Turkish Language Teachers’ Intercultural Sensitivity

Abstract

This study involved qualitative research in the form of a case study to examine the intercultural sensitivity of Turkish language teachers. In the study, criterion sampling was selected and an interview form consisting of seven open-ended questions was applied to 20 Turkish language teachers. Participants working in secondary schools, which are basic education institutions affiliated to the Ministry of National Education, and in units related to assignment in different provinces of Turkey. The research questions were prepared by considering the five following dimensions of the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale developed by Chen and Starosta (2000): interaction engagement, respect for cultural differences, interaction self- confidence, interaction enjoyment, and interaction attentiveness. Content analysis, a qualitative data analysis method, was used. As a result of the study, it was seen that most of the participants exhibited a generally appropriate attitude in terms of having intercultural sensitivity. Some of these participants who exhibited an appropriate attitude had deficiencies in terms of some dimensions of intercultural sensitivity. On the other hand, a significant portion of the participants did not exhibit an appropriate attitude in terms of having intercultural sensitivity in general. At the rest of the paper, some suggestions are made in order to improve teachers’ intercultural sensitivity and to overcome their deficiencies.

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