Investigation of the relationship between cultural distance perceptions and motivastional barriers of those learning Turkish as a foreign language

Language, an element of culture, is a living entity that constantly develops/changes. Language creates common feelings and thoughts among the members of the society. The culture of a society is transmitted to subsequent generations mostly through language; In other words, language is a carrier of culture. Language is the language that gives dynamism to culture and has an important function in interaction, and it is an important tool of interaction in terms of its function. While learning a language, we gain information about the culture of that language and we begin to live in that culture. As we continue to live with the culture, we may encounter various motivational obstacles. The main motivational obstacle experienced by people from different cultures in learning a foreign language will undoubtedly be the effect of cultural differentiation. This differentiation can have an impact on people from different cultures learning a foreign language. The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between cultural distance perceptions and motivational barriers of students learning Turkish as a foreign language. In this context, 475 students studying Turkish as a foreign language in various institutions in Turkey were reached. Students' Turkish level is at least B1 and above. The Cultural Distance Scale, consisting of 12 items, developed by Bektaş (2004) and the Motivational Barriers Scale, developed by Altunkaya and Boylu (2019), were applied to the participants. After collecting the research data, first a descriptive analysis was made, then relational and regression analyzes were made and the results were interpreted. According to the results obtained; It was determined that there was a positive and significant relationship between the perception of cultural distance of those learning Turkish as a foreign language and those with motivational disabilities. These findings indicate that when the perception of cultural distance of the students participating in the research increases, motivational barriers also increase. As a result, based on the analysis results of the data obtained in the research, it can be said that cultural distance perceptions have an impact on the motivationally disabled students who learn Turkish as a foreign language.