Big C or small c: Does it really matter?
Sibel Özdemir-Çağatay
Middle East Technical University
She earned her undergraduate degree in ELT department at Boğaziçi University, Turkey and did her master’s in TEFL at Bilkent University. She also completed Cambridge University ICELT(In-Service Certificate of English Language Teaching) course. Since 2007, she has been working as an English instructor at tertiary level (EAP): She worked at Bilkent University from 2007 to 2009 and since 2009, she has been working as a lecturer at Middle East Technical University. Currently, she is also a PhD candidate-working on her dissertation- in ELT department of Hacettepe University. Her professional interests lie in achievement attributions, alternative assessment, curriculum evaluation and testing.
Abstract
In Turkish universities, most of the students either study in programs where the medium of instruction is English or they need to have a good command of English for student mobility in different countries. Considering these... [ view full abstract ]
In Turkish universities, most of the students either study in programs where the medium of instruction is English or they need to have a good command of English for student mobility in different countries. Considering these needs, in reality, EFL learners generally have very few opportunities to experience the target culture, at this point, course books assume the role of cultural representative. The present research examines whether ”Language Leader”- a commonly-used course book at Turkish university preparatory programs- present target cultural elements as regard the combination of big C and small c. The participants were 147 EFL students and 30 instructors at the preparatory program of METU. A questionnaire was administered to both parties and the data was analyzed through SPSS 16.0. The frequency and the descriptive statistics reveal that Language Leader incorporates big C and small c elements of the target culture at a moderate level. Big C components seem to be a little bit more than small c. Specifically, big C themes such as movies, literature and festivals overwhelm the other big C topics such as politics. In terms of small c, daily life issues seem to be represented enough; however, housing& cleaning and religion are not covered at a sufficient level considering the importance of the course books to present authentic and real-life target culture in an EFL context. To this end, instructors and program developers at preparatory programs could get a deeper insight into what to include in their syllabi with regard to the L2 culture.
Summary
The study examines whether ”Language Leader” present cultural elements as regard the big C and small c. The participants were 147 EFL students and 30 instructors at METU. Instructors and program developers at preparatory... [ view full abstract ]
The study examines whether ”Language Leader” present cultural elements as regard the big C and small c. The participants were 147 EFL students and 30 instructors at METU. Instructors and program developers at preparatory programs could get a deeper insight into what cultural elements to include in their syllabi.
Authors
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Sibel Özdemir-Çağatay
(Middle East Technical University)
Topic Areas
Syllabus Design , Materials Development
Session
OS-5B » Concurrent 5-B (14:30 - Saturday, 15th April, Albert Long Hall Kriton Curi)
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