Values education in Turkish and English textbooks

The primary purpose of values education is to lead individuals to be respectful to personal freedom, responsive to differences, by establishing solidarity and cooperation and living in a world of peace. In this context, it might be said that language textbooks for foreigners are one of the tools transmitting national and universal values to students. Another aspect of values education in foreign language teaching is to enable people to recognize and espouse values which have the place in cultural competence of the target language. Hence, implementing values education through language textbooks cannot be ignored through local and universal values in raising individuals who are at peace with oneself and society.The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent universal and local values were reflected in textbooks for foreigners and to define values in terms of value group categorisations. Our study is limited to an examination of the Turkish textbooks for foreigners (Yeni Hitit 2 Orta - Yeni Hitit 3 Yüksek), and EFL textbooks (SpeakOut Pre-Intermediate - SpeakOut Intermediate). Schwartz`s values classification was used for analysing these mentioned textbooks. In order to reach our goal, texts, pre- and post-text exercises, words, phrases, sentences and passages in the texts, post-grammar exercises in the textbooks were examined in terms of values. The data item were analysed according to Schwartz` values classification, then turned into quantitative data through calculating frequency and percentages. The results do not yield a generalisation for all textbooks for foreigners. However, it might be said that the study would provide readers with useful information on how values can be transmitted in the textbooks. Key Words: Values, Values Education, Foreign Language Teaching, Textbooks, Schwartz's Values Classification