Levels of Ethnocentricism Among Teachers of Turkish as a Foreign Language

Abstract

In this study, in which the levels of ethnocentrism of those who teach Turkish as a foreign language were examined in line with various variables, the general survey model within the scope of descriptive research was implemented. The research was carried out with 185 instructors who teach Turkish as a foreign language in various state or private institutions in the 2020-2021 academic year. In order to assess the ethnocentrism level of teachers, a 5-item Likert-type Ethnocentrism Scale, comprised of 20 questions, developed by Neuliep and McCroskey (1997) and which was later adapted to Turkish by Üstün (2011) was used. In the study, it was found that the levels of ethnocentrism of those who teach Turkish as a foreign language differ significantly according to such variables as gender, age, their holding a Turkish teaching certificate for foreigners and to the MA program they graduated from, yet it was also concluded that there was no significant difference according to the other variables as the institution they work for, the department they studied in, whether they know a foreign language, where they teach Turkish, and their intercultural communication competence.

Keywords

• etnocentricism
• teaching turkish as a foreign language
• intercultural communication competence