ERIC Number: ED610695
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-
EISSN: N/A
Understanding English Language Learners' Interpretations of Cultures: The Case of Digital Photographs
Online Submission, Paper presented at EDUNOVATIC 2020 (2020)
This study aimed to investigate what cultural meanings English language learners (ELLs) attributed to the selected digital photographs and how they interpreted these photographs at the intersection of 'my culture' and 'other culture' dichotomy. This qualitative study was carried out during the fall term of 2020-2021 at a state university in Antalya, Turkey. Forty-one first-grade students (26 males and 15 females) of English language and literature participated in the study. Data were gathered in two parts. In the first part, participants' free-associative responses to the selected photographs were collected, and in the second part, participants were asked to categorize the same photographs as 'my culture' or 'other culture' and explain how and why they did such a categorization. Findings showed that ELLs attributed different meanings to the selected photographs, employed either the judgmental/deductive or the experiential/inductive strategies to differentiate their own culture from other cultures, and paid attention to different visual descriptors inherent in the selected photographs.
Descriptors: Photography, Social Media, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Differences, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Undergraduate Students, Public Colleges, Evaluative Thinking, Classification, Visual Literacy, Responses, Identification, World Views, Foreign Countries, Visual Aids
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Turkey
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A