Attitudes of Foreigners Who Learn Turkish as a Second Language Towards Turkish Culture

Abstract

There is a very close association between language and culture. Thus, cultural values ​​should be prioritized in language training and cultural knowledge should be concurrently instructed. Turkish culture should also be introduced to learners of Turkish as a foreign language. Therefore, it is important to determine the attitudes of learners of Turkish language as a foreign language towards the Turkish culture. The aim of the present study is to determine the attitudes of foreign students learning Turkish as a foreign language towards the Turkish culture. For this purpose, a field survey was conducted based on the screening research model. The study sample included 60 foreign students attending Giresun University Turkish Instruction Center (TOMER). The students included in the sample came from 8 different countries. The study data was collected by 'attitudes towards cultural values ​​questionnaire'. After the obtained data was analyzed, it was determined that most of the foreign students established similarities between Turkish culture and their own, however they also experienced difficulties in adapting to Turkish culture. Furthermore, It was also found that Turkish students generally assisted foreign students in the process of adaptation to the Turkish culture and that foreign students adapted to Turkish food rather easily.

Keywords: Foreign language instruction, Turkish, culture, attitude.