Formulaic expressions as a medium of cultural transfer in teaching Turkish as a foreign language

This study aims to contribute to the studies of formulaic expressions frequently used in daily communication and to compile a database which can be of use for cultivating Turkish learners' communicative competence and cross-cultural interaction skills. The main focus of this study is the communicative and cultural traits of formulaic expressions and its role in teaching Turkish as a foreign language. Within this framework, we primarily attempted to make a list of formulaic expressions used in social media as it is one of the most significant mediums of communication in the present day. The formulaic expressions compiled during the course of two years' social media search are classified by their functions and contexts in accordance with the needs of foreign language learners. This thesis is divided into five main parts. In the first part, we dwelled on the concepts of culture, language, communication and their interaction with each other and the concept of cultural communication. We also covered the role of culture in foreign language teaching under the framework of intercultural communication. We examined the problems arising from cultural differences and the function of formulaic expressions in cultural transfer. In the second part, which deals with the definition of the term "formulaic expression", its dissimilarity from other conventional linguistic items, and the classification of formulaic expressions, we basically questioned what a formulaic expression is, and tried to elaborate their phonological, morphological, semantic and syntactic features. In the third part entitled "A General Look", departing from the "Formulaic Expression List", we made cultural remarks, and interpreted the effects of religious beliefs, life experiences, world view, emotions and attitudes to formulaic expressions based on the methodology of discourse analysis. The fourth part of the thesis is entitled "The Role of Formulaic Expressions in Foreign Language Teaching". In this part, we studied the place of formulaic expressions in ix foreign language teaching, the related teaching methodology and the Turkish scientific literature on this topic. The course books are important resources to demonstrate the role of formulaic expressions in teaching Turkish as a foreign language. In the fifth and last part of the thesis, we identified the formulaic expressions in commonly used textbooks by document examining method, and evaluated these expressions in terms of the competencies listed in the European Framework for Reference of Languages. As a result of this study, it can be concluded that the teaching methodology of Turkish as a foreign language don't take the advantage of communicative and cultural functions of formulaic expressions at a desired level.