teknik ve Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesinden 508 hazırlık sınıfı öğrencisinin katılımı ile gerçekleşmiştir. Veriler, iki sıralama sorusu, beşli Likert ölçeği maddeleri ve birkaç kişisel bilgi sorularından oluşan bir anket yardımı ile toplanmıştır. Veri analizi, öğrencilerin kültürlerarası iletişimsel yetkinlik öğrenimine karşı genel olarak olumlu tutuma sahip olduklarını ve cinsiyet, İngilizce yeterlilik seviyesi ve eğitim dili gibi unsurların öğrencilerin tutumları üzerinde önemli bir etkiye sahip olmadığını vii göstermiştir. Ancak, sosyal bilimler bölümlerinden olan öğrencilerin, kültürlerarası iletişimsel yetkinlik öğrenimine karşı tutumlarının daha olumlu olduğu gözlenmiştir. Ayrıca, öğrencilerin İngilizce öğrenme nedenlerinin de tutumları üzerinde etkisi olduğu görülmüştür. Bütünsel güdülenme ile kişisel güdülenmeleri arttıkça, kültürlerarası iletişimsel yetkinlik öğrenimine karşı tutumlarının daha olumlu olduğu; ancak, araç güdülemesi ile öğrenci tutumları arasında olumsuz bağıntı olduğu sonucuna varılmıştır. Öğrencilerin ankete verdiği cevaplar, kültür öğrenimine ilgi duyduklarını ama bunu iletişimsel yollarla öğrenmeyi istediklerini göstermiştir. İngilizce derslerinde kültürel bilgilerin, video filmleri ve belgeseller ile verilmesini tercih ettiklerini belirtmişlerdir. Anahtar kelimeler: İngilizceyi yabancı dil olarak öğrenen öğrenciler, kültürlerarası iletişimsel yetkinlik öğrenimine karşı tutumlar, kültür öğrenimi, güdüleme. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study is the product of a considerably long process in which many people provided their support, participation or contributions. I would like to mention their names and thank them one by one. First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis advisor Prof. Dr. Kim Trimble for providing invaluable feedback, support, and guidance for my study. This thesis could not have been completed without his supervision. I am very fortunate to have Prof. Trimble as my advisor and can never thank him for all he has done for me. I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to Asst. Prof. Dr. Deniz Ortaçtepe for her urgent assistance and advice during the preparation of this thesis and her contributions and great support throughout my study. I would also like to thank to Asst. Prof. Dr. Patrick Hart, who contributed to my thesis with his constructive feedback. I also owe my thanks to Asst. Prof. Dr. Julie MathewsAydınlı for her support, encouragement, and advice throughout the preparation of this thesis. Without them, this thesis could not have attained its optimum. I am forever grateful to them. I am grateful to Prof. Dr. Abdurrahman Karamancıoğlu and Asst. Prof. Ümit Özkanal for allowing me to attend the MA TEFL Program. I also owe many thanks to Mehmet Güngör and Asst. Prof. Dr. Hülya Yıldız Bağçe for their support and to Gökay Baş for being an important source of motivation and encouragement at the hard times of writing this thesis. Countless colleagues made contributions through helpful evaluations and allocating their time to the distribution and application of the questionnaires. I must ix thank Asst. Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Barın, Asst. Prof. Dr. Kürşat Cesur, Dr. Öznur Gülden, Özlem Duran and Mediha Toraman for helping me with the administration of the questionnaires. I am also grateful to Dr. Devo Devrim Yılmaz, whose survey was inspirational to my own research. Many special thanks to the MA TEFL 2011-2012 class for their contributions to me as a person and a scholar. Thank you, Saliha Tosçu, Zeynep Aysan and Ayfer Sülü for your friendship and being supportive and encouraging through good and tiring times. I would like to thank to my aunts Sabiha Özgören and Kevser Güven for being my source of inspiration with their strong personalities. Finally, I am deeply grateful to my parents, Reyhan and Nedim Güven for their continuous support and belief in me. I owe this thesis to their never ending support and encouragement. x TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………...iv ÖZET………………………………………………………………………………..vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………......viii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………….x LIST OF TABLES ………………………………………………………………...xiii LIST OF FIGURES ……………………………………………………………..….xv CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………1 Introduction………………………………………………….........................1 Background of the Study……………………………………………….…....2 Statement of the Problem…………………………………………………….4 Research Questions…………………………………………………………..6 Significance of the Study……………………………………………….……6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………7 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………....9 Introduction.....................................................................................................9 The Role of English…………..........................................................................9 English in the World...........................................................................10 The Names of English.........................................................................12 The Role of English in the Turkish Education System.......................15 Culture……………………………................................................................19 Intercultural Communicative Competence..........................................21 Language and Culture.....................................................................................23 Culture in English Language Teaching..………………….…………24 xi Student Attitudes in Language Teaching............................................27 Studies on Cultural Attitudes in Language Teaching and Learning...29 Factors that may Influence Student Attitudes towards Learning ICC………………………………………………………………………………….36 Conclusion………………..............................................................................39 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY………………………………………………...40 Introduction....................................................................................................40 Participants and Setting..................................................................................41 Instruments.....................................................................................................43 Data Collection Methods and Procedure........................................................45 Data Analysis .................................................................................................47 Conclusion .....................................................................................................48 CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS………………………………………………..49 Introduction……………………………...………………………….………49 Data Analysis Procedures…………………………………………………...49 Descriptive Statistics of Students’ Responses to the Questionnaire ….…….51 Reasons for Learning English ………………………………………51 The Culture of English Language …………………………………..53 Learning about the Culture of English Language …………………..55 Culture in English Language Teaching Materials ……………….…59 Materials and Activities to be Introduced to Cultural Information …60 Factors Anticipated Affecting Turkish EFL Learners’ Attitudes towards Learning ICC………………………………………………………………………..62 The Effect of Gender………………………………………………...62 The Effect of Reasons for Learning English ………..………………63 xii The Effect of English Proficiency Levels …………………………..64 The Effect of Majors………………………………………………...65 The Effect of the Medium of Instruction……………………...…….66 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………….67 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION…………………………………………………....69 Introduction………………………………………..………………………..69 Findings and Discussion…………………………………………………….70 Reasons for Learning English ………………………………………70 The Culture of English Language …………………………………..72 Learning about the Culture of English Language …………………..73 Culture in English Language Teaching Materials …………………..75 Materials and Activities to be Introduced to Cultural Information …78 The Effect of Gender on Student Attitudes……………………….....81 The Effect of Reasons for Learning English on Student Attitudes….81 The Effect of English Proficiency Levels on Student Attitudes ……83 The Effect of Majors on Student Attitudes …………………………84 The Effect of Medium of Instruction on Student Attitudes…………84 Pedagogical Implications……………………………………………………85 Limitations of the Study…………………………………………………….88 Suggestions for Further Research…………………………………………...89 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..90 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………..92 APPENDIX A: Questionnaire in Turkish………………………………….104 APPENDIX B: Questionnaire in English………………………………….109 xiii LIST OF TABLES Table 1 – Weekly compulsory foreign language classes of some public secondary schools.........................................................................................................................17 Table 2 – Completed questionnaires returned from each participating institution.…41 Table 3 – Age distribution of participants………………………………….……….41 Table 4 – The medium of instruction of participants……………………………….42 Table 5 – Participant responses to reasons for learning English questions by scales………………………………………………………………………………..52 Table 6 – Participant responses to culture of English language questions….………54 Table 7 – Participant responses to learning about the culture of English language questions by scales…………………………………………………………………..56 Table 8 – Participant responses to learning intercultural communicative competence scale questions ……………………………………………………………………...58 Table 9 – Participant responses to the topics in English language teaching materials questions……………………………………………………………………………59 Table 10 – Participant responses to the materials and activities to introduce cultural information questions……………………………………………………………….61 Table 11 – The t-test results for the effects of gender on student attitudes………...62 Table 12 – The regression results for the relation between students’ reasons for learning English and their attitudes towards ICC …………………………………..63 Table 13 – ANOVA results for the effects of proficiency levels on student attitudes ……………………………………………………………………………………….65 Table 14 – The t-test results for the variation of student attitudes according to majors………………………………………………………………………………..66 xiv Table 15 – ANOVA results for the effects of medium of instruction on student attitudes……………………………………………………………………………...66 xv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 – Kachru’s three circles model…………………………………………….11 Figure 2 – Gender of participants…………………………………..…………….....42 1 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION Introduction In the twenty-first century, in which a big part of social life is determined by global processes, developments in technology require countries to establish a closer relationship with each other in many areas, including the economy, politics, telecommunication, transportation and education. The ease of communication and the advancements in information networks have made the world a global village which caused people from different countries or even different continents to be dependent on each other making the importance of intercultural communication increase rapidly in this century. With this mass interaction, people speaking different mother tongues needed a common language and English has started to serve this aim by becoming the language of international communications. As a result of the spread of English, researchers have started to refer to the use of English by speakers of other languages with different terms, such as English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) (Seidlhofer, 2005), or English as an International Language (EIL) (McKay, 2002). Therefore, the focus of the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) has started to shift from the norms of native speakers of English towards world Englishes (BruttGriffler, 2002). As language and culture are considered to complement each other, integrating culture into language teaching has been one of the crucial topics that have been studied in ELT (Byram, 1997; Kramsch, 1998; Tseng, 2002). Attitudes towards teaching or learning target language culture, and target language culture elements in the text-books have been the main focus of the research studying culture (e.g., Alptekin, 1993; Cortazzi & Jin, 1999; Jabeen & Shah, 2011). However, with the change in the role of English as the new lingua franca, teaching just the target 2 language culture has been questioned and the idea of teaching world cultures which is necessary for intercultural competence has started to take its place (Alptekin, 2002; Byram, 2008; Ho, 2009). Before implementing intercultural communicative competence (ICC) teaching into ELT, it is essential to learn about both the attitudes of teachers towards teaching ICC and the attitudes of learners towards world cultures. The attitudes of teachers towards teaching intercultural competence has been studied in different countries including Turkey (Bayyurt, 2006; Castro, Sercu & Garcia, 2004; Jokikokko, 2005); however, the attitudes of learners towards learning ICC has not been fully studied in Turkey. Consequently, this study aims to contribute in filling this gap in the literature by revealing the attitudes of the university English preparatory class students who learn English as a Foreign Language (EFL) towards learning intercultural communicative competence and world cultures. Background of the Study The field of Intercultural Communication has its roots in the 1950s in the works of Robert Lado and Edward T. Hall (Kramsch, 2002). In Lado’s works one can see the first attempts of linking language and culture in an educational way, and in Hall’s works he mentioned the relation of culture and communication. However, it was not until the early 1970s that this term emerged in Europe, and it started to be used in Teaching English to the Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) in the 1980s. In the 1970s, intercultural communication was only applied in business studies and in the 1980s, it started to appeal to social workers and educators, too (Kramsch, 2002). Conducting studies on intercultural competence and publishing educational materials, which support teaching language and culture together, appeared to happen in the late 1980s (Byram, 1989; Harrison, 1990; Heusinhveld, 1996; Fantini, 1997; 3 Kramsch, 1993; Valdes, 1986; as cited in Kramsch, 2002) and continued to receive attention during the last decades. Including different aspects of life, culture is a broad concept which is difficult to define. In the literature, there are many different definitions of this term; however, Liddicoat, Papademetre, Scarino and Kohler’s (2003) definition seems to combine the ideas that appear in others. They define culture as “a complex system of concepts, attitudes, values, beliefs, conventions, behaviors, practices, rituals and lifestyles of the people who make up a cultural group, as well as the artifacts they produce and the institutions they create” (p.45). In other words, according to Liddicoat et al. (2003), culture has a connection to all uses of language, and this idea forms a basis for Mitchell and Myles’s (2004) argument that culture is an essential and inseparable part of language learning. As Bennett, Bennett and Allen (2003) indicated, “the person who learns language without learning culture risks becoming a fluent fool” (p. 272). As language and culture are accepted to be interwoven, teaching intercultural communicative competence should be a component of language classes (Brown, 2000; Byram, 1997; Cortazzi & Jin, 1999). According to Jokikokko (2005), intercultural competence is “an ethical orientation in which certain morally right ways of being, thinking and acting are emphasized” (p.79). Therefore, it is important to learn ICC and gain understanding of differences between behaviors, values, or beliefs among people who speak different languages and who belong to different cultures to have effective communication across cultures. In the literature, the studies on intercultural competence generally have focused on the perceptions and beliefs of teachers (e.g., Atay, Kurt, Çamlıbel, Ersin & Kaslıoğlu, 2009; Castro, Sercu & Garcia, 2004). As Williams and Burden (1997) 4 claimed, teachers’ beliefs influence their actions; hence, it is important to know about their perceptions or attitudes. However, teaching is not a one-way interaction; therefore, examining only one party involving in it, the teachers, is not enough to reach conclusions about teaching related issues. Analyzing the beliefs and expectations of the other party, which includes learners in that case, is necessary, too. Most of the researchers have agreed that students’ beliefs, perceptions and attitudes influence their performance and success in the classroom (Barcelos & Kalaja, 2003; Dörnyei & Kormos, 2000; Williams & Burden, 1997). According to Savignon (2001) “Learner attitude is without a doubt the single most important factor in learner success” (p. 21). However, in some cases, the attitudes of teachers do not match the attitudes of learners (Yang & Lau, 2003) and the researchers (e.g., Horwitz, 1990; Kern, 1995; Schulz, 1996) assert that these mismatches may affect students’ satisfaction with the language learning in a negative way. Consequently, it is significant to be aware of the expectations of the students to optimize achievement in language education. Statement of the Problem The issue of integrating culture into language teaching has been one of the important focus areas in ELT over the last 30 years (Byram, 1989, 1997; Hughes, 1986; Kramsch, 1993, 1998; Crozet & Liddicoat, 2000; Papademetre & Scarino, 2006). While the early research studied mostly the importance of teaching target language culture, with the growing interest in the status of English as a lingua franca, recent research has emphasized intercultural communicative competence and teaching world cultures (e.g., Bennett, Bennett & Allen, 2003; Byram, 2006; Sercu, 2002). As a result of this new trend, recent studies have offered valuable information about the attitudes of EFL teachers (e.g., Atay et al., 2009; Castro et al., 2004); 5 however, the voice of the learners about the role of intercultural communicative competence in ELT has remained weak (Devrim & Bayyurt, 2010). The studies which shed light on the attitudes of the students towards learning intercultural communicative competence, differences among the attitudes of students, and the factors that affect their attitudes are limited in the literature. As most of the researchers indicate, students’ beliefs and attitudes play a major role in their success (Barcelos & Kalaja, 2003; Dörnyei & Kormos, 2000) and the mismatches between the teachers’ and students’ attitudes may have a negative effect on students’ satisfaction (Horwitz, 1990; Kern, 1995; Schulz, 1996). Therefore, this study aims to contribute to the literature by revealing students’ attitudes towards the status of English and how they feel about learning ICC. Although the Council of Europe (2001) advocates culture teaching and their document, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, has an objective which states that the aim of teaching modern languages is to promote “mutual understanding and tolerance, respect for identities and cultural diversity through more effective international communication”(p.3), the preparatory class programs in Turkey generally give little importance to teaching cross-cultural competence. Instead, they solely aim “to provide the students whose level of English is below proficiency level with basic language skills so that they can pursue their undergraduate studies at … [the] university without major difficulty” (METU, n.d.). As Ho (2009) emphasized, “living in today’s multicultural world, language learners need to develop not only their linguistic competence but also their intercultural communicative competence to overcome both linguistic and cultural barriers they may encounter in interaction with people from other cultures” (p. 72). However, it is possible to encounter students’ resistance to the cultural content or to 6 the methods of teaching when they are introduced to different cultural elements in language classes, which is most probably different from their traditional way of learning. Hence, it is important to raise the awareness of the students in terms of intercultural communicative competence. Consequently, the current study may contribute to the literature by revealing the attitudes of English preparatory class students towards learning intercultural communicative competence and their readiness for being introduced to ICC. Research Questions This study attempts to address the following research questions: 1. What are the attitudes of Turkish university preparatory class students towards learning intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in EFL classrooms? 2. What is the relationship between students’ attitudes towards learning ICC and each of the following factors? a. Gender b. Reasons for learning English c. English proficiency levels d. Majors e. The medium of instruction in their departments Significance of the Study Recent research has offered valuable information about the “attitudes of Turkish EFL teachers regarding the role of intercultural competence in teaching a foreign language” (Atay et al., 2009). Castro et al. (2004) indicates that “Research on innovation in education has shown that teachers’ perceptions of the innovation to a large extent determine the success of that innovation” (p. 91). Therefore, it is necessary to be aware of the attitutes of teachers. Similarly, the attitudes of students 7 have importance in implementing something new into the curriculum; however, their attitudes are generally ignored in studies of educational innovation. Previous studies in ELT have mainly focused on the opinions, attitudes, or views of the language teachers, whereas the opinions, attitudes or preferences of language learners regarding the subject of culture learning have not been adequately studied. Consequently, this study aims to focus on the attitudes of learners and contribute to the literature by revealing the attitudes of English preparatory class students towards learning intercultural communicative competence. Integrating intercultural communicative competence into English teaching has not yet received the attention it deserves in Turkey. As Yano (2009) indicated, “English proficiency will be judged not by being a native speaker or not, but by the individual’s level of cross-cultural communicative competence as an Englishknowing bi- or multilingual individual” (p. 253). Therefore, by revealing more about the attitudes towards ICC, this study may help to raise awareness in ELT. The findings may be of benefit to EFL teachers, policy makers, curriculum designers, and material developers. Conclusion This chapter introduces the study through background of the study, statement of the problem, research questions, and the significance of the study. Additionally, a brief summary of the literature is offered. The next chapter provides a more comprehensive review of the relevant literature. The third chapter introduces the methodology of the study with the sub-headings of participants and setting, instruments, data collection methods and procedure, and data analysis. The fourth chapter provides data analysis and the results of the study. Finally, the last chapter 8 presents the discussion of the findings, pedagogical implications, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further research. 9 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction In this chapter, English language, culture and the relation between language and culture will be the main issues to be discussed. First, English language will be presented in relation to the place of English in the world, the current debate over the nomenclature or designations to refer to English, and the role of English in the Turkish education system. Second, the theme of culture will be discussed, with a definition of culture and the explanation of intercultural communicative competence. The relation between language and culture will then be introduced along with the place of culture in English language teaching. Lastly, the importance of student attitudes in language teaching will be discussed and the studies related to cultural attitudes in language teaching and learning will be examined. The Role of English English is the language which has been chosen to be taught as a second or foreign language all around the world. It has become a world language used in international communication by English users from different backgrounds. English is also the accepted language of many organizations, publications and journals, internet communication, medicine and science, trade, law, tourism and entertainment, and many other areas (Crystal, 2003; Graddol, 2006; Hyland, 2006). Interestingly, the number of the non-mother tongue users of English has already exceeded the number of the mother tongue users (Brutt-Griffler, 2002; Crystal, 2003) and the spread of English in recent decades has lessened the effect of native speakers substantially and enabled English language to gain a global language status. 10 English in the World In 1988, Grabe emphasized that “any country wishing to modernize, industrialize, or in some way become technologically competitive, must develop the capacity to access and use information written in English” (p. 65). Similarly, Tsui and Tollefson (2007) state that there are two indivisible tools that affect globalization: technology and English. They also point out that to keep up with the rapid changes caused by globalization, all countries are trying to make certain that they possess these two skills. Their statements support the idea that the growing role of English across the globe is so obvious. In today’s world, the status of English as the language of technology and science is beyond controversy. With the spread of the English language throughout the world, the changing distribution and functions of English are defined in three circles by Kachru (1985) (See Figure 1). He calls the first one the “inner circle,” which refers to the countries such as the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where English is the main language, the mother tongue. This broad use of English as a mother tongue is a result of the immigration from British Isles to the North America and Australia (Kachru & Nelson, 1996). The second designation is the “outer circle” which includes the countries such as India, Singapore, Pakistan, Malaysia, Philippines, and Nigeria where English is institutionalized, accepted and used as the second language. After being colonies of the British Empire, the countries in this circle started to use English either as the official or partially official language (Crystal, 2003). Kachru (1985) calls the last circle the “expanding circle” and mentions the countries such as Norway, Brazil, Turkey, China and Russia where English is needed to communicate across-nations and taught as a foreign language. The spread of English in this circle happened as a result of the use of English as a lingua franca which requires the 11 knowledge of English in every area or sector to be able to communicate with other nations. Expanding Circle: Brazil, Turkey, China, Russia, etc. Outer Circle: India, Singapore, Pakistan, etc. Inner Circle: USA, England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand Figure 1. Kachru’s (1985) Three Circles Model. This figure illustrates the classification of countries according to the spread of English. Based on [Kachru, 1985, pp. 242-243] Although English is taught as a second language in outer circle countries, as in India, in expanding circle countries, English is not the official language and it is generally learned as a foreign language in the school for practical reasons, as in China, Japan, and Turkey (Kırkgöz, 2009). Actually, there is not a discrete division between outer and expanding circle countries as these groups share some features such as calling English speakers bilingual or multilingual (Bayyurt, 2013; Kachru, 1985). Even the position of English in Kachru’s inner circle countries is less certain 12 due to the mass immigration of people from outer and expanding circle countries into the inner circle group (Canagarajah, 2006). As a result, today, varieties of English have been spoken even in inner circle countries which are expected to be substantially monolingual. Since English is the language which operates both in national and international domains through Kachru’s circles, questioning the ownership of the English language bears no more importance (Canagarajah, 2005; Widdowson, 2003). It is evident that the use of English language is not limited to native speakers and furthermore, that English is growing the fastest among the Expanding Circle. As Gnutzman (2000) estimated, 80% of the use of verbal English takes place between non-native users of the language. It is also predicted by Graddol (1999) that approximately 253 million non-native English speakers existing in 1999 will increase to 462 million in 50 years. This suggests that the ownership of English does not merely belong to the inner circle countries anymore; hence those countries cannot be the only reference to teach English in other countries where English is mostly used among nonnative speakers of English (Devrim & Bayyurt, 2010). The Names of English As a result of the interaction need between non-native speakers who choose English as the common language of this communication, the use of the language among different nations has increased widely. Following the spread of the language, new uses of English have emerged and have raised questions about the ownership of English (Widdowson, 1994, 1997). The terms “second” or “foreign language” have proven inadequate to define the new profile of English, with the new uses of English language demanding different new definitions and names. In order to fill this gap, researchers have come up with different names such as world, global and 13 international to refer to this new use of English all around the world. World Englishes (e.g., Brutt-Griffler, 2002), English as an international language (EIL) (e.g., McKay, 2002), English as a global language (e.g., Crystal, 2003), and English as a lingua franca (ELF) (e.g., Seidlhofer, 2005) are among the new terms proposed to address the uses of English across Kachru’s (1985) circles. Being indirectly affected by these new uses of the language, the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) has needed to study these new Englishes and their place in ELT (Bayyurt, 2013). These names have sometimes been used interchangeably by some researchers, but some others argue that there are differences in the meanings of these terms which require them to be used in different contexts. World Englishes is defined as “the indigenized varieties of English in their local contexts of use” (Jenkins, 2006, p.157). As Bayyurt (2013) mentions, scholars of the World Englishes school do not accept the exclusion of the outer circle members while talking about the native speakers of English. Besides American or Singapore English, which belong to Inner and Outer Circles, respectively, Englishes used by Expanding Circle countries can be called World Englishes, too (Berns, 2009). From Jenkins’ (2006) and Berns’ (2009) explanations of World Englishes, one can infer that people, or societies who speak English can form their own norms instead of following the norms of the native speakers to create one of the Englishes spoken in the world. English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), on the other hand, is used to refer to the use of English among people from different first languages (Seildhofer, 2005). According to Jenkins (2006), “in its purest form, ELF is defined as a contact language used only among non-mother tongue speakers” (p.160). As ELF refers to a language variety used among people in Kachru’s Outer and Expanding Circle 14 countries and no one speaks it as their first language, it is possible to infer that the speakers of ELF like the speakers of World Englishes do not need to follow the norms of some other speakers of the language, but they create their own norms. Supporting this inference, Jenkins (2006) also mentions that EFL researchers are aware of the fact that some communications occur among people some of whom are from the Inner circle and the others are either from Outer or Expanding circles. In that case, EFL researchers suppose that the native speakers “will have to follow the agenda set by ELF speakers, rather than vice versa, as has been the case up to now” (Jenkins, 2006, p.161). In discussing English as an International Language (EIL), Widdowson (1994) indicates that since English is an international language, it therefore is not the possession of only native speakers, but is owned by other people who use it, too. EIL refers to the use of English “within and across Kachru’s ‘Circles’, for intranational as well as international communication” (Jenkins, 2005, p. 339). As EIL includes both native and non-native speakers of English, Jenkins (2000) suggests that EIL can be used as a cover term including other terms such as ELF. All these new terms differ from the traditional definition of English in teaching contexts. In an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, for instance, the norms of the mother tongue users generally form the basis for the norms of the speakers of EFL. The aim of non-native speakers is to achieve as much native like competence as possible. It is expected that EFL users will mainly communicate with native speakers of English; therefore, they generally follow the norms of either Standard British or American English (Jenkins, 2005), which is not the case for ELF or EIL users. All these changes in the use and definition of English language propose new challenges for the field of ELT. 15 The Role of English in the Turkish Education System The spread of English as the language of international communication has created the need for the non-English-speaking countries to work on their language policies. The strategic and geopolitical status of Turkey has made the knowledge of English particularly essential for Turkish people (Kırkgöz, 2009). According to Strevens (as cited in Devrim, 2006), the environment where someone learns a language is important in terms of the implications for teaching and learning this language because the environment shows learners’ familiarity with the language and determines their achievement. Since Turkey is among the countries grouped into Kachru’s Expanding Circle, English is taught as a foreign language and for instrumental purposes such as better job opportunities, financial, and academic rewards in Turkey. With the latest developments in the English Language Teaching field such as accepting English as an International Language, English language teaching in Turkey as in many other countries has started to seek other routes to follow. However, in general, the objective of foreign language education in Turkish educational institutions is to “enable students to gain listening, reading, speaking and writing skills, to communicate in that language and to develop positive attitudes towards foreign language education in compliance with the general objectives and fundamental principles of the National Education” (Ministry of National Education, 2006, article 5). The developments in the ELT world have influenced the Turkish education system and the language policy of Turkey has undergone changes in line with the global trends in foreign language teaching (Bayyurt, 2013; Doğançay-Aktuna, 1998). English, which has been the most commonly taught language since the 1950s, has 16 gained importance in the 20th century as a key to better career prospects. In the Turkish Education system, English was included as a compulsory subject in the primary school curriculum in 1998. It became compulsory in primary schools from 4th grade onwards after the educational reform in 1997 (Bayyurt, 2006; Kırkgöz, 2007). According to this regulation, fourth and fifth grade students took two hours of English while sixth, seventh and eighth graders received four hours of English classes per week (Acar, 2004). In 2012, the compulsory education in Turkey was extended to 12 years with this 12-year period of education divided into 4 years of primary school, 4 years of middle school, and 4 years of high school education (referred to as “4+4+4”). At present, primary school students start taking foreign-language courses in second grade and they receive two hours of language instruction per week in second, third and fourth grades (See Table 1). When they start middle-school, the hours of language classes per week increase to three in the fifth and sixth grades, and four in the seventh and eighth grades (Ministry of National Education, 2013). The hours of foreign language instruction at high schools change depending on the type of the school. Private schools start providing English language instruction in first grade for three to four hours per week, and in second grade, the hours of English language instruction increase to twice the hours in state schools (Selvi, 2014). In commenting on the amount of time devoted to English instruction, Kırkgöz (2009) points out the following: In Turkey, the extent of the impact of the global influence of English can be seen clearly on the adoption of English as a medium of instruction at secondary levels and high level education and its inclusion in the school 17 curriculum as a compulsory subject through the planned policy, which has given it prominence over the other foreign languages available. (p. 667) Table 1 Weekly Compulsory Foreign Language Classes of some Public Secondary Schools Type of High Schools 9th grade Hours/week 10th grade 11th grade 12th grade Hours/week Hours/week Hours/week Mainstream High Schools (Genel Liseler) 3 2 2 2 Anatolian High Schools (Anadolu Liseleri) 6 4 4 4 Science High Schools (Fen Liseleri) 7 3 3 3 Social Sciences High Schools (Sosyal Bilimler Liseleri) 6 3 3 3 Sports and Fine Arts High Schools (Spor ve Güzel Sanatlar Liseleri) 3 2 2 2 6 4 4 4 Anatolian Teacher Training High Schools (Anadolu Öğretmen Liseleri) Based on [Ministry of National Education, 2014. Haftalık Ders Çizelgeleri, pp.1-17] The English- medium instruction in the Turkish tertiary education was first conducted in Middle East Technical University founded in 1956, in Ankara and it was Bilkent University, founded in 1984, which pioneered the English language instruction in Turkish private foundation universities. With the growing need to learn English to be able to access scientific and technological information, in 1984 the Higher Education Act was passed in order to launch a steady language policy for English medium instruction in Turkish higher education (Kırkgöz, 2009). 18 With Turkey’s attempts to become a member of the European Union, English has gained much more importance and thus many universities has made English the medium of instruction (Bayyurt, 2013). Today, most of the universities in Turkey employ English as the medium of instruction and others include English language as a compulsory component of the curriculum which emphasizes the necessity of English language competence. The number of the universities providing English medium instruction increased substantially. Although there were only 5 universities out of 56 which provided English medium instruction in 1995, the number of universities increased to 77 in 2006 and they mainly offered courses in English language (Kırkgöz, 2009). According to the data received from the website of Higher Education Council (n.d.), there are, currently, 104 public and 72 private higher education institutions in Turkey. A great majority of these institutions puts big emphasis on English language teaching. The medium of instruction in most of them is English and most of these universities offer one year of intensive English preparatory class education to the incoming students before they proceed to their departments if their students cannot pass the language proficiency exam administered before the academic term started. As Selvi (2011) stated, “Whether it is spoken as a first, second or foreign language across the globe, English is truly a global phenomenon that has a wide spectrum of impacts; and Turkey is no exception in this respect” (p.183). Since English is the language which is most needed to communicate across-nations, and therefore, English language competence is one of the vital job requirements in present-day Turkey, English is the language which is given a high value and offered commonly in educational settings in Turkey. 19 A publication by the Higher Education Council (2007) demonstrating the place of English language in Turkish educational policies says that: In Turkey, intending to increase its competitiveness in this globalized world and to be a part of EU, it is required to enable students to graduate from university knowing at least one foreign language. This is a minimum condition… It is insufficient for universities to direct their language education channels to teach only one language (English) to their students. To learn more than one language should be encouraged. In this regard, universities can think of such ways as improving language preparatory classes and instructing some other subjects in the foreign language. Teaching one foreign language is a conservative goal. If students are competent in one foreign language, universities should encourage them to learn the second one. (pp.188-189) As indicated earlier, the Turkish government supports English-medium instruction. It is also evident in the policies of the Turkish government that English has already been included in the compulsory language teaching and now it is aimed to equip students with a second foreign language competency. Culture Explaining the underlying reason why there are so many definitions of culture in the literature, Williams (1983) said that “Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language” (p. 87). Each discipline sees culture from a different perspective and the complexity causing different viewpoints lie in the nature of culture itself (Moran, 2001). Lustig and Koester (1999) define culture as “a learned set of shared interpretations about beliefs, values, and norms, which affect the behaviors of a 20 relatively large group of people” (p.30). According to Kramsch (1998), culture is a “membership in a discourse community that shares a common social space and history, and common imaginings” (p. 10). Similar to Chastain (1988) who uses the words “the way people live” (p. 302) to refer to culture, Brown (2000) mentions culture as “a way of life” (p. 176). Liddicoat, Papademetre, Scarino and Kohler (2003) offer a comprehensive definition which includes the ideas of many other researchers. They define culture as “a complex system of concepts, attitudes, values, beliefs, conventions, behaviors, practices, rituals and lifestyles of the people who make up a cultural group, as well as the artefacts they produce and the institutions they create” (p.45). As all these definitions of culture suggest, culture determines our perceptions, reactions to situations, and relationships with other people (Hall and Hall, 1990; Rodriguez 1999). It affects our way of thinking, behaving and viewing the world (Peoples & Bailey, 2009). To summarize, one can say that “There is not one aspect of human life that is not touched and altered by culture” (Hall, 1959, p. 169). Although culture includes many elements, according to Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010), there are five main components of a culture which distinguish it from others. These elements are history, religion, values, social organizations and language. A shared history helps the people of a culture shape their identity and behavior. The influence of religion can be seen in every aspect of culture, and values are the features what make a culture specific by determining the appropriate ways of behaving. Social organizations such as family and government reflect our culture, and language is the other feature what enables a culture to exist by helping its transmission. Culture is learned, shared, transmitted from generation to generation, 21 based on symbols, dynamic and an integrated system (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). Culture continues to exist in a community thanks to all these characteristics. It is possible to state that there are different practices in different societies in terms of the aforementioned components of culture. These differences form unique cultural values which are almost impossible to be anticipated by the members of other societies with other cultural backgrounds. However, people from different cultures need to communicate with each other and it is important not to have miscommunications and misunderstandings. In this age of globalization, people from different regions of the world communicate with each other much more than they did before. To be able to have good relations and not to disappoint each other, people are expected to develop a kind of competence which can help them understand each other. This competence is called either Intercultural Dimension (Byram, Gribkova, & Starkey, 2002), Intercultural Competence or Intercultural Communicative Competence (Fantini, 2000). Intercultural Communicative Competence Even though the term intercultural communicative competence, “intercultural competence, or ICC, for short,” (p. 26) is widely used today, researchers have different opinions on what it means (Fantini, 2000). According to Fantini and Tirmizi (2006), everyone develops a kind of communicative competence (CC) in their native language which enables them to communicate with the people sharing the same culture without having significant misunderstandings. When someone learns another language and needs to communicate with the people speaking that language and having different cultural values, this person needs to develop another communicative competence for this new situation, which researchers name as “intercultural” communicative competence 22 (Fantini & Tirmizi, 2006). Intercultural competence together with learners’ linguistic, sociolinguistic and discourse competence form intercultural communicative competence (Byram, 1997). Learners with an ICC can link the knowledge of the other culture to their language competence through their ability to use language appropriately. Fantini (2003) gives one definition of ICC as “the complex of abilities needed to perform effectively and appropriately when interacting with others who are linguistically and culturally different from oneself” (p. 1). In Deardoff’s (2006) research, whose data were collected from intercultural scholars through the Delphi study, the top-rated definition from among nine definitions of intercultural competence was “the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in intercultural situations based on one’s intercultural knowledge, skills, and attitudes” (pp. 247-248). Intercultural communicative competence expects people to be able to communicate with others from different cultural backgrounds and this requires them both to keep their individual self and have multiple identities at the same time (Byram, Gribkova & Starkey, 2002). This competency is all about the ability to communicate effectively with the people of other cultures and accomplish tasks in those cultures or with the people of those cultures (Moran, 2001). Therefore, it requires people to be able to look at themselves from a different perspective, and assess their own behaviour, value and beliefs like an outsider (Byram & Zarate, 1997). According to Wiseman (2002), ICC is not innate; there are some preconditions such as knowledge, skills and motivation, or attitudes as called by Byram, Gribkova, and Starkey (2002), needed to develop intercultural competency. 23 Knowledge refers to the necessary information about other cultures. To be able to have good relations with the members of other cultures, one needs to be aware of the differences that exist in his/her own and the other cultures, and should know about the rules governing those people’s behaviors. Skills are about the performance of the behaviors. People having the necessary knowledge are expected to behave appropriately in different cultures. However, having the necessary knowledge and skills is not enough to be interculturally competent. Motivation, or attitudes, which includes feelings and perceptions, affects one’s openness to engage in intercultural communication. Dislikes or prejudice also affect people’s decisions and behaviors. Therefore, all three of these components are necessary to be competent at intercultural communications and it is possible to learn or improve them through education, experience and practice. Language and Culture “Language and culture, it could be said, represent two sides of the same coin” (Nault, 2006, p. 314). There are many researchers who support the idea that there is a close relationship between language and culture (e.g., Brown, 2000; Sardi, 2002). Among those researchers, Liddicoat, Papademetre, Scarino and Kohler (2003) believe that language and culture are so interrelated with each other that in each level of language there is a dependence on culture. Suggesting “a language is a part of a culture, and a culture is a part of a language; the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without losing the significance of either language or culture”(p. 177), Brown (2000) supports the same thought of Liddicoat et al. (2003). 24 Culture in English Language Teaching The language people speak is associated with the idea of a road map proposed by Fantini (2000), who suggests that the language people speak both affects and reflects their world view by determining their perceptions, interpretations, thoughts and expressions. The knowledge people socially acquire is organized in culture specific ways and it shapes one’s perception of reality and world view says Alptekin (1993). He adds that “language has no function independently of the social contexts in which it is used” (p. 141). Similarly, according to Byram (1989), the denotations and connotations that exist in a language are among the things which create the culture and keep it together; therefore, it is necessary to teach culture along with its language. Cunningsworth (1995) summarizes these arguments saying that, “a study of language solely as an abstract system would not equip learners to use it in the real world” (p.86). Like many other researchers, Fenner (2000) postulates that learning a new language should increase learners’ “cultural knowledge, competence and awareness” (p. 142), so that they can understand the foreign culture in a better way, as well as their own culture. In addition to the language itself, to become successful language users, learners also need to be familiar with the culture of the language (Tseng, 2002). Representing a major argument in the literature, Sardi (2002) mentions that “culture and language are inseparable, therefore, English cannot be taught without its culture (or, given the geographical position of English, cultures)” (p. 101). According to the proponents of this view, just as children acquire their mother tongue together with its culture, learners of a foreign or second language should follow the same route, or they will face "an empty frame of language" (Sardi, 2002, p.102). 25 The proponents of the traditional view favor teaching languages according to the native speaker norms (McKay, 2003); hence they assert that it is the target language culture what should be taught in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) or English as a Second Language (ESL) context. However, as the non-native speakers of English outnumber the native English speakers, ELT professionals have been questioning some practices of ELT more carefully. Jenkins (2006) states that even though people learn English as a foreign language, they end up using it as a lingua franca. Similarly, McKay (2003) mentions that English has been “denationalized” and it is not appropriate to think of it in a relation to a specific country. In 1987, Smith in discussing the denationalization of English accurately noted that “English already represents many cultures and it can be used by anyone as a means to express any cultural heritage and any value system” (as cited in Alptekin, 1993, p. 140). Graddol (2006) states that language learners are not interested in native speakers’ cultures anymore as they need English in order to be able to communicate in international contexts rather than for communications with native speakers of the language. This notion that interactions of English language learners mostly occur in international contexts suggests that language learners do not need to follow the norms of a typical variety of English. Being one of the professionals questioning the practices of ELT, Erling (2005) emphasizes that some of the ELT practices require change and the focus of the ELT world which is predominantly on the inner circle needs to shift towards the values of the other circles. In this way it will serve the necessities of the present day in which English spoken by non-native speakers is mostly used in intercultural communications and among people with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. 26 As McKay (2003) puts it, English is a world language; therefore, all the world cultures must be included in an effective English language teaching. Considering the worldwide usage of English, the cultural content of the language taught at schools should not be confined to the countries mentioned in Kachru’s inner circle. The content of language teaching materials, the selection of teaching methodology and the concept of the ideal teacher should not be based on native speaker norms. Besides learners' local culture, other world cultures should be included in the teaching process. Teachers' and learners' expectations from the teaching and learning of English should also be considered. According to Bayyurt (2013), educational policies should be developed in accordance with the international status of English because the worldwide status of English today makes it a necessity to teach English as an international language (EIL), and develop appropriate materials. Bayyurt (2013) emphasizes that “it should be noted that an international language does not belong to a certain country or culture” and “its use as a local language must not be ignored” (p.75). Learning English in a multicultural world does not mean to achieve nativelike competence, but instead it necessitates gaining intercultural understanding which is required to negotiate meaning across cultures (Ho, 2009). To become an “intercultural speaker,” learners are expected to develop “competences which enable them to mediate/interpret the values, beliefs and behaviours (the ‘cultures’) of themselves and of others and to ‘stand on the bridge’ or indeed ‘be the bridge’ between people of different languages and cultures” (Byram, 2006, p.1). Jung (2010) emphasizes that non-native English speakers mostly have communications with other non-native speakers rather than the native speakers of English and the cultures of non-native speakers are all different from each other. 27 Therefore, if non-native speakers of English do not want to experience communication problems, they need to be aware of the differences exist in different cultures and have positive attitudes towards these differences, learn as much as possible about different cultures and become interculturally competent which requires them to be able to judge their behavior, value and beliefs like an outsider (Byram & Zarate, 1997). However, as Kramsch (1993) states that although most of the researchers agree that culture should be a component of English language classes, it does not receive the attention it deserves. As Berns (2005) mentions, most of the studies on English language teaching has been conducted in inner and outer circle countries and this indicates that more research on ELT is required to be done in expanding circle countries in order to contribute to the teaching of English as a world language in those countries. Student Attitudes in Language Teaching Attitude is explained by Gardner (1985) as individuals’ evaluative responses, which are in line with their beliefs, opinions and values, to the situations. Montano and Kasprzyk (2008) also mention that it is the beliefs of individuals that determine their attitude. According to Montano and Kasprzyk (2008): Thus, a person who holds strong beliefs that positively valued outcomes will result from performing the behavior will have a positive attitude toward the behavior. Conversely, a person who holds strong beliefs that negatively valued outcomes will result from the behavior will have a negative attitude. (p.71) Wenden (1991), who offers a more comprehensive definition of attitude, mentions that there are three components: cognitive, affective and behavioral. The beliefs and thoughts of individuals are categorized into the cognitive part of the 28 attitude whereas the affective part is considered to consist of feelings and emotions which demonstrate the choice of likes or dislikes of individuals. As its name suggests the behavioral part is about the tendency to employ the learning behaviors. In today’s world, it is vital to have the knowledge of a common language in order to be in connection with other countries and language learning is not just about the mental ability or language skills of the learners. It also has psychological and social facets and is affected by the perception, motivation and attitudes of the learners towards language learning (Padwick, 2010). It is learners’ attitudes that form their beliefs about the language and influence their behaviors; therefore, learner attitudes are extremely important in language learning (Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Students' attitudes towards the language will either smooth the progress of language learning or impede it (Bayyurt, 2013). It becomes an unattainable goal to teach that language in that context if learners do not have positive attitudes towards the language or the teaching context. Similarly, De Bot and Verspoor (2005) assert that learners’ positive attitude facilitates their learning, whereas negative attitudes decrease the learners’ language learning motivation. It is pointless to try to teach a language if the learners do not possess positive attitudes towards it (Gardner, 1985). Exploring the attitudes towards the target language or the materials to be employed in teaching is, therefore, essential to promote an effective language teaching environment. De Bot and Verspoor (2005) also state that learners’ attitudes should be considered in language teaching as it affects their performance in learning the language. As Bayyurt (2013) emphasizes “Study of the relationship between attitudes and learning will contribute to the development of foreign language teaching methods and materials appropriate for specific student groups exhibiting specific attitudes” (p.72). 29 It is assumed that there is a relationship between the language success and the attitudes towards the target culture (Prodromou, 1992). Therefore, attitudes towards other cultures have a big importance in language teaching. (Byram, 2008). MantleBromley (1997) mentions that learners with positive attitudes appear to be more motivated which increase their willingness to learn in language classes. She states that if teachers want to develop students’ cultural competence, they need to be careful about the cultural attitudes of the students as they play a big role in students’ behaviors. Mantle-Bromley (1997) explains that Gardner’s (as cited in MantleBromley, 1997) study emphasizes the significance of attitudes by revealing that the attitudes towards the language and its speakers affect students’ motivation to learn the language. Students’ attitudes determine their success in language classes either by inhibiting or improving their language learning (Mantle-Bromley, 1997). Baker (1992) suggests that it is not one variable which forms the language attitude but there are a number of variables taking part in the formation of an attitude such as gender, age and language background. If learners possess negative attitudes towards any kind of teaching attempts, that language policy will probably be unsuccessful. As Richards, Platt and Platt (1992) assert it is obvious that language attitudes affect language learning; therefore, the measurement of language attitudes offers valuable information for language teaching and planning. Studies on Cultural Attitudes in Language Teaching and Learning Culture is a broad concept attracting the attention of researchers from different fields such as anthropology and education. As language is accepted to be highly related to culture, the studies on culture have been given importance in ELT, too. The foci of the studies conducted in ELT have been mainly on the attitudes towards teaching and learning about culture. 30 Prodromou (1992) conducted a survey to test the hypotheses about the importance of cultural background, cultural foreground, cross-cultural understanding and multicultural diversity, and English language teaching as education. In order to obtain the views of the students, a questionnaire was administered to 300 Greek EFL students. One third of the students were at the beginner level and the others were intermediate or advanced. Different level of language ability was included to check possible differentiation of attitudes towards the use of mother tongue in the lessons. Prodromou (1992) formulated five questions: two of them were about bilingual/ bicultural teachers while the other two were about the native speaker models of the language. The last question asked students about the specific kind of content that they would like to be taught with in their English lessons. The results revealed that just over half of the students wanted their teachers to know their mother tongue and know about their local culture. The answer to the which ‘model’ of English the students wished to learn was British English and it was followed by American and then the option of other. Sixty-two percent of the students expressed that they would like to speak English like a native speaker. Prodromou (1992) speculated that this may have been because of the teachers and stated: In trying to get students to speak with an English accent we are in some way invading their cultural space, in a way which does not apply to grammar or vocabulary. Students are often ‘educated’ into adopting certain attitudes by the way they are taught: the fact that most teachers still ignore or neglect pronunciation may have something to do with students’ perception of pronunciation as relatively unimportant. (p. 45) 31 Finally, the results of the focus of language teaching revealed that “facts about science and society” was the most highly rated item. It was followed by “social problems,” “British life, institutions,” “English/American literature,” “Culture of other countries,” “Political problems,” “Experiences of students,” “Greek life, institutions,” and “American life, institutions,” respectively. Prodromou (1992) noted that Greek students were interested in British life and institutions but not American culture and it might have been because of the British-based examinations and their backwash effect. The researcher also concluded that there is “quite a strong association in learners’ minds between learning a language and learning about the people who speak that language” (p.46). This study also showed that the wish to become familiar with the target language culture increases in accordance with the proficiency levels. Therefore, the researcher concluded that including cultural information in the language teaching can be decided according to the proficiency levels of the students. Atay et al. (2009) conducted a study in Turkey called “The Role of Intercultural Competence in Foreign Language Teaching” to reveal language teachers’ attitudes towards teaching intercultural competence. Atay et al.’s (2009) study sought answers for the following questions: “What are the opinions and attitudes of Turkish EFL teachers regarding the role of intercultural competence in teaching a foreign language?” and “To what extent can Turkish EFL teachers incorporate classroom practices related to culture teaching?” The participants of the study were 503 Turkish teachers of English from different regions of Turkey, who were selected randomly from primary, secondary and tertiary levels and teaching either at private or state schools. The data were collected between the 2007-2009 academic years by means of a questionnaire developed by Sercu, Bandura, Castro, 32 Davcheva, Laskaridou, Lundgren, Mendez, García, and Ryan (as cited in Atay et al., 2009). The results of the study showed that Turkish teachers of English had positive attitudes towards the role of culture in foreign language education; however, they did not frequently carry out the mentioned practices focusing on culture teaching in their classrooms. In their case study, Jabeen and Shah (2011) analyzed the attitudes of Pakistani students of Government College University in Faisalabad, towards target culture learning. The findings revealed that students have negative attitudes towards target culture learning; they wanted to learn target language in local culture contexts. The researchers stated that learners’ negative attitude towards target culture learning may also affect their attitude towards learning the language itself if policy makers insist on teaching target culture. Most of the studies looking at the attitudes toward integrating culture into ELT inform us that both teachers and students are in favor of teaching/learning culture in ELT; however, this study reveals another view on the topic and shows that some learners do not want to be exposed to target culture. Kahraman (2008) conducted a study with 10 male and 12 female Turkish university students studying at the English Language and Literature Department of Dumlupinar University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. His study aimed to reveal the views of learners on culture learning and to compare and contrast them with the existing beliefs about culture teaching in ELT. Kahraman (2008) collected his data through a Likert type questionnaire in which all the participants were asked 12 questions. The results of the study showed that the participants were not sure whether they were culturally competent or not and they also stated that they do not posses enough knowledge about the daily cultural habits of the target language speakers. Ninety point nine percent of the participants agreed on the desirability of teaching 33 cultural aspects in language teaching but it decreased to 63.7% when the question was focused upon a specific one, namely English culture. However, the students, in general, viewed culture learning as an indivisible part of language learning and they were interested in learning more about the target language culture. Hence, Kahraman (2008) concluded: We believe that now we are not facing a group of learners who resist or reluctant to culture learning. But the other way round, there are, awaiting learners who are fully aware of their dire need for new cultural knowledge and ready to receive and incorporate this knowledge as a complementary component of their communicative competence. (p. 9) Çalışkan (2009) aimed to investigate the attitudes of English preparatory students at Çankaya University towards learning the target culture in English language classes and to explore whether factors such as sex, age, the types of high schools from which the participating students had graduated and their having been in the USA or England, where English is the native language, had any influence on students’ attitudes. Çalışkan (2009) adopted her study’s questionnaire from Okan Önalan’s instrument used for his master study at METU in 2005. The data were collected from intermediate level students at Çankaya University Preparatory School in 2009. Out of 95 participants, 51 students were female and 44 male. Most of the students’ ages were between 19 and 20. Six of the participating students had been to England and 4 of them had been to the USA. The findings of the study revealed that most of the participants had a positive attitude towards target culture learning in English language classes. The difference between the mean scores of students’ thoughts on the inclusion of cultural elements in language classrooms regarding the schools from which they graduated and their having been abroad was not significant. 34 However, students’ age and gender played a significant role in their attitudes towards target culture learning. Female participants proved to be more positive to learning culture in English language classes, and the younger the student, the more positive her/his attitude was towards learning the target culture. As for the materials used to introduce cultural information, the order was as it follows: video films and documentaries, discussions of cultural experiences, newspapers and magazines, daily used articles such as menus and tickets, novels and short stories, course books, pictures and posters. That is, the findings of the study revealed that students most strongly wanted to be introduced to cultural information via video films and documentaries. Pictures and posters were the least favourite culture learning materials according to the study. Course books also came sixth on this list suggesting that the participating students were not that motivated to see cultural components through the content of course books. In another study carried out in Turkey, Devrim (2006) aimed to reveal the opinions of the Turkish English language learners on the role of culture in teaching English as a foreign language. Emphasizing that there is no appropriate instrument to assess students’ attitudes, Devrim (2006) developed a questionnaire to collect data for his thesis. Some of the sections of the questionnaire were about “reasons why the students are learning English,” “content of English learning classes,” “language teaching textbooks” and “cultural elements.” A Likert technique was employed in the first five sections of the questionnaire in order to explore the opinions of the students; however, there were also two sub-sections in which students were required to rank their preferences. In order to reveal participating students’ opinions about the inclusion of target language culture in English language classes, Devrim (2006) also included an open-ended question on his questionnaire. The questionnaire was 35 administered to three hundred and eighty five senior Anatolian High School students in five different high schools in three different cities in Turkey (Edirne, Istanbul, and Diyarbakir) during the academic year of 2005-2006. The results of the study revealed that learning English for instrumental purposes such as finding work after graduation from university, using the internet and being able to speak to foreigners were the most important reasons for learning English. The participants associated English with the British culture the most and it was followed by the American culture. As for the topics to be included in teaching materials, students preferred international topics such as sociology, technology, world history, and science. They were neutral on political issues. The participating students also agreed on the inclusion of life and culture in the USA and UK, and in other countries where English is the native language, as well as Turkey; however, they were neutral on the items about life and culture in countries where English is an official language and in countries where English is a foreign language. Learning about the similarities and differences between English speaking countries and Turkish culture was identified as being one of the most interesting topics for the participating students. Students’ answers to the open ended question asking whether the target language culture should be included in English language teaching varied. The ones who disagreed on the inclusion of the target culture stated “cultural imperialism” and “the importance of preserving their own identity and culture” as the reasons for their opposition. The others who showed partial agreement were of the opinion that target language culture should be introduced without details in order not to impose it and affect students’ own cultural values. Lastly, as mentioned by Devrim (2006), the participants who agreed on target language culture teaching mostly mentioned the following reasons: 36 language and culture cannot be separated from each other, learning about “target language culture” is essential to have enough information about native English speaking countries and compare it with Turkish culture, and interest and motivation towards learning English might increase by learning about the “target language culture.” (p.56) As the studies focusing on the opinions or attitudes of learners are limited in literature, Devrim (2006)’s research bears real importance in the field of ELT in Turkey. However, as Devrim (2006) mentioned in his discussion of the limitations of his study, the selected schools of his study were the ones which were accessible to him, and therefore, the results were not generalizable to the general student population of Turkey. He suggested his study should be replicated with different populations at a different time to ensure the consistency of his findings. Together with Çalışkan’s (2009) research, Devrim’s (2006) study constituted a model in the formation of the current study. The present study, however, focuses on the attitudes of university preparatory class students instead of high school students and it was implemented in seven different universities to make the findings more generalizable to the broader student population of Turkey. Factors that may Influence Student Attitudes towards Learning ICC In looking at studies focusing on attitudes, there are several specific factors that are anticipated to have an effect on people’s attitudes. Similarly, for studies related to English language learners’cultural attitudes, it is reasonable to consider some factors such as gender, reasons for learning English, English proficiency levels, majors, and the medium of instruction in their departments may also influence student attitudes. 37 Gender is one of the most common factors that appear in attitudinal research. Uzum’s (2007) study demonstrated that female participants were more interested in “the cultural products of target societies” (p. 91) compared to the males. Uzum (2007) suggested that this difference “could be explained with female students’ openness to other cultures” (p. 91). Çalışkan (2009) also investigated the role of gender in students’ attitudes towards target culture learning. The findings of her study revealed that female students had more positive attitudes towards learning culture in English language classes. Reasons for learning English is another factor which is frequently included in ELT related studies. Reasons for learning English are often categorized as students’ motivation types and as Brown (2000) mentions, motivation in ELT is frequently divided into two groups: instrumental and integrative motivation. As there are different opinions on the distinction between motivation types in the literature, defining motivation and studying its relationship with attitude is one of the problems existing in the ELT world (Uzum, 2007). Instrumental motivation is defined as the “desire to learn a language in order to attain certain career, educational, or financial goals” whereas integrative motivation is explained as the “desire to learn a language stemming from a positive affect toward a community of its speakers” (Brown, 2000, p.75). In other words, instrumentally motivated learners are considered more concerned with the practical gains while integratively motivated learners are more interested in interacting with other people who speak that language. However, there is also another type of motivation which is referred to as personal motivation, which is about personal development or satisfaction (Cooper & Fishman, 1977). The personal reasons for learning English are related to “Pleasure at being able to read English and enjoyment of entertainment in English” (Benson, 1991, p.36). The 38 reasons for learning English of the participants of this study are categorized into these three aforementioned motivation types. In his study, Devrim (2006) investigated students’ goals for learning English and his findings revealed that learning English for instrumental purposes was the most important reason for the participants of his research. Uzum’s (2007) study showed that his participants were “instrumentally oriented towards learning English” (p.74), hence, Uzum (2007) mentioned that this orientation might facilitate students’ learning process. Brown (2000) states that if a language learner has the appropriate motivation, it is possible to say that he/she will succeed. Considering the importance of students’ motivation types that is mentioned in the relevant literature, the relationship between students’ motivation types, reasons for learning English, and their attitudes towards learning ICC is investigated in the current study. English proficiency levels is another factor whose effect on student attitudes has been studied and proven to be significant in previous research. Prodromou (1992) is one of the researchers who studied the effect of language proficieny levels on student attitudes and he concluded that students’ desire to get to know the target language culture increases in line with the proficiency levels. In order to reveal the effect of English language proficiency levels on Turkish EFL learners’ attitutudes towards learning ICC, proficiency levels are included as a factor in the current study. Students’ academic majors might also shape student attitudes towards learning ICC by determining their use of English. Although there is no direct research studying the effect of majors on student attitudes, it is sensible to assume that the departments that the students are studying in might influence their attitude formation. If they are studying a subject which does not require English language use as a job requirement, this might result in students’ reluctance to learn ICC. However, 39 if they are educated to work in an area in which English is a must, it might increase their motivation towards learning about other cultures and improving their ICC. In order to reveal if there are any differences in student attitudes studying in different departments, majors are also included as a factor to investigate in the current study. The medium of instruction in students’ departments is the other factor that is anticipated to affect student attitudes. While there is no direct research on students’ attitudes based upon the language of instruction, it is realistic to think that students’ motivation to learn English might be affected by its importance for successfully completing coursework required for their degree. It might be reasonable to expect that students taking all of their courses in English, might have different levels of motivation from those where a much smaller percentage of their coursework is conducted in English. Conclusion This chapter presented the literature about teaching language and culture. Integrating culture into ELT has been receiving attention from the researchers for quite a while; however, teaching intercultural communicative competence has not been clarified. Before preparing the materials including the cultures of different countries and integrating teaching ICC into curriculum, it is important to know about the attitudes of teachers and students to avoid facing extreme objections or experiencing any decrease in student success in language classes. The review of the literature shows that teacher attitudes towards teaching ICC have been studied, but student attitudes need more attention. The next chapter of the present study focusing on the attitudes of EFL learners towards learning ICC, will present the methodology used, explaining the participants, instruments and data analysis. 40 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY Introduction This study aims to investigate the attitudes of students towards learning intercultural communicative competence (ICC). The study also seeks to find out whether there is a relationship between the attitudes of students and their gender, reasons for learning English, English proficiency levels, their majors or the medium of instruction in their departments. The study specifically aims to answer the following research questions: 1. What are the attitudes of Turkish university preparatory class students towards learning intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in EFL classrooms? 2. What is the relationship between students’ attitudes towards learning ICC and each of the following factors? a. Gender b. Reasons for learning English c. English proficiency levels d. Majors e. The medium of instruction in their departments Before focusing on the data analysis, this chapter presents the methodological procedures for the study. First, the background of the methodology for this study is introduced. Then, the participants of the study and the setting in which the study was carried out are explained. Last, the instruments for the data collection and the procedures for how the data were collected and analyzed are presented. 41 Participants and Setting This study was conducted in seven different universities in Turkey: Anadolu, Akdeniz, Ataturk, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart, Istanbul, Karadeniz Technical, and Middle East Technical University. These universities were selected as they are located in different regions of Turkey and every year they accept a large body of students coming from various parts of the country. As each university is assumed to have students with different cultural backgrounds, these universities are expected to represent the general student population studying in English preparatory classes in Turkey. A total of 700 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to the participating universities and 508 were returned complete, and used in the analysis (See Table 2). Table 2 Completed Questionnaires Returned from each Participating Institution Anadolu University Akdeniz University Atatürk University Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Istanbul University Karadeniz Technical University Middle East Technical University 76 98 72 71 104 43 44 Most of 508 participants aged between 17 and 22 (See Table 3). Table 3 Age Distribution of Participants 17-22 96.9% 23-27 12% above 27 4% The number of the male participants (N= 290) is a little higher than the number of the female participants (N= 218) (See Figure 2). 42 Figure 2. Gender of Participants. This figure illustrates the distribution of participating students’ gender. The initial intent of the study was to administer the questionnaire to participants from five different proficiency levels in each university. However, there were not any elementary or advanced level students in the participating universities when this study was conducted. Therefore, the English proficiency levels of the participating students were either pre-intermediate (20.9%), intermediate (49.8%), or upper-intermediate (29.3%). Almost half of the participants were studying in departments in the social sciences (N= 250) and the other half were in departments in the faculty of natural sciences (N= 257). Participants were asked to characterize the medium of instruction for courses in their departments by choosing among 100% Turkish, 100% English, 70% English, and 30% English medium instruction (See Table 4). Table 4 The Medium of Instruction of Participants 100% Turkish 100% English 70% English 30% English 49 students 97 students 31 students 331 students 43 The vast majority of the participants had not left the country for any reason (N= 434), and the number of the participating students who had any kind of overseas experience was 73. Turkish was stated to be the mother tongue by the great majority of the participants (491 students). Other 17 participants’ mother tongues were one of the following languages: Kurdish, French, German, Azerbaijani, Arabic, Turkmen and the Uzbek language, but they could also speak Turkish. Instruments A survey was developed for this study by the researcher by adapting the items used in various different studies (See Appendix A & B). The items used in Devrim (2006) and Çalışkan’s (2009) master’s theses, which examine Turkish high school students’ opinions of the role of “culture” in learning English and the attitudes of English preparatory class students towards learning the target culture respectively, were used as the core of the questionnaire of the present study. While specific items (Section 1, Items 1, 3, 4, 5, 6; Section 2; Section 3, Item 9; Section 4, Items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 14) were adapted from Devrim’s (2006) instrument, some items were adapted from Çalışkan’s (2009) study (Section 3, Items 5, 8, 10, 12, 13, 17, 18; Section 4, Items 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17 and Section 5). The rest of the items were either adapted from Uzum’s (2007) thesis focusing on Turkish learners’ attitudes towards English language and English speaking societies (Section 1, Items 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11; Section 3, Item 1), or added by the researcher by adapting the statements which appear in theoretical works related to the role of English and culture learning in EFL classes. To reduce the possibility of misunderstanding, the questionnaire was given to the participants in their native language, which is Turkish. Both English and Turkish versions of Devrim (2006), Çalışkan (2009) and Uzum’s (2007) questionnaires were 44 available; hence, translation of the items adapted from them did not constitute a problem. The questionnaire was four pages long and it was estimated to take approximately 15 minutes to finish responding to the items. The questionnaire consisted of six sections. In the first section, the participants were asked to respond to the five point Likert-scale items questioning their reasons for learning English. The second and third sections were about learning English and its culture. Section 2 required students to rank the given items which asked what culture came to their minds when they thought of English (British, American or different world cultures). Section 3 consisted of five point Likert-scale items and it constituted the core of this study. It intended to reveal students’ attitudes towards learning English and its culture. The questions were clustered into three scales: the status of English language, students’ opinions about communicative competence (CC), and student attitudes towards learning intercultural communicative competence (ICC). Section 4 and 5 were about materials for teaching culture in English language classes. In Section 4, five point Likert-scale items asked participants whether the several topics were included in their English language textbooks or teaching materials. The given items were intended to reveal students’ cultural preferences (American, British, local, or world cultures), and their interest in cultural elements such as customs and traditions, literature and art, and issues related to politics. Section 5 examined with what kind of materials or activities the students would prefer to be introduced to cultural information. The participants were required to rank their top three choices among the given eight options by writing the numbers next to the items starting with “1” as most important. In the last part of the questionnaire, Section 6, students were asked for demographic information such as their gender, majors and the medium of instruction in their departments. The 45 information received from this part was used to see whether there were any relations between these factors and the students’ attitudes. Data Collection Methods and Procedure The data collection procedure started with asking for and receiving permission. Either the administrations of the schools of foreign languages of the participating universities or their ethics committees were contacted to receive official permission for administering the questionnaire at their institutions. Seven universities, Anadolu, Akdeniz, Ataturk, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart,Istanbul, Karadeniz Technical, and Middle East Technical University, out of eight requested, agreed to participate in the study. With the inclusion of the institution which refused to participate in this study, the number of the participants of the study would have increased and the validity of the study would increase as well. On the other hand, the university which refused to participate was a public institution as other participating universities and it was expected to have similar student population characteristics. Therefore, it is not anticipated that the data from this institution would lead the results of this study another direction. While the consent process was in progress, in order to collect information about the clarity of the survey items and to improve the questionnaire, several English language intsructors were asked to examine the questionnaire for content validity. After their valuable feedback, some of the items were reworded to make them more understandable. Also, a pilot study was conducted at Eskisehir Osmangazi University with 15 English preparatory class students. The researcher was present while students responded to the questionnaire and the participants informed the researcher about which items they felt were comprehensible and which were unclear. Minor adjustments were made on the items based on their feedback. 46 After the pilot study, the results for five point Likert-scale items in Section 3 were statistically analyzed to check the reliability. These items were intended to reveal students’ attitudes towards learning ICC which was at the core of this study. The value of the Cronbach’s Alpha of this first questionnaire was .707 which is considered as acceptable according to Fraenkel and Wallen (2003) who suggest if the reliability is .70 or above it shows consistency. Nevertheless, according to the results of the analysis, it was evident that by changing one item, the reliability could be improved. This item was therefore reworded and the questionnaire was finalized before being sent to the participants of the study. The Cronbach’s Alpha value of the final questionnaire used in the study was .788 which is considered to be reliable. Following the consent process, piloting and modifications of the instrument, the questionnaire was sent to Akdeniz, Ataturk, and Karadeniz Technical University to be administered. The researcher was present at the other participant universities which were Anadolu, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart, Istanbul, and Middle East Technical University while the study was carried out at these universities. The actual participating classes to which the questionnaire was administered were chosen at random by the universities’ management. After the questionnaires were completed in the institutions where the researcher was present, questionnaires were collected by the researcher. However, in the other three universities, the study was carried out with the help of vice managers contacted by the researcher at Atatürk and Karadeniz Technical Universities and an instructor of English at Akdeniz University. The sets of the questionnaires that were sent to these institutions were distributed to the classes, collected from them and sent back to the researcher by those people contacted. The data obtained were then coded for analysis purposes by the researcher. 47 Data Analysis In this study, a questionnaire consisting of two ranking questions, five point Likert-scale items, and several demographic questions was employed to gather the data. The analysis of the questionnaire was carried out by using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) 17.0 version. First, the data were coded and entered into SPSS. According to McKnight, McKnight, Sidani and Figueredo (2007), it is important not to delete the cases if the data are missing when carrying out analyses to look at the differences between groups of subjects. They state that deletion of cases, which would decrease the number of the samples, would also decrease the statistical power. McKnight, McKnight, Sidani and Figueredo (2007) suggest the substitution of missing values with the means of the groups in order to maintain the statistical power of the analyses. Therefore, instead of deleting the cases, the missing values of the present study were replaced with the group means. After the replacement of the missing values, descriptive statistics were obtained for each section. In addition to descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and regression were used to look at the relations among attitudes and other factors. In order to seek the effect of gender on student attitudes and to identify whether male and females’ responses to the items show any differences, independent samples T-test was carried out. This same analysis was used to reveal whether there was statistically significant difference among students’ attitudes towards learning ICC according to their majors (social sciences or natural sciences). In order to see whether proficiency levels of the students and the departmental medium of instruction made any difference in terms of students’ attitudes, one-way between subjects ANOVA was conducted. It is not possible to run t-test in order to compare the means of the groups if they are more than two; however, Analysis of Variance, or 48 ANOVA can make multiple comparisons (The Research Manual, 1991). If there are one dependent variable (such as student attitudes) and one independent variable with three or more levels (such as the medium of instruction with four levels which are 100% Turkish, and 30%, 70% or 100% English), one-way ANOVA can be used to compare the means across levels (The Research Manual, 1991). The researcher also ran regression to explore the relation, if any, between motivation types and student attitudes towards learning ICC. Since it was required to investigate the relationship of three independent variables (instrumental, integrative and personal motivation) with a dependent variable (student attitudes), t-test, which is used to compare the means of two groups, was not the appropriate procedure to run. Both ANOVA and regression focus on the variance in the dependent variable (Hatch & Lazaraton, 1991). However, ANOVA is used for descriptive rather than inferential purposes, whereas regression is “a way of predicting performance on the dependent variable” (Hatch & Lazaraton, 1991, p. 467) which enables the researcher to make inferences about the value of dependent variable based on the value of independent variables. Conclusion This chapter gave the general information about the participants, the instruments used to gather the data, the procedure followed during the study and how the data were analyzed. In the next chapter, the results of the data analysis will be discussed in detail. 49 CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS Introduction The aim of this study was to reveal the attitudes of EFL learners towards learning ICC in an EFL classroom context. The study also investigated whether there is a relationship between the attitudes of students and their reasons for learning English, their English proficiency levels, their majors or the medium of instruction in their departments. The study particularly sought to answer the following research questions: 1. What are the attitudes of Turkish university preparatory class students towards learning intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in EFL classrooms? 2. What is the relationship between students’ attitudes towards learning ICC and each of the following factors? a. Gender b. Reasons for learning English c. English proficiency levels d. Majors e. The medium of instruction in their departments In this chapter the findings of the survey will be presented and described in detail. Data Analysis Procedures The research was conducted in seven state universities located in different parts of Turkey: Anadolu, Akdeniz, Ataturk, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart, Istanbul, Karadeniz Technical, and Middle East Technical University. The sample of the study was comprised of 508 students, 218 females and 290 males. Their levels were between pre-intermediate, intermediate and upper-intermediate. A questionnaire 50 consisting of two ranking questions, five point Likert scale items, and several demographic questions was administered to gather the data for the study. All sections in the questionnaire were analyzed statistically and the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0 was used to compute frequencies and percentages of sections. The data analysis was carried out in several steps. In addition to descriptive statistics which were obtained for each section, t-test, ANOVA and regression were conducted to look at the relations among attitudes and other factors. Independent samples T-test was carried out in order to reveal the effect of gender on student attitudes and to discover whether there are any differences between male and females’ responses. This same analysis was used to seek whether students’ attitudes towards learning ICC show any difference according to their majors, namely social sciences and natural sciences. In order to explore any possible effects of students’ proficiency levels and the medium of instruction on students’ attitudes, one-way between subjects ANOVA was conducted. Finally, the researcher ran regression to seek the relation between reasons for learning English and student attitudes towards learning ICC. The results obtained from the analysis of the questionnaire are presented in two parts below. First, descriptive statistics for each section of the questionnaire are provided. Second, the participant factors which were anticipated having an effect on student attitudes like gender, reasons for learning English, English proficiency levels, majors, and the medium of instruction in students’ departments, were investigated to see whether there was a significant relationship between students’ attitudes and these factors. 51 Descriptive Statistics of Students’ Responses to the Questionnaire In this part, the findings of the survey will be presented in detail. There are five different sections in the questionnaire - reasons for learning English, the culture of English language, learning about the culture of English language, culture in English language teaching materials, materials and activities to be introduced to cultural information. Each will be presented separately. Reasons for Learning English In the first section of the questionnaire, participants were provided with 11 reasons for learning English and were asked to respond to them by choosing the appropriate option on the Likert scale (5=Definitely Yes, 4=Yes, 3=Undecided, 2=No, 1=Definitely No). When the data were analysed, it showed that the Cronbach’s Alpha value of the Reasons for Learning English section was .784 which suggested the consistency of results across items. For the analysis purposes, these 11 reasons for learning English were categorized under three motivation types: instrumental, integrative and personal. The Cronbach’s Alpha values for those scales were .669, .647, and .718, respectively. The descriptive statistics of the reasons for learning English show that instrumental type reasons for learning English has the highest mean ( 4.30) and it is followed by integrative reasons with a mean of 4.23. Personal reasons which is about “Pleasure at being able to read English and enjoyment of entertainment in English” (Benson, 1991, p.36), on the other hand, has the lowest mean ( = 3.81). While instrumental reasons come first in motivating students for learning English, the students are not that motivated about learning English by personal reasons which would expected to give them pleasure. 52 Table 5 below gives the means of reasons for learning English. Table 5 Participant Responses to Reasons for Learning English Questions by Scales Items SD Instrumental: 1.4 To find work after graduation 4.61 .79 1.1 To study in other countries 4.19 .95 1.2 To pass my classes in my department 4.10 1.09 1.3 To communicate with people from other countries 4.54 .68 1.10 To visit other countries 4.42 .78 1.8 To take part in the cultural activities arranged by the 4.27 .97 3.68 1.04 1.7 To watch movies or TV programs in English 4.22 .90 1.11 To follow published materials (books, journals 4.00 1.01 1.9 To listen to music in English 3.62 1.23 1.6 To use the Internet 3.39 1.25 Integrative: European Union such as Erasmus and European Voluntary Service 1.5 To get informed about the culture of other countries Personal: and magazines) in English It is important to note that item 1.4 “to find work after graduation” has the highest mean ( 4.61). Therefore, it is possible to state that “to find work after graduation” is the most important motivation factor for the learners to learn English language. It is also interesting that item 1.6 “To use the Internet” has the lowest mean ( = 3.39). It can be interpreted as students do not think it is necessary to have English knowledge to be able to use the Internet. With a mean of 3.62, item 1.9 “To listen to music in English” also is not a strong source of motivation for the learners. 53 Students are also mostly undecided for item 1.5 “to get informed about the culture of other countries;” thus, it has a mean which is under four ( = 3.68). It can be said that the motivational orientation of Turkish EFL learners in this study is mainly instrumental which is explained by Gardner and Lambert (1972) as being related to pragmatic gains of L2 learning, such as getting a better job or a higher salary. However, Brown (2000) mentions that instead of selecting one form of motivation, learners usually have a combination of motivation types. Supporting Brown (2000)’s argument, the participants of this study are also motivated to communicate with people from other countries, and to watch movies or TV programs in English, which are categorized under integrative and personal motivation, respectively. The Culture of English Language In the second section of the questionnaire, participants were asked to rank the cultures which come to their minds when they think of the culture of English language. They were provided with five different culture options- British culture, American culture, culture of other countries where English is the native language (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.), culture of countries where English is the official language (India, Nigeria, Malaysia, Hong Kong, etc.), and culture of countries where English is spoken as a foreign language (Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, etc.) - and one option which indicates no particular country’s culture. Participants were asked to order these options starting from 1 for their first choice. For calculation purposes, if participants indicated 1 for an option, it received 6 points and if participants indicated one option as the 6 th in the order, this option received 1 point while calculating the means. 54 Table 6 shows the descriptive analysis of the second section of the questionnaire questioning the culture of English Language. Table 6 Participant Responses to Culture of English Language Questions Items SD 2.1 British culture 5.24 1.37 2.2 American culture 4.81 1.45 2.3 Culture of other countries where English is 3.62 1.31 2.57 1.18 2.35 1.16 1.36 1.17 the native language (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) 2.4 Culture of countries where English is the official language (India, Nigeria, Malaysia, Hong Kong, etc.) 2.5 Culture of countries where English is spoken as a foreign language (Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, etc.) 2.6 No particular country’s culture As shown in Table 6, British culture received the highest mean which indicates that it was mostly ranked as the 1st option in the rankings. This suggests that when students think of the culture of English language, it is British culture what comes to their minds first. American culture took the second place in this ranking and the order of the rest, predictably, reflects the positions of Kachru’s (1985) circles by moving outwards from the culture of other countries where English is the native language (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) towards the culture of countries where English is the official language (India, Nigeria, Malaysia, Hong Kong, etc.) and culture of countries where English is spoken as a foreign language (Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, etc.), respectively. 55 Learning about the Culture of English Language The analysis of Section 3 which is addressed as Learning about the Culture of English Language showed that the alpha coefficient for items in this section is .817, suggesting that the items have relatively high internal consistency. The statements in the third section of the questionnaire are listed under three categories: The Status of English Language (Items 3.1, 3.3, 3.4), Student Attitudes towards CC (Items 3.2, 3.6) and Student Attitudes towards Learning Intercultural Communicative Competence (Items 3.5, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13, 3.14, 3.15, 3.16, 3.17, 3.18). As participants’ responses to the Status of English Language scale questions in Table 7, below, indicates, the students strongly agree with the idea that English is an important international language, and that it is not just the language of a particular nation—reflected in the high means for items 3.1 and 3.3 ( = 4.50 and = 4.65), and the low mean for item 3.4 ( = 2.10). Participant responses to Student Attitudes towards Communicative Competence Scale Questions in Table 7 reveal that Communicative Competence (CC) is highly valued by students as both of the items have high means ( = 3.2 and = 3.6). That shows that students have positive opinions about CC with an overall mean of 4.53. Below, Table 7 shows the means of Section 3 (Learning about the Culture of English Language) by scales. 56 Table 7 Participant Responses to Learning about the Culture of English Language Questions by Scales Items SD The Status of English Language Scale Questions 3.3 English is the most widely used language in international communication. 3.1 English language has become a world language rather than that of a particular nation. 3.4 English language reflects one country’s cultural values. 4.65 .59 4.50 .77 2.10 .95 4.55 .62 4.51 .71 Communicative Competence Scale Questions 3.6 To have verbal and written communication skills in English has gained importance in each business sector. 3.2 It is necessary to have a good command of English because it enables us to communicate with foreigners. Learning Intercultural Communicative Competence Scale Questions 3.11 In intercultural communication, it is important to know what not to say to whom in different cultures. 3.16 Gaining awareness about cultural differences can minimize misunderstandings among people from different cultures. 3.14 It’s necessary to learn about how people from different countries behave in various circumstances to have better communication with them. 3.8 Learning about the standards of judgment of other cultures improves our communication skills with people from these cultures. 3.9 I would like to learn about the similarities and differences between the cultures of other countries and Turkish culture. 3.12 Learning about different cultural elements in English language classes makes language learning more interesting. 3.15 Introducing culture in English language classes teaches to be respectful of other cultures. 3.7 Cultural elements of different world countries should be introduced in English language classes. 3.18 Cultural content should be included in English language teaching curriculum. 3.5 To be able to speak good English, it is necessary to know about the culture of countries where English is the native language (America, England, etc.). 3.13 I do not think it is necessary to learn about the cultures of other countries 3.10 Learning about other cultures is harmful to my own culture. 3.17 During the introduction of different cultural elements in English language classes, I develop a negative reaction. 4.18 .74 4.17 .74 4.16 .75 4.12 .83 4.02 .86 3.93 .97 3.78 .93 3.63 1.07 3.63 .96 2.97 1.20 2.03 1.02 1.76 1.60 .87 .85 57 The Cronbach’s Alpha values of the Status of English Language and Student Attitudes towards Communicative Competence scales were below .60, which indicated that they had low validity. As a result, these two scales were not included in any of the analyses looking at the relationships among different groups. The items of Learning Intercultural Communicative Competence scale, on the other hand, showed relatively high reliability with the Alpha coefficient of .842. As shown in Table 8, below, the overall mean for students’ attitudes towards learning ICC is 3.94. The participants agree with the items which emphasize that they would like to learn about the similarities and differences between the cultures of other countries and Turkish culture, and cultural elements of different world countries should be introduced in English language classes. The range of the means of each item regarding culture learning reveals that students have favourable attitudes towards learning ICC. Items 3.13, 3.10 and 3.17 have low means. Because of the wording of these items, a “strongly disagree” on items 3.13, 3.10 and 3.17 expresses a positive attitude towards ICC. Therefore, the scores of these items have been reversed while looking at the effects of some other factors on attitudes. Table 8 below shows the descriptive analysis of the items in the third section of the questionnaire questioning the participants’ attitudes towards learning ICC. 58 Table 8 Participant Responses to Learning Intercultural Communicative Competence Scale Questions Items 3.11 In intercultural communication, it is important to know what not SD 4.18 .74 4.17 .74 4.16 .75 4.12 .83 4.02 .86 3.93 .97 3.78 .93 3.63 1.07 3.63 .96 2.97 1.20 2.03 1.02 3.10 Learning about other cultures is harmful to my own culture. 1.76 .87 3.17 During the introduction of different cultural elements in English 1.60 .85 to say to whom in different cultures. 3.16 Gaining awareness about cultural differences can minimize misunderstandings among people from different cultures. 3.14 It’s necessary to learn about how people from different countries behave in various circumstances to have better communication with them. 3.8 Learning about the standards of judgment of other cultures improves our communication skills with people from these cultures. 3.9 I would like to learn about the similarities and differences between the cultures of other countries and Turkish culture. 3.12 Learning about different cultural elements in English language classes makes language learning more interesting. 3.15 Introducing culture in English language classes teaches to be respectful of other cultures. 3.7 Cultural elements of different world countries should be introduced in English language classes. 3.18 Cultural content should be included in English language teaching curriculum. 3.5 To be able to speak good English, it is necessary to know about the culture of countries where English is the native language (America, England, etc.). 3.13 I do not think it is necessary to learn about the cultures of other countries language classes, I develop a negative reaction. = 3.94 59 Culture in English Language Teaching Materials The fourth section of the instrument was related to the content of English language textbooks and teaching materials. The participants were asked to rate whether certain topics should be included in English language textbooks or learning materials using a 5-point Likert scale (1= definitely no, 5= definitely yes). Table 9 Participant Responses to the Topics in English Language Teaching Materials Questions Items SD 4.7 Issues related to science and technology 4.13 .86 4.2 Life and culture in the U.K 4.10 .78 4.8 Daily lifestyle, customs and traditions of different countries 4.07 .86 4.12 Communicative aspects like body language and idioms 4.01 .95 4.3 Life and culture in the U.S.A. 4.00 .87 4.17 Social and historical aspects of different cultures (national 3.95 .95 4.15 Food and clothes of other countries 3.95 .92 4.16 Leisure activities and styles of entertainment 3.91 1.02 4.1 Life and culture in Turkey 3.91 1.07 4.14 World literature and art 3.87 1.02 4.10 Issues related to world history 3.87 1.02 4.13 Architecture of other countries 3.79 .99 4.4 Life and culture in other countries where English is the native 3.64 .93 4.11 Information on different religious practices 3.43 1.16 4.5 Life and culture in countries where English is an official language 3.40 1.00 3.39 1.02 3.08 1.28 holidays, national heroes, etc.) language (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) (India, Nigeria, Hong Kong, etc.) 4.6 Life and culture in countries where English is a foreign language (Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, etc.) 4.9 Issues related to politics As shown in Table 9, while “issues related to science and technology,” “life and culture in the U.K” and “daily lifestyle, customs and traditions of different 60 countries” were selected as the top three favored topics by the students, “politics” is the one thing they were pretty unexcited about. It is interesting that even item 4.11 “Information on different religious practices” which can often be a taboo subject came before the politics on the favored topics list. It can be interpreted as either the students are not interested in politics or they do not feel comfortable when they are talking about the topics related to politics. Students indicated that they would like to learn about “daily lifestyle, customs and traditions of different countries.” However, item 4.5 “Life and culture in countries where English is an official language (India, Nigeria, Hong Kong, etc.)” and item 4.6 “Life and culture in countries where English is a foreign language (Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, etc.)” also took place towards the end of the list. Interestingly, students are more excited about being introduced to the culture of countries where English is the native language. Materials and Activities to be Introduced to Cultural Information In section five, students were asked in what ways (with what kind of materials or activities) they would prefer to be introduced to cultural information and rank their top three choices from the given options, with “1” as the most important. While analyzing the data, if the option was ranked as 1st, it received 3 points and if it was ranked as 3rd, it was given 1 point before calculating the means. Table 10 displays the descriptive statistics of section five investigating students’ preferences among English language learning materials and activities to be introduced to cultural information 61 Table 10 Participant Responses to the Materials and Activities to Introduce Cultural Information Questions Items SD Item5.6 With video films and documentaries 1.84 1.12 Item5.4 With daily used items such as menus and tickets .89 1.13 Item5.1 Through course book content .85 1.18 Item5.2 Through classroom discussions of cultural experiences .83 1.09 Item5.7 With newspapers and magazines .58 .91 Item5.5 With visual elements such as pictures and posters .48 .83 Item5.3 Through novels and short stories .04 .36 Item5.8 Other (please specify):__________ The analysis of the data revealed that students prefer being introduced to cultural information “with video films and documentaries.” Being introduced to cultural issues “through course book content” was also ranked highly by the students as their third option. Consequently, in educational institutions without technical equipment, instructors may be able to deal with the cultural issues that are introduced in textbooks, in the classrooms. Descriptive statistics for each section of the questionnaire provided a general picture of students’ preferences about the items in the questionnaire. In order to investigate the relation between students’ attitudes and the participant factors which were anticipated having an effect on student attitudes such as gender, reasons for learning English, English proficiency levels, majors, and the medium of instruction in students’ departments, further analyses were carried out and they are given in detail in the following section. 62 Factors Anticipated Affecting Turkish EFL Learners’ Attitudes towards Learning ICC In this part, the findings regarding the second research question will be presented by analyzing whether students’ attitudes towards learning ICC, which was measured by the scale of 13 questions given in Table 8, change depending on gender (RQ2a), reasons for learning English (RQ2b), English proficiency levels (RQ2c), majors (RQ2d), and the medium of instruction in their departments (RQ2e). The Effect of Gender Below, Table 11 gives the analysis of the effects of gender on student attitudes towards learning ICC. Table 11 The T-Test Results for the Effects of Gender on Student Attitudes T-test attitudes x SD df t p Males 3.90 .54 506 1.818 .070 Females 3.99 .58 According to the descriptive statistics, there is a slight difference between the means of males’ and females’ attitudes ( male = 3.90, female = 3.99), which suggests that females’ attitudes towards learning ICC are a little more positive than males’. However, the independent samples T-test reveals that the difference was not statistically significant with a p>.05. That is, gender does not play a significant role in students’ attitudes towards learning ICC. 63 Further analyses were conducted in order to reveal the effects of other factors on student attitudes. The Effect of Reasons for Learning English Regression was conducted in order to explore any possible relation between the motivation types of students in learning English and their attitudes towards learning ICC. Below, Table 12 gives the analysis of the effects of reasons for learning English on student attitudes towards learning ICC. Table 12 The Regression Results for the Relation between Students’ Reasons for Learning English and Their Attitudes towards ICC Coefficientsa Unstandardized Standardized Coefficients Coefficients Model 1 (Constant) B 2.611 Std. Error .185 Beta t 14.146 Sig. .000 Instrumental -.079 .039 -.091 -2.042 .042 Integrative .279 .047 .306 5.906 .000 Personal .129 .034 .188 3.792 .000 a. Dependent Variable: ICC Means As it is shown in Table 12, the relation between students’ motivation types and attitudes towards learning ICC is statistically significant at the p<.01 level. According to the analysis, Integrative Motivation has the biggest effect on students’ attitutes and it is followed by Personal Motivation. Instrumental Motivation also makes a statistically significant (p<.05) contribution to students’ attitudes towards ICC; however, this contribution is in a different direction. 64 The positive values in the table show that any two variables change in the same direction. That is, while one value increases, the other one increases, too. If students’ Integrative and Personal Motivation is high, their attitudes towards learning ICC tend to be positive. However, the negative values indicate that while one variable is going up, the other one is going down. Therefore, the values of Instrumental Motivation in Table 12 can be interpreted as having a reverse effect on students’ attitudes. That is, if students’ Instrumental Motivation is high, their attitudes towards learning ICC tend to be negative and if their Instrumental Motivation is low, their attitudes towards learning ICC tend to be more positive. To sum up, students’ reasons for learning English is strongly related to their attitudes towards learning ICC and students’ attitudes tend to change according to their motivation types in learning English. The Effect of English Proficiency Levels It was the initial aim of the study to look at the effect of five different proficiency levels on students’ attitudes towards learning ICC; however, none of the participating students’ English proficiency level was elementary or advanced. Therefore, in this study, the possible effects of pre-intermediate, intermediate and upper-intermediate levels on student attitudes were analyzed. The analysis which was carried out to reveal the effects of different proficiency levels on students’ attitudes towards learning ICC is reported in Table 13 below. 65 Table 13 ANOVA Results for the Effects of Proficiency Levels on Student Attitudes Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. .273 3 .091 .288 .834 Within Groups 159.384 504 .316 Total 159.658 507 Between Groups A one-way between subjects ANOVA was conducted to identify whether there was a statistically significant difference among students’ attitudes towards learning ICC according to proficiency levels. As shown in Table 13, there is not a statistically significant difference between different proficiency levels in terms of students’ attitudes (p>.05). This result suggests that learners’ language level does not seem to affect their attitudes towards learning ICC. The Effect of Majors According to the descriptive statistics, the means suggest that there is a difference between the attitudes of social science students ( = 4) and natural science students ( = 3.88). T-test was conducted on SPSS in order to explore whether the effect of students’ majors on their attitudes towards learning ICC was significant, and the results showed that the means of majors differ significantly (p< .05). It suggests that the students from the departments of social sciences have more positive attitudes towards learning ICC than the students from the departments of natural sciences. Below Table 14 displays the analysis of the effect of majors on student attitudes towards learning ICC. 66 Table 14 The T-Test Results for the Variation of Student Attitudes according to Majors T-test attitudes x SD df t p 505 2.563 .011 Social Sciences 4 .53 Natural Sciences 3.88 .58 In order to answer RQ2e (Do students’ attitudes differ according to the medium of instruction in their departments?), the effects of medium of instruction on students’ attitudes towards learning ICC were analyzed next. The Effect of Medium of Instruction In order to seek the effect of medium of instruction on students’ attitutes towards learning ICC, one-way between subjects ANOVA was carried out. Below, Table 15 displays the results of one-way between subjects ANOVA which was conducted to reveal whether the medium of instruction in students’ departments affect students’ attitudes towards learning ICC. Table 15 ANOVA Results for the Effects of Medium of Instruction on Student Attitudes df Mean Square F Sig. .919 3 .306 .972 .406 Within Groups 158.739 504 .315 Total 159.658 507 Between Groups Sum of Squares The results of the ANOVA revealed that the effects of the medium of instruction on student attitudes is not statistically significant at p>.05 level. This 67 result suggests that it does not make a difference on students’ attitudes towards learning ICC whether the medium of instruction in their departments is 100% Turkish, or 30%, 70% or 100% English. Conclusion In this chapter, the data obtained from 508 students of English language preparatory classes of seven Turkish universities, Anadolu, Akdeniz, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart, Istanbul, Karadeniz Technical, and Middle East Technical University, were analyzed and presented. Firstly, descriptive statistics for each section in the questionnaire were provided. In the second section of the chapter, the analyses conducted to reveal the relationship, if any, between students’ attitudes towards learning ICC and participant factors like gender, reasons for learning English, English proficiency levels, majors, and the medium of instruction in students’ departments were presented. The results of the data analysis revealed that students are mostly of the opinion that English has become a world language rather than that of a particular nation. Further, they believe that it is necessary to have a good command of English to communicate with people from other countries and to find work after graduation. They indicated that it was British culture that came to their minds first when they thought of the culture of English language, followed by American culture. Students have positive attitudes towards learning ICC. They mostly agreed with the items stating that “I would like to learn about the similarities and differences between the cultures of other countries and Turkish culture” and “Learning about different cultural elements in English language classes makes language learning more interesting.” When participants were asked their opinions on the inclusion of 68 different topics in English language teaching materials, they chose “issues related to science and technology,” “life and culture in the UK,” and “daily lifestyle, customs and traditions of different countries” as their top three choices. “Issues related to politics” came last on the favored topics list. As for the materials and activities to be used to introduce cultural information in their English language classes, students preferred video films and documentaries. It was followed by commonly used items, such as menus and tickets, and course books. The analysis of the factors anticipated to affect learners’ attitudes (such as gender, reasons for learning English, English proficiency levels, majors, and the medium of instruction in students’ departments) revealed that gender, proficiency levels and medium of instruction do not play a significant role in students’ attitudes towards learning ICC. However, the difference between the attitudes of students from social sciences and natural sciences was statistically significant. Students from the departments of social sciences tended to have more positive attitudes towards learning ICC. Students’ reasons for learning English, their motivation types, also affect their attitudes. The higher their integrative or personal motivation was, the more positive attitudes towards learning ICC they had. On the other hand, instrumental motivation seemed to have reverse effect on student attitudes. This chapter presented the data analysis of EFL learners’ attitudes towards learning ICC. In the next chapter, the findings will be discussed in detail and in parallel with the findings in the literature. Pedagogical implications, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further research will be presented. 69 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION Introduction This study aims to investigate the attitudes of EFL learners towards learning intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and seeks to find out whether there is a relationship between the attitudes of students and their gender, reasons for learning English, English proficiency levels, their majors or the medium of instruction in their departments. In this respect, the study addressed the following research questions: 1. What are the attitudes of Turkish university preparatory class students towards learning intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in EFL classrooms? 2. What is the relationship between students’ attitudes towards learning ICC and each of the following factors? a. Gender b. Reasons for learning English c. English proficiency levels d. Majors e. The medium of instruction in their departments In order to answer the research questions, a questionnaire was developed and administered to 508 students in seven different universities in Turkey: Anadolu, Akdeniz, Ataturk, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart, Istanbul, Karadeniz Technical, and Middle East Technical University. The responses to the questionnaire were clustered into several categories for analysis. They included: reasons for learning English, the culture of English language, learning about the culture of English language, culture in English language teaching materials, materials and activities for introducing cultural information, the effect of gender on student attitudes, the effect of reasons for learning English on student attitudes, the effect of English proficiency levels on 70 student attitudes, the effect of majors on student attitudes, and the effect of the medium of instruction on student attitudes. In this chapter, the findings of the study will be discussed in light of the analyses conducted and the relevant literature. The pedagogical implications, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further research will also be presented. Findings and Discussion Reasons for Learning English Students were provided with 11 reasons for learning English which were categorized into instrumental, integrative and personal reasons and were asked to respond to them by choosing the appropriate option on the Likert scale. When the data were analyzed, the descriptive statistics of the reasons for learning English revealed that while instrumental type reasons for learning English had the highest mean ( = 4.30) and it was followed by integrative type reasons with a mean of 4.23, personal type reasons had the lowest mean ( = 3.81). Instrumental motivation type reasons came first for their English learning; however, the participants’ answers showed that they were not highly motivated to learn English for personal type reasons which would have been expected to give them pleasure. Item 1.4 “to find work after graduation” had the highest mean ( = 4.61); therefore, it was the most important motivation factor for the learners to learn English language. On the other hand, item 1.6 “To use the Internet” was the only item that fell into the “undecided” range with a mean of 3.39. As the participants of the study were raised with computers and other technology, it is possible to speculate that this response might suggest that students do not think it is necessary to have knowledge of English to be able to use the Internet. Students were also mostly undecided for item 1.5 “To get 71 informed about the culture of other countries.” It suggests that students do not primarily aim to learn the language in order to receive information about other countries’ cultures. This is something anticipated because people generally learn about the culture of the language in order to be able to understand the underlying reasons of some uses in the language, not as their primary goal. The data analyses have revealed that students learn English mostly because of instrumental motivation and the most important reason for learning English is “to find work after graduation.” “To communicate with people from other countries” and “to visit other countries” are the second and third most important reasons for learning English and they highlight the place of integrative motivation for students in learning English. The findings of the current study are consistent with the results of Uzum’s (2007) research. According to Uzum (2007), the most popular reason for Turkish EFL learners to learn English is “to have a good job, and to communicate with a wider community” (p.120). His results also show that learners have positive attitudes towards the English speaking countries. They would like to visit these countries, and meet and have conversations with the people from these societies. In terms of the instrumental reasons’ being one of the most important incentives for students, the findings of the present study are in parallel with the research of Devrim (2006), which studied high school students’ opinions. However, the results concerning personal reasons for studying English differ between the two studies. Devrim’s (2006) study revealed that the most important reasons for the participants of his study were “using the Internet as well as communicating with native speakers of English” (p.44). The current study, on the other hand, revealed that this item had the lowest mean suggesting that “to use the Internet” is not a strong motivation factor for today’s students for learning English. The personal reasons for 72 learning the language have been shown, in the current study, to be the least important factors affecting students’ motivation in learning English. To sum up, the findings of this study revealed that instrumental reasons are still the most important motives of students for language learning. On the other hand, the results suggest that personal reasons are less motivating for students to learn English, which differ from the findings of Devrim (2006). McKay (2003) mentioned that “Many individuals learn English not because English is promoted by Englishspeaking countries, but rather because these individuals want access to scientific and technological information, international organizations, global economic trade, and higher education. Knowing English makes such access possible” (p. 4) and the findings of the current study about students’ reasons for learning English confirm that statement. The Culture of English Language The participants were provided with five different culture options- British culture, American culture, culture of other countries where English is the native language (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.), culture of countries where English is the official language (India, Nigeria, Malaysia, Hong Kong, etc.), culture of countries where English is spoken as a foreign language (Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, etc.) - and one option which indicated no particular country’s culture. They were then asked to rank the cultures which came to their minds when they thought of the culture of the English language. The findings seem to be entirely predictable as the order of the ranking reflected the positions of Kachru’s (1985) circles. The only interesting ranking was the first two. “British culture” was frequently ranked as the first option and it received the highest mean. It revealed that when students thought of the culture of 73 the English language, it was “British culture” that came to their minds first and “American culture” took the second place in this ranking. This might be because most of the course books used in Turkey are published in the United Kingdom. The learners of English are exposed to the knowledge about the UK, as well as the accent of British English much more than the USA and the American accent. As a result, when the students are asked about the culture of English language, their response might automatically refer to British culture, and it is possible to speculate that the content of English teaching materials plays a big role in their thoughts about the culture of English language. To conclude, the present study confirmed that it was British culture that Turkish EFL learners associate English with. British culture was followed by American culture and the rest of the ranking predictably reflected the positions of Kachru’s circles by moving outwards from the culture of other countries where English is the native language. The findings of the present study, in terms of the associated culture of English language, are totally in line with the findings of Devrim’s (2006) study. Learning about the Culture of English Language The statements given in this section focused on three different aspects related to the culture of English: The Status of English Language, Students’ opinions about Communicative Competence (CC), and Student Attitudes towards Learning Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC). The findings related to the Status of English Language revealed that students strongly agreed with the idea that English is the most widely used language in international communication and it has become a world language rather than that of a particular nation. Despite ranking the British culture as the first one that they 74 associated English language with, the participating students did not agree with the item suggesting “English language reflects one country’s cultural values.” Students’ opinions about CC were also positive and the high means of this part show that CC was highly valued by the participating students. Students strongly agreed that having verbal and written communication skills in English has gained importance in each business sector and it is necessary to have a good command of English because it enables them to communicate with foreigners. As for the EFL learners’ attitudes towards learning ICC, the overall mean for students’ attitudes was 3.94 which showed that students had positive attitudes towards culture learning. They agreed with the items which emphasized that they would like to learn about the similarities and differences between the cultures of other countries and Turkish culture, cultural elements of different world countries should be introduced in English language classes and cultural content should be included in English language teaching curriculum. Hence, the findings of this study coincide with the research conducted by Devrim (2006). Contrary to the findings of Jabeen and Shah’s (2011) study, which revealed that Pakistani students had negative attitudes towards learning the culture of the target language, the finding of the current study showed that Turkish EFL learners agreed that learning about different cultural elements in English language classes makes language learning more interesting. The participants of the current study strongly disagreed with the item which suggests “during the introduction of different cultural elements in English language classes, I develop a negative reaction” ( = 1.60); they have positive attitudes towards learning ICC.The participants of Jabeen and Shah’s (2011) study stated that they wanted to learn the target language in local 75 culture contexts. The inclusion of local culture into English classes is favored by Turkish EFL learners, too. After finding out that the participants of his study, in general, viewed culture learning as an indivisible part of language learning and they were interested in learning more about the target language culture, Kahraman (2008) concluded that the learners that we teach are completely aware of the importance of cultural knowledge, hence they do not resist, but, instead, are ready for culture learning. The findings of the current study support his conclusion on the readiness of Turkish English language learners to be involved in culture learning in English language classes. This result suggests that adding cultural content into language classes and letting students reflect upon their own culture can be fun for learners. Thus, it can increase their motivation and help students be more active learners. Culture in English Language Teaching Materials The fourth section of the instrument was about the content of English language teaching materials. The participating students were required to indicate their opinions about whether given topics should be included in English language teaching materials on a 5-point Likert scale by ticking one of the options which were Definitely Yes, Yes, Undecided, No, and Definitely No. The analysis of the findings revealed that “issues related to science and technology,” “life and culture in the UK” and “daily lifestyle, customs and traditions of different countries” were ranked as the top three. The participants of the study grew up with technology and use it at higher rates than other generations. Therefore, it was not surprising that “issues related to science and technology” was chosen as the favorite topic to be included in English language teaching materials by those digital natives. 76 As for “life and culture in the UK,” it is interesting to note that the participating students ranked this item higher than fifteen others. When students were asked to indicate their opinions about which culture they associated English with in Section 2, they ranked British culture as the first one and when they were asked about the topics that should be included in teaching materials, “life and culture in the UK” came on top of other items as the second favourite subject on the list. This might be because English language teaching has often included learning about the cultures of Inner Circle countries (McKay, 2003) and students are accustomed to seeing items about the UK in their English language course books. However, it shows that students attach importance to target language culture and this finding contradicts the supporting theoretical frameworks of the study. Graddol (2006) states that language learners are not interested in native speakers’ cultures anymore as they need English in order to be able to communicate in international contexts rather than having communication with native speakers of the language. However, the findings of the current study showed that the participants of this study do not support this argument and they prefer being informed about the life and culture of native English speakers, namely British culture. Among the several choices about life and culture, learning about the USA was fifth on the list, followed by learning about Turkish culture (ninth), life and culture in countries where English is the native language (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) (thirteenth), life and culture in countries where English is an official language (fifteenth) and life and culture in countries where English is a foreign language (sixteenth) were towards the end of the list. In terms of the order of these cultural elements on the list, the findings of the current study are similar to the results of Devrim’s (2006) study. His study revealed that the students valued their local 77 culture more than other countries’ cultures. Similar to the participants of Devrim’s (2006) research, the participants of this study are aware of the importance of their local culture and this shows the necessity of the inclusion of the local culture into English language teaching materials by supporting the related therotical research (e.g., Mckay, 2003). It is possible to connect this finding with Alptekin’s (1993) statement suggesting that instead of introducing the culturally unfamiliar things directly, teaching material developers should “try to build conceptual bridges between the culturally familiar and the unfamiliar in order not to give rise to conflicts in the learners ‘fit’ as he or she acquires English” (p.141) by including the local culture elements into the teaching materials. “Information on different religious practices” was also one of the topics that did not interest the participants much. This result can be anticipated as religion is a subject which may create confrontations among people; therefore, it is often avoided in conversations. However, it is interesting to note that “issues related to politics” was the last item on the favorite topics list to be included in English language teaching materials with a mean of 3.08. It belongs to the “undecided” range; the participating students did not say it should not be included in teaching materials. However, being the least favored item on the list shows that either the students avoid talking about it or they have almost no interest in politics. It is possible to speculate that this might be because of their departments since the majority of them were from the faculties of engineering, arts and sciences, tourism and hotel management, and communication, which are not directly related to politics. In Prodromou’s (1992) research, the most highly rated item was “facts about science and society” which is the same in the current study. This item was followed by “social problems,” “British life, institutions,” “English/American literature,” 78 “culture of other countries,” “political problems,” “experiences of students,” “Greek life, institutions” and “American life, institutions,” respectively. The results of Prodromou’s (1992) research show that Greek learners of English do not value American culture as much as Turkish EFL learners and they do not want to see their local culture in their English language teaching materials as the most important cultural topic, either. However, the Greek EFL learners are more interested in political issues that could be included in English language classes than Turkish EFL learners who put political issues at the bottom of the topics list. In Çalışkan’s (2009) study, which was also conducted with Turkish EFL learners, daily life style, food, clothes, architecture, literature, music and art, communicative aspects like body language and idioms are rated as the cultural information that should be included in teaching materials. The results of Çalışkan’s (2009) study of what language teaching should be about are similar to the ones of the current study. To sum up, international topics like science and technology were chosen as the most important topics to be included in English language teaching materials. Daily lifestyle, customs and traditions of different countries were also indicated among the topics that the students wanted to see in their materials. As McKay (2003) suggests, English is an international language and belongs to its users; therefore, “it is the users’ cultural content and their sense of the appropriate use of English that should inform language pedagogy” (p.13). It is important to consider learners’ opinions while making decisions about teaching and it is expected that the results of this study would be of use in ELT. Materials and Activities to be Introduced to Cultural Information In section five, students were asked to rank their top three materials or activities from among several options that they would prefer to be used to introduce 79 cultural information. The analysis of the data revealed that the order of the learning materials to be introduced to cultural content was as follows: video films and documentaries, daily used items such as menus and tickets, course books, discussions of cultural experiences, newspapers and magazines, pictures and posters, and novels and short stories. The order of the learning materials list shows that participating students prefer being introduced to cultural information “with video films and documentaries.” It suggests that video films and documentaries are still the favourite learning material of the students since 2009 as in Çalışkan’s (2009) study this item was at the top of the list, too. “With daily used items such as menus and tickets” came second on the learning materials list of the current study’s participants. However, it is interesting to note that being introduced to cultural issues “through course book content” was selected by the students as their third option. This was something unexpected as students are generally discontent about being dependant on course books. In Çalışkan’s (2009) study, course books came sixth on the list of seven items, which suggests that the students were not motivated to see cultural components through the content of course books. However, as the findings of this study revealed, the participating students of the current study are of the opinion that cultural content would help English language classes be more interesting, including cultural content in their course books. Importantly, for educational institutions without the technical equipment to include videos in language classes, instructors should feel comfortable using textbooks in the classroom while dealing with cultural issues. “Through classroom discussions of cultural experiences” was ranked in the fourth place on the teaching materials list. As this item was ranked before other items 80 (newspapers, magazines, novels; pictures and posters; and novels and short stories), it is possible to say that students value classroom discussions. This result suggests that English language teachers and instructors should be given some opportunities to be abroad more often in order to be able to acquire “daily used items such as menus and tickets” and have first-hand experiences to be able to have classroom discussions about cultural experiences with their students in English language classes. Creating opportunities for students to go abroad or to have video-conferences with people from other countries could also work in order to have different cultural experiences and discuss about them in the classrooms. It is interesting to note that students did not rank highly being introduced to cultural elements in their English language classes through the use of “visual elements such as pictures and posters.” Even though most English language teachers love using posters, the findings of the present study show that it is not the case for learners. In Çalışkan’s (2009) study, also, pictures and posters were the least favourite culture learning materials. It may be because of the technology age that we are in. Visual materials such as pictures and posters may be seen as outdated materials by the students of this era since they are used to spending more time with technological instruments like laptops and ipads than with printed materials. This may also explain the other items, novels and short stories, being the least favorite material for introducing the cultural elements in English language classes. To sum up, the results of this survey suggest that video films and documentaries should be utilized more often to include cultural content in English language classes. Students’ responses show that students value classroom discussions and they are also of the opinion that culture can be introduced through the content of course books. 81 The Effect of Gender on Student Attitudes Descriptive statistics showed that the means of males’ and females’ attitudes differ slightly ( male = 3.90, female = 3.99), which makes it possible to speculate that females’ attitudes towards learning ICC tend to be a little more positive than males’. In order to reveal if gender makes any difference to student attitudes towards learning ICC, the independent samples T-test was conducted. However, the results revealed that the difference was not statistically significant and gender does not have a noteworthy effect on students’ attitudes towards learning ICC. In his master’s thesis, Uzum (2007) found that “there is a significant difference between female and male students in terms of their interest towards the cultural products of the British and American societies” (p.123) and girls proved to be more interested than boys. Uzum (2007) speculated that this might be because female students are “more open to different cultures and have more access to their cultural products” (p.123). In her study Çalışkan (2009) also revealed that students’ gender played a significant role in their attitudes towards culture learning. Female participants in her study were more prone to learn culture in English language classes. However, the findings of the current study do not support the results of Uzum (2007) and Çalışkan’s (2009) research in terms of the effect of gender on student attitudes by revealing that gender is not a factor which affects student attitudes towards learning ICC. The Effect of Reasons for Learning English on Student Attitudes The data analyses revealed that the relation between students’ motivation types and attitudes towards learning ICC is statistically significant (p<.01). There is a direct relationship between the values of Integrative, or Personal Motivation and 82 student attitudes towards learning ICC. The higher Integrative or Personal Motivation students have, the more positive attitudes towards learning ICC they tend to develop. On the other hand, there is a negative correlation between Instrumental Motivation and students’ attitudes towards ICC. That is, if students’ Instrumental Motivation increases, their attitudes towards learning ICC tend to decrease. Instrumental motivation is identified as the goal of acquiring language in order to use it for a specific purpose, such as meeting the requirements for university graduation and applying for a job, and it is explained as being related to pragmatic gains of L2 learning, such as getting a better job or a higher salary (Gardner & Lambert, 1972). As this explanation suggests, higher values of instrumental motivation shows more utilitarian approaches. Therefore, it is possible to speculate that the students with high instrumental motivation for language learning are more interested in fulfilling the language requirement of their university rather than being interested in knowing about the people who speak that language and their culture more. However, the learners who are more integratively motivated want to learn the language so that they can get to know the culture of other societies and understand the people who speak that language better. Gardner and Lambert (1972) associated integrative motivation with positive attitude toward the foreign culture and a desire to interact with the members of that group. As a result, the findings of this study coincide with the theoretical underpinnings of related literature. To sum up, students’ reasons for learning English are closely related to their attitudes towards learning ICC and students’ attitudes tend to change according to their motivation types in learning English. The results support Wiseman’s (2002) statement suggesting that motivation which includes our feelings and perceptions, affects students’ openness to engage in intercultural communication. 83 The Effect of English Proficiency Levels on Student Attitudes In order to identify whether there was a statistically significant difference among students’ attitudes towards learning ICC according to proficiency levels, a one-way between subjects ANOVA was conducted and the results showed that there was not a statistically significant difference between different proficiency levels in terms of students’ attitudes (p>.05). In Prodromou’s (1992) study conducted in Greece, the results of data analysis showed that there was a relation between English proficiency levels and student attitudes. The attitudes tended to be more positive towards learning target language culture as the proficiency levels become higher. Therefore, Prodromou (1992) concluded that while making decisions about the inclusion of cultural content into the language teaching, the proficiency levels of the students should be taken into consideration. However, the findings of the current study are not in line with Prodromou’s (1992) results in terms of the effect of English proficiency levels on students’ attitudes. Proficiency levels do not make any difference on the attitudes of Turkish EFL learners towards learning ICC. To sum up, the findings of this study do not support the previous research in terms of the effect of English proficiency levels on student attitudes. The results of the current study suggest that it does not make a difference what language level you teach in terms of learners’ attitudes towards learning ICC. However, there were three proficiency levels included in the study which were pre-intermediate, intermediate and upper-intermediate. Therefore, it is important to note that the findings of the current study do not cover beginner, elementary or advanced level students. 84 The Effect of Majors on Student Attitudes In order to explore whether the effect of students’ majors on their attitudes towards learning ICC was significant, a T-test was conducted and the results showed that the means of majors differ significantly (p< .05). It suggests that the students from the departments of social sciences have more positive attitudes towards learning ICC than the students from the departments of natural sciences. It is possible to speculate that the difference in students’ attitudes from different majors lies in the nature of social and natural sciences. While natural sciences deal with the universe and the earth, social sciences in general deal with people. For instance, history studies people in the past and sociology studies how societies and people interact with each other. As a result, the students of social sciences are more interested in people than the students of natural sciences and this may explain why the students from the departments of social sciences are more interested in learning about the cultures of other people. To conclude, students from the departments of social sciences have more positive attitudes towards learning ICC than the students from the departments of natural sciences. The reason why the students from the departments of social sciences have more positive attitudes, as aforementioned, might be found in the culture of social and natural studies. The Effect of Medium of Instruction on Student Attitudes The results of ANOVA revealed that the effect of the medium of instruction on student attitudes is not statistically significant at the p>.05 level. This result suggests that it does not make a difference on students’ attitudes towards learning ICC whether the medium of instruction in students’ departments is 100% Turkish, or 30%, 70% or 100% English. 85 It was expected that the medium of instruction in students’ departments might affect students’ attitudes towards learning English language positively if it is 100% English, and, therefore, they might be more interested in learning about the people who speak English and their culture. However, the findings revealed that the participating students have positive attitudes towards learning ICC regardless of the medium of instruction in their departments. To conclude, the medium of instruction in students’ departments does not affect the attitudes of students towards learning ICC. There has been no research studying the effect of the medium of instruction on student attitudes towards culture learning; thus, the findings of this study might be confirmed or contradicted by further research in the future. Pedagogical Implications According to the results of the study, students are mostly of the opinion that the English language has become a world language rather than that of a particular nation, and it is necessary to have a good command of English to communicate with people from other countries and to find work after graduation. This demonstrates that students are aware of the place of English in the world and they are more than ready to be able to use it in international communications. These results highlight several positive implications for English language teaching; however, there are also some challenges for teaching ICC that emerge from the results of this study. The results revealed that students have positive attitudes towards learning ICC. They are mostly of the opinion that adding cultural content into language classes and letting learners reflect upon their own culture can add fun to language classes. However, the cultural topics and the materials which are used to introduce cultural information play a big role. The inclusion of “issues related to science and 86 technology,” “life and culture in the UK,” and “daily lifestyle, customs and traditions of different countries” seems to be motivating for students as they catch their attention. However, students seem to be reluctant for the inclusion of certain topics such as “issues related to politics.” The inclusion of these topics might cause students to lose interest in the lessons. However, the ability to talk about difficult, emotionally-charged topics is an important skill in ICC. This suggests a challenge for instructors to find ways to introduce such topics into the class in ways that students will be comfortable and motivated to communicate about them. As Çalışkan (2009) concluded, the inclusion of culture into language teaching has two purposes which are “to facilitate learners’ use of language and to help learners comprehend the concept of cultural ‘otherness’” (p.126). Being aware of students’ interest in terms of the topics that should be included in English language teaching materials could help in increasing the chances of success of language learners. Therefore, the instructors, material developers and course book publishers should be aware of students’ preferences and take them into consideration while making decisions. Students prefer video films and documentaries to introduce cultural information in their English language classes. Also, the employment of daily used items such as menus and tickets can make learning interesting for the learner. Reaching video films, documentaries and other educational materials, and employing them in teaching would not be a problem if institutions have projectors and the Internet connection in classrooms. Besides daily used items such as menus and tickets, students also favored classroom discussions of cultural experiences. In this respect, it seems important to encourage both students and English language instructors to take part in projects or exchange programs and visit English speaking societies. In this way, they could have daily used items and first hand experiences to 87 talk about in the classrooms. Students’ being more active participants in language classes might help to create a purpose for improving their communication skills in English, and therefore, raise their motivation both in language and culture learning. The use of visual elements such as pictures and posters, and novels and short stories in language classes, on the othet hand, seem to be a challenge for teaching ICC. The use of them should be avoided or limited in order not to bore the students. The analysis of the factors anticipated to affect learners’ attitudes towards learning ICC revealed that gender, proficiency levels and medium of instruction do not play a significant role in students’ attitudes towards learning ICC. Therefore, institutions may not need to pay too much attention to the medium of instruction of the students in their departments while they are dividing the students into classes in prep schools. It may also not be required to prepare different materials for different proficiency levels in terms of the cultural content. That is, whereas including different language functions for each proficiency level is a necessity, the content of the materials does not have to be different. On the other hand, the difference between the means of students from social sciences and natural sciences were statistically significant. Students from the departments of social sciences tended to have more positive attitudes towards learning ICC. This result suggests that dividing students into classrooms according to their faculties might not be a good idea. If the students with lower attitudes gather in one classroom, it might be difficult to motivate them. Having students from different faculties would create harmony and balance in the classroom and students might motivate each other. Students’ motivation types or reasons for learning English also have an effect on their attitudes. The results revealed that the higher integrative and personal motivation the students have, the more positive their attitudes towards learning ICC 88 are. However, instrumental motivation has the reverse effect on student attitudes. This finding suggests that institutions or instructors should help students see English language learning as something for pleasure and develop interest in people and other cultures, which would help to increase their personal and integrative motivation in language learning, and consequently, serve in the development of positive attitudes of students towards learning ICC. Limitations of the Study The current study has several limitations which should be taken into consideration. This study was conducted in seven different universities with 508 participants in order to be able to reach generalizable results; however, the surveys are only valid for the time they are conducted. Also, as Gardner (1985) stated, “One study, no matter how carefully conducted, cannot be taken as conclusive. It is only with repeated investigation that the complexities of an area can be truly appreciated and comprehended” (p. 5). Consequently, it is required to replicate the study in order to confirm or contradict the related literature and reach more current research results. Another limitation of the study is the instrument that was applied to collect data. The scales of Instrumental and Integrative type reasons in the Reasons for Learning English section require improvement in order to have higher values of Cronbach’s Alpha. It is also suggested that The Status of English Language and Student Attitudes towards Communicative Competence scales in Section 3, Learning about the Culture of English Language, should either be removed or improved in order to get higher validity levels. In addition, in the current study, a questionnaire consisting of closed questions was employed. Closed questions are easy to respond to; however, they do not give freedom to the participants of the study to report their thoughts deeply. Therefore, adding open questions to the existing questionnaire 89 could have helped to gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions of the participants. Interviews could also have been conducted in order to increase the reliability of this attitude questionnaire and reach more reliable research results. Suggestions for Further Research Based on the findings and the limitations of this study, suggestions can be made for further research. In order to make the results more generalizable and to ensure the consistency of the findings, this study can be replicated with different populations. However, as surveys are only valid for the time they are applied, replication of this study at a different time with the same population is also required. Also, conducting interviews to explore the findings of the questionnaire in a more detailed way is suggested. The results of this study showed that proficiency levels do not affect the attitudes of students; however, there were students only from three levels, preintermediate, intermediate and upper-intermediate, in this study. It is suggested to include also beginner, elementary and advanced learners of English in the replication of this study and investigate the effect of all proficiency levels together. The effect of overseas experience on students’ attitudes towards learning ICC can also be investigated. Also, there might be differences in student attitudes from different institutions. It might provide interesting findings to look at the differences among student attitudes across universities. Another study may investigate the cultural components of the books that are used in English preparatory classes in Turkey and compare the cultural topics of the books with the favourite cultural topics of the participants of this study. Investigating the course books or materials used in English language classes in terms of their 90 cultural content in order to reveal whether there is a balance in presenting the target culture and the native culture of the students could provide valuable results. Conclusion This study revealed that students generally have positive attitudes towards learning ICC. The participating students stated that they associate English language with British culture. They chose “issues related to science and technology,” life and culture in the UK,” and “daily lifestyle, customs and traditions of different countries” as their top three topics to be included in English language teaching materials. Most of the students indicated that they are interested in learning about every aspect of culture but in a communicative way. The students preferred video films and documentaries for introducing cultural information in their English language classes. “To find work after graduation” was the strongest motivation factor for Turkish EFL learners. The analysis of the factors anticipated to affect learners’ attitudes towards learning ICC revealed that gender, proficiency levels and medium of instruction do not play a significant role in students’ attitudes towards learning ICC. However, the difference between the means of students from social sciences and natural sciences were statistically significant. Students from the departments of social sciences tended to have more positive attitudes towards learning ICC. Students’ reasons for learning English, their motivation types, also have an effect on their attitudes. The higher their integrative and personal motivation was, the more positive attitudes towards learning ICC they had. On the other hand, there is a negative correlation between instrumental motivation and student attitudes. This study investigated the attitudes of Turkish university preparatory class students towards learning intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in EFL classrooms and whether the students’ attitudes change according to their gender, 91 reasons for learning English, English proficiency levels, majors, and the medium of instruction in their departments. Thus, the present study contributes to the existing literature by revealing the attitudes of English preparatory class students in Turkey towards learning intercultural communicative competence. With the results both confirming and contradicting the previous research, this study has its own place in the field of English language teaching. By revealing more about the attitudes towards ICC, this study may help to raise awareness in ELT. 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BÖLÜM: İNGİLİZCE ÖĞRENME NEDENLERİ 1. Aşağıda verilen nedenlerin, sizin İngilizce öğrenme nedenleriniz arasında yer alıp almadıklarını verilen ölçekteki uygun ifadenin yer aldığı kutucuğa ( ) işaretini koyarak belirtiniz. Kesinlikle Evet Kararsızım Hayır Kesinlikle Evet Hayır 1. Yurt dışında eğitim alabilmek 2. Bölümdeki derslerimi geçebilmek 3. Diğer ülkelerden insanlarla iletişim kurabilmek 4. Mezuniyet sonrası is bulabilmek 5. Yabancı ülkelerin kültürleri hakkında bilgi edinebilmek 6. İnternet kullanabilmek 7. İngilizce film ya da televizyon programlarını izleyebilmek 8. Avrupa Birliği kapsamında yapılacak kültürel etkinliklere (Erasmus, Avrupa Gönüllü Hizmeti, vs.) katılabilmek 9. İngilizce müzik dinleyebilmek 10. Diğer ülkeleri ziyaret edebilmek 11. İngilizce basılı yayınları (kitap, dergi, vs.) takip edebilmek 105 II. BÖLÜM: İNGİLİZCE VE KÜLTÜR ÖĞRENİMİ 2. İngilizce denince aklınıza hangi ülkelerin kültürü geliyor? İlk seçiminiz ‘1’ olmak üzere 1’den 6’ya kadar sıralayınız. _____ İngiliz kültürü _____ Amerikan kültürü _____ Anadili İngilizce olan diğer ülkelerin kültürü (Kanada, Avustralya, Yeni Zelanda, vs vs.) _____ Resmi dili İngilizce olan ülkelerin kültürü (Hindistan, Nijerya, Malezya, Hong Kong, vs.) _____ İngilizcenin yabancı dil olarak konuşulduğu ülkelerin kültürü (Japonya, İspanya, Hollanda, vs.) _____ Hiçbir ülkenin kültürü 1. İngilizce, yalnız bir ulusun dili olmaktan öte, bir dünya dili haline gelmiştir. 2. Yabancılarla iletişim kurabilecek düzeyde İngilizce bilmek gereklidir. 3. İngilizce, uluslararası iletişimde en yaygın kullanılan dildir. 4. İngilizce, tek bir ülkenin kültürel değerlerini yansıtır. 5. İngilizceyi iyi konuşabilmek için İngilizcenin ana dil olarak konuşulduğu ülkelerin (Amerika, İngiltere, vs.) kültürünü bilmek gerekir. 6. İngilizce sözlü ya da yazılı iletişim becerilerine sahip olmak iş sektörünün her alanında önem kazanmıştır. 7. İngilizce derslerinde dünyadaki farklı kültürler hakkında bilgi verilmelidir. 8. Diğer kültürlerin değer yargılarını öğrenmek, o kültürlere ait kişilerle iletişim kurma becerilerini geliştirir. 9. Diğer dünya ülkelerinin kültürleri ve bizim kültürümüz arasındaki farklılıkları ve benzerlikleri öğrenmek isterim. Kesinlikle Katılmıyorum Katılmıyorum Kararsızım Katılıyorum Kesinlikle Katılıyorum 3. Aşağıdaki İngilizce ve kültür öğrenimine ilişkin ifadelere katılıp katılmadığınızı, verilen ölçekteki uygun ifadenin yer aldığı kutucuğa “X” işaretini koyarak belirtiniz. 106 10. Yabancı bir kültürü öğrenmek kendi kültürümüze zarar verir. 11. Farklı kültürel değerlere göre neyin nerede ve kime söylenmeyeceğini bilmek kültürlerarası iletişimde önem taşır. 12. İngilizce derslerinde farklı kültürel değerleri öğrenmek, dil öğrenmeyi daha çekici hale getirir. 13. Diğer ülkelerin kültürünü öğrenmeyi gerekli görmüyorum. 14. Diğer ülkelerdeki insanların çeşitli durumlarda nasıl davrandıklarını öğrenmek, onlarla iyi iletişim kurabilmek için gereklidir. 15. İngilizce derslerinde kültürel konuların işlenmesi, farklı kültürel değerlere saygı duymayı öğretir. 16. Kültürler arasında farklılıkların olduğunu bilmek, farklı kültürlerden insanların birbirlerini yanlış anlamalarını azaltır. 17. Sınıfta farklı kültürlere ait değerlerle ilgili bir konu öğretilirken olumsuz bir tutum geliştiririm(dersi dinlemem, tepki gösteririm, isteksizce takip ederim, vs.). 18. Kültürel içerik İngilizce öğretimi programlarına dâhil edilmelidir. III. BÖLÜM: İNGİLİZCE ÖĞRETİM MATERYALLERİ VE KÜLTÜREL İÇERİK 4. İngilizce ders kitapları ya da materyallerinde aşağıdaki öğeler yer almalı mı? Uygun ifadeyi “X” işareti ile seçiniz. 1. Türkiye’deki yaşam ve kültür 2. İngiltere’deki yaşam ve kültür 3. A.B.D.’deki yaşam ve kültür 4. Anadili İngilizce olan diğer ülkelerdeki (Kanada, Avustralya, Yeni Zelanda, vs.) yaşam ve kültür Kesinlikle Evet Evet Kararsızım Hayır Kesinlikle Hayır 107 5. Resmi dili İngilizce olan ülkelerdeki (Hindistan, Nijerya, Hong Kong, vs.) yasam ve kültür 6. İngilizcenin yabancı dil olarak konuşulduğu ülkelerdeki (Japonya, İspanya, Hollanda, vs.) yaşam ve kültür 7. Bilimsel ve teknolojik konular 8. Farklı ülkelerin günlük yaşam tarzı, gelenek ve görenekleri 9. Politik konular 10. Dünya tarihi 11. Farklı dinler ile ilgili bilgiler 12. Beden dili ve deyişler gibi iletişimsel özellikler 13. Diğer ülkelere ait mimari yapılar 14. Dünya edebiyatı ve sanat 15. Diğer ülkelerin yemek ve giyinme kültürü 16. Boş zaman aktiviteleri ve eğlenme stilleri 17. Farklı ülkelerin sosyal ve tarihsel özellikleri (Ulusal tatiller, ulusal kahramanlar vs.) 5. Kültürel konular size hangi yollarla ( hangi materyaller ve aktivitelerle) öğretilmeli? İlk seçiminiz ‘1’ olmak üzere, en önemli gördüğünüz 3 tanesini seçerek sıralayınız . _______ a. Ders kitabının içeriğine dâhil edilmeli _______ b. Sınıf içinde kültürel deneyimler tartışılarak _______ c. Roman ve hikâyelerle _______ d. Gerçek nesneler (mönü, bilet gibi materyaller) ve kültürel objelerle _______ e. Resim ve poster gibi görsel öğelerle _______ f. Video ve belgesellerle _______ g. Gazete ve dergilerle _______ h. Diğer (lütfen belirtiniz): ____________________________ 108 IV. BÖLÜM: KİŞİSEL BİLGİLER 1. Üniversite: _____________________________________ 2. Yaş: _________ 3. Cinsiyet: Kadın Erkek 4. Doğum yeri: ______________ 5. Anadil: Türkçe 6. Şu anki İngilizce Seviyeniz: Diğer (lütfen belirtiniz): _____________ Elementary Pre-Intermediate Intermediate Upper-Intermediate Advanced Diğer (lütfen belirtiniz): ________ 7. Fakülte/ Bölüm: __________________________ 8. Bölümünüzün eğitim dili: %100 Türkçe %100 İngilizce %70 İngilizce %30 İngilizce Diğer (lütfen belirtiniz):____________ 9. Kaç yıldır İngilizce öğreniyorsunuz? 1-4 10. Daha önce hiç yurt dışında bulundunuz mu? 5-8 9-12 Evet 13+ Hayır Cevabınız “Evet” ise: a) Hangi ülke/ülkelerde: _____________________________________________________________ b) Ne kadar süre ile: _____________________________________________________________ c) Ne amaçla: ______________________________________________________________ Katılımınız için teşekkür ederim  109 Appendix B Questionnaire in English Dear Students, This questionnaire aims to identify your opinions regarding learning about culture in English language classes. There are no right or wrong answers. The answers you give will remain confidential and the overall results will be evaluated and interpreted for the research. It is extremely important to be sincere in your answers and not to skip questions, in order to reach a healthy evaluation of the research results. Thank you for participating in the survey. Seda GÜVEN [email protected] 1. To study in other countries 2. To pass my classes in my department 3. To communicate with people from other countries 4. To find work after graduation 5. To get informed about the culture of other countries 6. To use the Internet 7. To watch movies or TV programs in English 8. To take part in the cultural activities arranged by the European Union such as Erasmus and European Voluntary Service 9. To listen to music in English 10. To visit other countries 11. To follow published materials (books, journals and magazines) in English Definitely No No Undecided Yes Definitely Yes PART I: REASONS FOR LEARNING ENGLISH 1. Please indicate whether the following reasons are among your reasons for learning English or not by choosing (X) the appropriate statement in the given scale. 110 PART II: ENGLISH AND CULTURE LEARNING 2. When you think of the English language, which of the following cultures come to your mind? Please order them starting from 1. _____ British culture _____ American culture _____ Culture of other countries where English is the native language (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) _____ Culture of countries where English is the official language (India, Nigeria, Malaysia, Hong Kong, etc.) _____ Culture of countries where English is spoken as a foreign language (Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, etc.) _____ No particular country’s culture 1. English language has become a world language rather than that of a particular nation. 2. It is necessary to have a good command of English that enables communication with foreigners. 3. English is the most widely used language in international communication. 4. English language reflects one country’s cultural values. 5. To be able to speak good English, it is necessary to know about the culture of countries where English is the native language (America, England, etc.) 6. To have verbal and written communication skills in English has gained importance in each business sector. 7. Cultural elements of different world countries should be introduced in English language classes. 8. Learning about the standards of judgment of other cultures improves our communication skills with people from these cultures. 9. I would like to learn about the similarities and differences between the cultures of other countries and Turkish culture. 10. Learning about other cultures is harmful to my own culture. STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE UNDECIDED AGREE STRONGLY AGREE 3. Please indicate whether you agree with the following statements regarding English language and culture learning by putting “ ” in the box under the appropriate item of the given scale. 111 11. In intercultural communication, it is important to know what not to say to whom in different cultures. 12. Learning about different cultural elements in English language classes makes language learning more interesting. 13. I do not think it is necessary to learn about the cultures of other countries 14. It’s necessary to learn about how people from different countries behave in various circumstances to have better communication with them. 15. Introducing culture in English language classes teaches to be respectful of other cultures 16. Gaining awareness about cultural differences can minimize misunderstandings among people from different cultures. 17. During the introduction of different cultural elements in English language classes, I develop a negative reaction 18. Cultural content should be included in English language teaching curriculum PART III: CULTURE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING MATERIALS 1. Life and culture in Turkey 2. Life and culture in the U.K 3. Life and culture in the U.S.A. 4. Life and culture in other countries where English is the native language (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) 5. Life and culture in countries where English is an official language (India, Nigeria, Hong Kong, etc.) 6. Life and culture in countries where English is a foreign language (Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, etc.) 7. Issues related to science and technology 8. Daily lifestyle, customs and traditions of different countries Definitely No No Undecided Yes Definitely Yes 4. Should the following topics be included in your English language textbooks or teaching materials? Please choose the appropriate statement in the given scale by putting “ ” under the relevant statement. 112 9. Issues related to politics 10. Issues related to world history 11. Information on different religious practices 12. Communicative aspects like body language and idioms 13. Architecture of other countries 14. World literature and art 15. Food and clothes of other countries 16. Leisure activities and styles of entertainment 17. Social and historical aspects of different cultures (national holidays, national heroes, etc.) 5. In what ways (with what kind of materials or activities) would you prefer to be introduced to cultural information? Please rank your top three choices from the following options, with ‘1’ as most important. _____ a. Through course book content. _____ b. Through classroom discussions of cultural experiences _____ c. Through novels and short stories. _____ d. With daily used items such as menus and tickets _____ e. With visual elements such as pictures and posters. _____ f. With video films and documentaries. _____ g. With newspapers and magazines. _____ h. Other (please specify):________________ PART IV:. PERSONAL INFORMATION 1. University: _____________________ 2. Age: ___________ 3. Gender: ( ) Female ( ) Male 4. Place of Birth: ______________ 5. Native Tongue: ( ) Turkish ( ) Other (please specify): ________________ 113 6. English Language Level: ( ) Elementary ( ) Pre-Intermediate ( ) Intermediate ( ) Upper-Intermediate ( ) Advanced 7. Faculty/ Department: _________________ 8. The medium of instruction in your department: ( ) %100 Türkçe ( ) %100 İngilizce ( ) %70 İngilizce ( ) %30 İngilizce 8. How long have you been learning English? ( ) 1-4 ( ) 5-8 ( ) 9-12 ( ) 13+ 9. Have you ever been abroad? ( ) Yes ( ) No If your answer is “Yes”: a) in what country/ies: ____________________________________________________ b) for how long: ________________________________________________________ c) for what purpose: ______________________________________________________ Thank you for your participation.