A mixed method study of tertiary level Turkish EFL teachers’ culturally responsive teaching readiness

Abstract

Using a mixed-method design, the focus of this study was Turkish EFL teachers working in the English preparatory programs of various foundation universities in the İstanbul province. The Culturally Responsive Teaching Readiness Scale (CRTRS) with demographic questions was used to collect responses from 95 participants, followed by semi-structured interviews with 10 volunteer participants. The results showed that teachers generally felt personally ready to teach in culturally diverse EFL classrooms, yet they showed lower readiness levels when their professional background was considered. The inferential analysis results revealed that teachers’ years of experience play a significant role in their professional readiness levels; experienced teachers showed lower readiness to employ CRT when their professional educational backgrounds were considered. Teachers showed positive attitudes toward the role of culture in English language teaching and regarded culturally responsive pedagogy as relevant in their multicultural classrooms.