EFL teachers' opinions on culture teaching activities in Mardin context

It is obvious from the existing literature that culture teaching as a hitherto neglected aspect of foreign language education has attracted attention for the past two or three decades (Onalan, 2005). It is also suggested form the relevant literature that following the attainment of linguistic, communicative and cultural competence, the ultimate goal of foreign language education should be arriving at intercultural competence (Sercu et al., 2005). Intercultural competence is a need-to-acquired quality for the teachers' part in order to be intercultural competent teachers. Which cultural activities teachers practice, what cultural contents they discuss and what opinions they hold on culture teaching can make it possible to determine whether teachers have intercultural competence or not. In this respect, premised upon intercultural competence perspective, this quantitative study aims to investigate foreign language teachers' opinions on culture teaching via cultural contents and activities in their classrooms. In order to investigate the cultural education by teachers, a questionnaire developed by Sercu et al. (2005) was utilized. The study was carried out by the participation of 110 English teachers working in primary, secondary and high schools located in Artuklu District of Mardin Province. The data collected from online participation were analyzed via SPSS. Descriptive statistics was used in an attempt to answer the first three questions. Likewise, in order to answer the fourth question and its sub-questions independent sample t-test and One-way ANOVA were applied. The results of the study indicated that teachers are motivated to teach culture in their culture teaching activities. However, they are predominantly disposed to be decision makers. In other words, the activities they practice in their instructions are markedly teacher-centered rather than being student-centered. In terms of the cultural topics, it was found that teachers are, for the most part, discussing certain cultural contents in their classroom instructions. On the subject of cultural contents, based on demographic patterns of the participant teachers, the findings of the study revealed that teachers in primary schools are different from their peers in the secondary or high schools in the sense that they discuss cultural contents more frequently. That difference is statistically significant. Also the study explored that, despite remaining undecided about certain cultural beliefs, teachers are generally adopting positive approach to culture teaching. Finally, following the pedagogical implications for practicing language teachers and curriculum designers of teacher training programs, several limitations were presented and the study covered some suggestions for the further studies and researchers accordingly.