FOREIGN PUBLISHING EFFECT AND INTEGRABILITY OF INTANGIBLE CULTURE HERITAGE INTO CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Abstract

The products of foreign children’s book publishing houses are often translated into Turkish and published by Turkish publishing houses mostly causing the foreign cultural elements reflected to an extent in these prints’ contexts. Thus, the writing style and physical qualities of storybooks in Turkish used for mother tongue, foreign language, and second language instruction should keep up with its counterparts more effectively. The study aims to provide a glance at American/English children’s book and their availability in Turkish publishing companies focusing on the integrability of Intangible Cultural Heritage elements with children’s books, especially for young learners learning Turkish as a second or foreign language. Intangible Cultural Heritage (with its Turkish abbreviation SOKÜM) by UNESCO is defined as practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills, and related tools, materials, and cultural spaces that communities, groups, and in some cases, individuals define as part of their cultural heritage and they constitute a crucial dimension of cultural transfer. The cultural transfer is one of the important functions of language and is also an effective tool in language instruction. However, there are very few studies in the literature that points to the link between intangible cultural heritage and language teaching. Apart from its instruction as L1, with the enlargement and growing years of Teaching Turkish as a foreign language various teaching sets, materials, and theses have been created and versatility amplified in the instructive processes. So far, especially the lack of reading materials as well as the lack of elements directly promoting Turkish culture is striking. Mostly the cultural elements embedded in Turkish teaching sets, and in detail, the cultural objects included are limited. But these elements are crucial for the representation and promotion of Turkish culture to foreign or bilingual Turkish youngsters. Among all these versatility and richness in options, deciding just how effective a children’s book can be in children’s language learning doesn’t only depend on looking at the so-called “recto and verso” of the book in question. In the present day, foreign cultures (especially lingua franca) and the language in social media are very effective in deciding which book to include in the extensive reading sessions but the lack of appropriate readers designed and prepared according to Turkish culture is strongly felt for foreign/bilingual young children learning Turkish as a foreign/second language. Depending on the necessary qualities of learners of Turkish as the target language, the study presents some possible contexts and physically probable children’s book forms for the audience in question.