Intercultural sensitivities: A mixed methods study with pre-service EFL teachers in Turkey

ARCAGÖK S., YILMAZ C.

ISSUES IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, cilt.30, sa.1, ss.1-18, 2020 (ESCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 30 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2020
  • Dergi Adı: ISSUES IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-18
  • Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Understanding pre-service teachers' perceptions on intercultural communication could be considered as a substantial step in syllabus design and curriculum development in the field of English language teaching. To this end, the current study is aimed at identifying the intercultural sensitivities of pre-service English language teachers. The participants were 90 pre-service teachers in the Department of English Language Teaching at Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey in the 2017-2018 academic year. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was used to collect, analyse and interpret both quantitative and qualitative data. The research dataset was obtained from the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale and two open-ended interview questions. Results showed that pre-service teachers voiced different codes for the concept of cultural sensitivity. This study also sought to find out whether differences in the pre-service teachers' perspectives could be associated with various factors. Voluntary work by pre-service teachers in any non-governmental organisation emerged as a factor increasing their sensitivity. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings that informs foreign language teaching for intercultural competence and communication.