Multicultural education as the supportive component of English language curriculum: a mixed-methods experimental design study at a Turkish University

Abstract

ABSTRACT Multicultural education has emerged as a response to diversity in society, promising a more equal and inclusive opportunity for all citizens. As a country that has accepted a lot of migrants recently, Türkiye needs to adopt a multicultural approach in its educational settings. This study examines the integration of the multicultural education approach into English language teaching through an experimental practice using the Content Integration Model. The effects of this application on preparatory class English learners at a Turkish university in terms of respect for differences, critical thinking skills and understanding of democracy were analyzed. In this study, which used a mixed-methods experimental design, quantitative data were obtained through three different scales and analyzed with descriptive statistics and mixed-design ANOVA tests, whereas content analysis was used in the analysis of qualitative data obtained from focus group interview form, researcher's diary, and student products. As a result of the analysis of the quantitative data, it was seen that there was no significant difference between the pre- and post-test scores of the groups, however, the qualitative data revealed that the students showed improvement in areas such as intercultural skill development, communication, increasing self-consciousness and sharing their opinions through multicultural education practices.