Turkish Erasmus students' perceptions about the use of English as a means of communication and their intercultural awareness in ELF communities

The purpose of this study is to investigate Turkish Erasmus students' perceptions about the use of English as a means of communication and their intercultural awareness in ELF (English as a lingua franca) communities. Besides, the study presents a distinctive perspective as the effect of gender on participants' perceptions and the issue of intolerance are taken into account and discussed. The sample in the study consists of 107 Erasmus students from Karadeniz Technical University and Gümüşhane University. This is a mixed-methods study which combines qualitative and quantitative research tradition. It adopts an explanatory research design in which a questionnaire was followed by interviews for data collection. The questionnaire was conducted with 107 outgoing Erasmus students whereas the semi-structured interviews were carried out with 11 volunteer students. The findings reveal that various reasons such as visiting different cultures and improving language skills play an important role in promoting Turkish Erasmus students' participation in the program. The study also identifies various challenges and problems students faced before, during, and after their Erasmus experience. As a result of their study abroad experience, the participants acknowledge improving their linguistic knowledge and skills in English as well as vocabulary knowledge. Concerning the lingua franca status of English, English is considered as a world language used a contact language. As for the cultural aspect of the Erasmus, the participants agree raising their intercultural awareness thanks to their interactions with people from different cultures. Keywords: Erasmus Exchange Program, English as a Lingua Franca, Intercultural Awareness