Turkish Language Proficiency and Cultural Adaptation of American EFL Teachers in Turkey


ŞAHAN Ö., COFFMAN K. E., RAZI S.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, cilt.158, ss.304-311, 2014 (SSCI) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 158
  • Basım Tarihi: 2014
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.12.092
  • Dergi Adı: Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), MLA - Modern Language Association Database
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.304-311
  • Yozgat Bozok Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

Intercultural competence is needed for effective and appropriate intercultural interactions. However, differences between individuals and specific factors, such as directness/indirectness and collectivism/individualism, should be considered when examining cultural adaptation. This paper aims to reveal the possible effects that language proficiency has on cultural adaptation. Although the 31 American teachers surveyed in this study had different levels of Turkish language proficiency, the results indicated no significant differences between their language proficiency and sociocultural adaptation. However, a significant negative correlation was found between previous experience abroad and successful sociocultural adaptation in Turkey. The main conclusion of this study questions the relationship between traditional conceptions of language proficiency and successful sociocultural adaptation. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.