Türk İngilizce öğretmeni adaylarının Twitter yoluyla kültürlerarası iletişim yetilerinin geliştirilmesi

Dil öğrenimi sürecinde öğrencilerin kültürlerarası iletişim yetilerinin desteklenmesi son zamanlarda önemli bulunmuştur. Ancak, dil öğreniminin bu tarafı ihmal edilmiştir. Öğretmenler zaman eksikliği, diğer kültürler hakkında güncel materyaller ve kültürel materyallere erişim konusunda şikayet etmektedirler. Bu makalede, kültürlerarası iletişim yetisini yenilikçi bir şekilde, diğer bir deyişle en popüler ikinci sosyal paylaşım sitesi olan Twitter'ı kullanarak geliştirme yolu amaçlanmıştır. Yirmi bir öğretmen adayı, altı hafta boyunca diğer kültürlerle ilgili yiyecek ve içecek tarzı, giyim tarzı, boş zaman etkinlikleri, aile ilişkileri, beden dili ve evlilik / düğün gelenekleri konularında araştırma yaparak ve Twitter aracılığıyla bulduğu şeyleri paylaşarak çalışmada yer almıştır. Görüşlerindeki farklılıkları görebilmek için ön (uygulamadan önce) ve son (uygulamadan sonra) görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Süreç boyunca görüşlerini kontrol etmek için öğretmen adaylarından haftalık olarak raporlar istenmiştir. Görüşmelerin ve raporların analizi, öğretmen adaylarının kültürlerarası iletişim yetilerinde Twitter’ın yardımıyla bilgi ve tutum boyutları açısından önemli ölçüde gelişme olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu nedenle, bu çalışma Twitter'ın öğretmen adaylarının bilgi ve tutum boyutunda kültürlerarası iletişim yetilerini geliştirmede etkili olduğunu önermektedir.

Promoting intercultural competence of Turkish EFL pre-service teachers via Twitter

Promoting intercultural competence of learners during language learning process has been found crucial recently.However, this side of language learning has been neglected. Teachers complain about lack of time, up-to-datematerials about other cultures, and access to cultural materials. This paper searched for a way to promoteintercultural competence in an innovative way, that is, by using Twitter, the second most popular social networkingsite. Twenty-one pre-service teachers took part in the study by doing research about other cultures in six differenttopics, namely, food and drink style, clothing style, leisure time activities, family relationships, body language andmarriage/wedding traditions during six weeks and by sharing what they found via Twitter. Pre (prior to theimplementation) and post (following the implementation) interviews were conducted in order to see the differencesin their opinions. Reports were required from the pre-service teachers weekly in order to check their remarksduring the process. The analysis of the interview and reports revealed that pre-service teachers considerablyincreased their intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in terms of knowledge and attitude dimensions withthe help of Twitter. Therefore, this study suggests that Twitter is effective in developing ICC of pre-serviceteachers regarding knowledge and attitudes dimension.

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