Turkish Proverbs Research Articles

Cultural and Linguistic Specifics of a 19th Century Manuscript from the National Library “Ivan Vazov” in Plovdiv

The present article explores a short Bulgarian manuscript preserved in the National Library “Ivan Vazov”. It dates back to the early 1830s and contains 12 pages. Eleven of them are written in Turkish with Cyrillic script and includes over 100 Turkish prov-erbs. The last 12th page contains a marginal note that is written in Bulgarian. The manuscript precedes the appearance of the first editions of printed books in Turkish with Cyrillic script in the early 1840s and is one of the earliest written representations of 19th century Bulgarian-Turkish bilingualism. Several problems are addressed in the article – the authorship and exact date of the manuscript, the specifics of the lan-guage, structure and content of proverbs.

Discourse of national clothes in kazakh and turkish proverbs

Discourse of national clothes in kazakh and turkish proverbs

Comparative Analysis of the Concept of Death in Turkish and Japanese Proverbs

Death constitutes the last part of the life cycle. Although both being born and living are welcomed with joy by human beings, death brings pain and eternal unhappiness. This paper focuses on revealing how the concept of death, which contains deep sadness, is handled in Turkish and Japanese proverbs. Proverbs are stereotypes passed from one generation to another and are very important in reflecting the lifestyles and ways of thinking of the societies to which they belong. Proverbs are essential in transferring cultural knowledge because our ancestors created them with the accumulation and experience of many years. In this study, comparative analysis method is employed. Total of 127 proverbs, including 80 Turkish proverbs and 47 Japanese proverbs, are examined. They are grouped into death has causes, death as an unknown end, death has time to occur, grief for death, death is not welcomed, death occurs one time, death as a bad situation, understanding the value of things and people after death, death and animal, after death there is no meaning, comparing the wrong things with death, death relates to funerals and religious rituals, death is a relief and escape, and contradicting proverbs. As a conclusion, although Turkish and Japanese people have different cultural backgrounds, it is seen in proverbs that they have similar cultural values to death. All categories as mentioned above have similarities except the grief for death seen in Turkish proverbs but not in Japanese. The religious rituals that relate to death differ as both (Turks and Japanese) have different religions. Although there are expressions about Islam in Turkish proverbs, expressions about Buddhism are seen in Japanese proverbs.

Structural features of Kazakh and Turkish proverbs

The article draws attention to the role and scope of proverbs and sayings in Kazakh and Turkish languages, proverbs and sayings in two languages are analyzed for their correspondence to the meaning on the basis of actual linguistic data. The most frequently used Kazakh proverbs were selected and their equivalents in Turkish language were found and presented. They were compared according to their translation methods. Turkish and Kazakh languages are originated from the same language family: Turkic. It is also important to note that Kazakh and Turkish culture are quite similar and proverbs can be also alike. The article outlines the history of the study of Kazakh and Turkish proverbs and sayings, defines their function in representing folk culture and traditions, customs in proverbs and sayings. We have considered the proverbs of the Kazakh and Turkish languages and ways of their application. The peculiarities and differences in the cultures of the two peoples are discussed, and the factors influencing their semantics and structure are presented. We have distinguished that most Kazakh and Turkish proverbs retain their original, basic meaning. The main purpose of the study is to analyse Kazakh and Turkish proverbs, identify their similarities, specifics and identify the national and cultural characteristics of both languages. The scientific significance of the article lies in the fact that it makes a certain contribution to the comparative study of the proverbs of the Turkic peoples. Practical significance of the study: the results of the work can be used in the research work of students in the humanities.

Use of Natural Language Processing Methods in Teaching Turkish Proverbs and Idioms

Use of Natural Language Processing Methods in Teaching Turkish Proverbs and Idioms

Proper Nouns as Cultural Values in Turkish Proverbs and Idioms

Proper Nouns as Cultural Values in Turkish Proverbs and Idioms

Analysing Turkish Proverbs According to the Theory of Ambivalent Sexism

Cinsiyet kavramı sadece biyolojik özellikleri ifade etmez. Bu kavram, aynı zamanda toplumsal bir kategori olarak da karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Cinsiyetçilik ise bireylerin cinsiyetlerine göre yapılan ayrımcılıktır ve genellikle kadınlara yönelik negatif tutum ve davranışları kapsamaktadır. Sosyal Psikologlar Glick ve Fiske tarafından geliştirilen çelişik duygulu cinsiyetçilik kuramına göre cinsiyetçilik düşmanca cinsiyetçilik ve korumacı cinsiyetçilik olmak üzere iki katmandan oluşmaktadır. Düşmanca cinsiyetçilik ve korumacı cinsiyetçilik de ataerkillik, cinsiyetler arası farklılaştırma ve heteroseksüellik olmak üzere üç ana unsurdan yararlanmaktadır. Bu kuramla birlikte kadınlara yönelik olumlu gibi görünen tutum ve davranışların da cinsiyetçiliğe neden olabileceği ortaya koyulmuştur. Bu çalışmada Türk atasözleri çelişik duygulu cinsiyetçilik kuramına göre incelenmiş ve Türk atasözlerinin hangi oranda kadına yönelik cinsiyetçilik içerdiğinin tespit edilmesi hedeflenmiştir. Bu incelemenin yapılabilmesi amacıyla “avrat”, “ana”, “kız”, “dişi”, “gelin”, “kadın”, “karı”, “hanım” sözcükleri anahtar sözcükler olarak belirlenmiştir. Bu anahtar sözcükleri içeren 132 atasözü tespit edilmiş ve bu atasözlerinin %76,5’inin kadınlara yönelik cinsiyetçi tutumlar sergilediği belirlenmiştir. Kadınlara yönelik cinsiyetçilik içeren atasözlerinde en fazla karşılaşılan temaların ise evlilik, annelik ve namus temaları olduğu görülmüştür.

TÜRKÇEDEN MUSUL AĞZINA GİREN KELİMELER, EKLER VE ATASÖZLERİ

There is a deep-rooted linguistic relationship between Turkish and Arabic, and it is known that the Arabic language influenced the Turkish language, and although the influence of the Turkish language was not as much as the Arabic language, it affected the Arabic dialects, especially the Mosulli dialect, and the influence of the Turkish language on the Mosulli dialect is more of Iraqi or other Arabic dialects. This effect appears in many names, titles, adjectives, village names, and popular proverbs used by Mosulli people. In this study, which focuses on the influence of the Turkish language on the Mosulli dialect, data is collected by identifying Turkish words from dictionaries, different language books, proverbs, terminology, and studies published in Iraq and Turkey. In addition, in order to identify the Turkish words used in the Mosulli dialect, various interviews are conducted with elderly people living in Mosul who speak this dialect. This study concludes with the various forms of Turkish influence on the Mosulli dialect, and among the most important forms of this influence are: the entry of Turkish words into the Mosul dialect while preserving their meaning, the Turkish words that entered with the same pronunciation and difference in meaning, some suffixes that entered the dialect with the same meaning, and many Turkish words used by Mosulli people in their proverbs and many Turkish proverbs.

Comparative Analysis of Russian and Turkish Proverbs that Involve the Concept of “Family”

Proverbs are an ancient and known part of folk literature. Wisdom, philosophy, ethical norms, experience and aesthetic ideals of the folk is seen in the proverbs. At the current stage of the development of linguistics, comparative analysis of proverbs in different languages has become increasingly important. This article compares Russian and Turkish proverbs that involve the concept of “family”. Proverbs about family make up a significant group in both languages. Concept of “family” plays an important role in social structure and reflects the collective mind of society. The aim of this study is to compare the semantic features of Russian and Turkish proverbs and to identify their common and national characteristics. During the comparative analysis of proverbs, we aimed to identify the links between the facts of different languages that reflect the common culture of their native speakers and the specific features inherent only to a particular cultural background. The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that for the first time the proverbs in Russian and Turkish languages with the component “family” are considered in terms of comparing their semantic characteristics. In the result of the comparison of 155 proverbs (81 Russian and 74 Turkish) involving the concept of “family”, common and national features as well as similarities and differences in their meanings were revealed. The data has been analyzed and presented in four charts.

CULTURAL AND COGNITIVE CHARACTER OF HEALTH RELATED PROVERBS IN KAZAKH AND TURKISH

Proverbs and sayings are a cultural bridge that connects the past and the present of people, allowing us to learn about the way of history and life experience of a certain people. We can see that there are proverbs and sayings that are common among related peoples, but also have their own variants. In the present article, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle by Kazakh and Turkish proverbs and sayings related to health and illness ​​is comparatively considered in the cultural context. We can see that the past and the present are connected, no matter how distant the two related peoples are from each other due to historical reasons. This is the cumulative function of proverbs and saying continuing the past of the people from generation to generation. The proverbs and sayings presented in our article were collected from the 65th volume of the book "Babalar sozi (Words of Wisdom of Ancestors)" in the Kazakh language, from the book "Khalyk Danaligi (Words of Wisdom of People)" by Abdulali Kaidar, and the proverbs in the Turkish language were taken from the electronic version of the dictionary "Atasozder and Fraseologi (Words of Wisdom of Ancestors and Phraseology)" of the Turkish Language Organization (TDK Türk Dil Kurumu Atasözler ve deyimler sözlüğü https ://sozluk.gov.tr) and Uğur Gürsu's (Uğur Gürsu https://tez.yok.gov.tr) doctoral dissertation. Proverbs in the Kazakh and Turkish languages ​​were considered and grouped by themes and their meanings were revealed. The considered proverbs were analyzed using the descriptive, comparative methods. Proverbs related to health and illness were divided into the following thematic groups: - proverbs and sayings similar in meaning and composition-structure - proverbs and sayings with a slight variation in their components despite with similar content - proverbs of different structure, composition, but similar content in both peoples -proverbs and sayings that have characteristic features of both peoples

A psychological overview on the concept of "Hope" in Turkish proverbs

Atasözleri, yaşantılardan ve gözlemlerden elde edilen tecrübe birikiminin nesilden nesile aktarımı ile yeni karşılaşılan durum ve olayları algılamak ve anlamlandırmak için kullanılmaktadır. Yaşam acı tatlı deneyimlerle doludur. Sıkıntı veren koşullar stres, kaygı, çaresizlik gibi olumsuz duyguları beraberinde getirir. Zorlayıcı yaşam koşullarında, insan iyi şeylerin olacağına yönelik umudunu kaybedebilir. Kişi istediği şeylere ulaşamayacağını düşünebilir, çaba sarf etme isteğini yitirebilir. Günlük hayatta bu gibi durumlarda, sonucun olumlu olabileceğine dair umut veren atasözlerinin kullanımı yaygındır. Umut telkin eden atasözlerinin sosyal ortamlarda kullanımı, kişinin olumsuz duygu ve düşüncelerine hızlı bir şekilde etki edebilir. Umut kavramı içeriğinde barındırdığı “geleceğe dair olumlu beklenti”, “çare yokmuş gibi görünse de alternatif yolların olabileceği”, “çaba sarf etmeye devam etme” gibi anlamlarla kişiye kendini iyi hissettirmekte ve gerçekleşmesini istediği amaç doğrultusunda davranışlarda bulunmaya yöneltmektedir. Bir diğer ifadeyle kişiyi motive etmektedir. Gelecekte koşulların değişebileceğine, kişinin çaba sarf etmekten vazgeçmemesine dair anlamlar içeren atasözlerinin kullanımı kişiye umut verebilir. Olumsuz durumlarla duygusal başa çıkmada atasözleri olumlu telkin aracı olabilmektedir. Pozitif psikolojinin bakış açısına göre, psikolojik iyi oluş sağlamada kişilerin kendi kültürlerine ait kaynakların kullanımı önemlidir. Bu çalışmada umudu sağlayan kaynaklar arasında, kişinin düşünce dünyasını oluşturan kendi diline ve kültürüne ait umut telkin eden atasözleri ele alınmış ve psikolojik yönleri incelenmiştir. Çalışmanın sonucu olarak umut telkin eden atasözlerinin psikolojik iyi oluşa katkı sağladığı söylenebilmektedir.

КОНЦЕПТ DOSTLUK В ТУРЕЦКОЙ ЯЗЫКОВОЙ КАРТИНЕ МИРА

The article aims at studying the concept DOSTLUK (FRIENDSHIP) in the Turkish language world view. Being one of the basic ethical categories in human consciousness, this concept is verbalized through a variety of linguistic means and reflects the spiritual values of the ethnic group. The purpose of the study is to identify the cognitive features of the cultural concept DOSTLUK based on the assumption of its multi-layer structure including semantic, imagery and value constituents. The research material includes Turkish explanatory dictionaries, dictionaries of Turkish proverbs and sayings as well as the data from the Turkish National Corpus (TUD). The diversity of the problem under study determines the choice of various research methods: cognitive analysis of definitions, component analysis, contextual analysis, cognitive interpretation, framing techniques, etc. The semantic component of the concept DOSTLUK is represented as a frame including the subframes “Friendship as an Attitude/Relationship”, “Friendship as a Feeling/State”, “Subject(s) of Friendship”, “The Process of Friendship” and “The Value of Friendship”. The imagery component of the concept DOSTLUK is implemented with the help of metaphors (mainly artifact and natural). The value component of the concept is realized through various linguistic means containing evaluation, as well as the high frequency of use of the concept verbalizers that make up its nominative field. The author concludes that the concept DOSTLUK is a linguocultural ethical mental formation that models the situation and the state of friendship, with a pronounced value component.

Time Perception in Turkish and German Proverbs

Karşılaştırmalı kültürel çalışmaların günümüzde sıklıkla araştırılan bir konu olduğu ve kültür başlığı altında yer alması sebebiyle bu yönde uluslararası alanda yapılan çalışmalara yönelimin arttığı açıkça görülmektedir. Türkçede, ‘‘ulular sözü’’, ‘‘darb-ı mesel’’ olarak da adlandırılan atasözleri, tüm zamanlarda değerini kaybetmemiş, günlük yaşamda sıklıkla kullanılan, geçmişin bağrından kopmuş ve kıymetli deneyimlerin bir sonucu olarak söylenmiş ulusal miraslardır. Atasözleri, diller arasında benzerlik ve farklılıklara sahip olduğundan dilsel ve kültürel çalışmalarda araştırılabilir niteliktedir. Bu çalışmada, Türk ve Alman kültürünün anlaşılmasında temel olarak alınabilecek atasözleri, zaman kavramına ilişkin olarak kültürlerarası iletişim kuramları çerçevesinde karşılaştırmalı olarak incelenecektir. Çalışmada incelenecek olan Türk atasözleri için Ömer Asım Aksoy’a ait ‘‘Atasözleri ve Deyimler Sözlüğü- Atasözleri Sözlüğü 1’’, Alman atasözlerinin araştırılmasında ise içerisinde 12.000’den fazla Alman atasözüne yer veren ve 2000 yılında Alman Gençlik Edebiyatı ödülünün yanı sıra Uluslararası Bologna Ragazzi ödülünü alan Karl Simrock’ un ‘‘Die Deutschen Sprichwörter’’ sözlükleri kullanılacaktır. Kuramsal bağlam içerisinde çalışmada içerik odaklı analiz yöntemi kullanılmış ve karşılaştırmalı incelemeler neticesinde, her iki dilin atasözlerinde kendi kültürlerini yansıtan unsurlara önemli ölçüde rastlanmıştır.

UZBEKI AND TURKISH PEOPLE EXPRESSING THE CONCEPT OF THE FATHER COMPARISON OF ARTICLES

They are cultural treasures that carry the moral and cultural values, traditions, beliefs, customs and traditions of nations from past to present. In this study, the proverbs related to the paternity role of men in Turkish and Uzbek societies are discussed in a comparative way. It has been seen that the number of Uzbek and Turkish proverbs dealing with the concept of father is very high. However, some of the proverbs identified in our study were included. Some sources and dictionaries, both in Uzbek and Turkish, were searched for the proverbs that included the concept of "father", which forms the basis of the study. Other proverb dictionaries, especially Ömer Asım Aksoy's two-volume "Proverbs and Idioms Dictionary" (1988), were also used as a source for Turkish proverbs. For Uzbek proverbs, the dictionary of Oʻzbek Xalq Maqollari (Turdimov, et al., 2005) was used. The proverbs about the father were evaluated in terms of meaning for both societies. As a result, it has been stated that the expression "father" is perceived as a sacred concept with similar meanings in Uzbeks and Turks. It has been tried to determine the similarities and differences of the proverbs about the father for both related languages.

Linguistic and Cultural Aspects of Proverbs Reflecting the Concept «woman» in the Turkish World

The article analyzes the semantic structure of the concept of «woman» in the culture of the Turkic-speaking peoples (Kazakh and Turkish), as well as ways to reflect them in paremiological constructions. A comparative and linguoculturological analysis of proverbs and sayings denoting the concept of «woman» has been carried out. The cognitive features of the two nationalities in the interpretation of the image of a woman were analyzed. According to the authors meanings, in modern linguistics, the scope of the study of the spiritual treasures and linguistic wealth of the nation is expanding in comparison with the linguistic units in the vocabulary of related languages. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that when considered in the linguoculturological aspect, in addition to the communicative and cognitive activities of the language, the consideration of the language is given in unity and continuity with the concepts of culture and civilization, as a source of national cultural information that gives a valuable idea of the world as a whole and national characteristics, in particular. The aim of the study is to analyze the linguistic picture of the concept of «woman» in the Kazakh and Turkish languages at the lexical level, to identify their conceptual qualities and features of functioning. The work uses the methods of descriptive-analytical, lexical and conceptual analysis, linguocultural and comparative analyses. At present, the content of the concept «woman» has been revealed and considered from different angles in linguistic studies. The article also reveals similarities and differences between the conceptual, figurative and value components of the concept «woman». The concept of «woman» reflects the attitude of society towards the fair sex, therefore, in the Kazakh and Turkish ethnic groups, a woman is assigned the role of a housewife, wife, mother, mother-in-law. Turkish proverbs represent women's diligence, endurance and mercy. The Kazakh people also appreciate attentiveness, cheerfulness and hospitality in women. Both ethnic groups value female character and moral qualities above female beauty. In the linguistic cultures of the Kazakh and Turkish ethnic groups, women's verbosity, laziness, greed, lies, and arrogance are condemned. Comparison of two related languages makes it possible to reveal not only the universal features of each linguistic culture, but also their unique national features.

Türkçenin yabancı dil olarak öğretiminde atasözleri ve deyimlerin öğretimine yönelik yapılan çalışmaların incelenmesi

Bu araştırmada Türkçenin yabancı dil olarak öğretiminde atasözleri ve deyimlerin öğretimine yönelik yapılan bilimsel çalışmalar incelenmiştir. Alanyazın taraması sonucunda Türkçede mevcut atasözleri ve deyimlerin ders kitaplarındaki öğretim tekniklerinin dışında pek çok tekniğin geliştirildiği görülmektedir. Ancak bu teknikleri bir arada toplayan bir çalışmaya rastlanmamıştır. Bu araştırmada atasözü ve deyim öğretiminde yararlanılabilecek 29 çalışma doküman analizi yöntemi kullanılarak incelemeye alınmıştır. Buna göre Türkçe atasözü ve deyimlerin dizilerle, dilsel karşılaştırmalarla, metinlerle, şarkı ve türkülerle, sözcüksel tasnifle, hikâyelerle, bağlama uygun biçimde, yaratıcı dramayla, mnemonik teknikle, tamamlayıcı ölçme değerlendirmeyle, karikatürle, iletişimsel yaklaşımla öğretimine ilişkin 12 farklı teknik sunulduğu tespit edilmiştir. Belirlenen tekniklere ait içerikler doktora tezi, yüksek lisans tezi ve makale olmak üzere yayın türlerine ayrılmıştır. Çalışmalar kendi içlerinde karşılaştırmalı biçimde analiz edilmiş, benzerlikleri ve farklılıkları ortaya koyulmuştur. Araştırmacılara ait öneriler bir araya toplanmıştır. Araştırmanın bulgularına göre yayın türlerinin niceliği değerlendirildiğinde makale türündeki yayınların (15) ağırlıkta olduğu görülmektedir. Makale türünü, 12 adet çalışmayla yüksek lisans tezi takip etmektedir. Doktora tezi ise 1 çalışmayla sınırlıdır. Atasözü ve deyimlerin dizilerle ve dilsel karşılaştırmayla öğretimi, üzerinde en sık çalışılan tekniklerdir. Yaratıcı dramayla, mnemonik teknikle, tamamlayıcı ölçme değerlendirmeyle, karikatürle, iletişimsel yaklaşımla öğretim ise üzerinde az çalışılan tekniklerdir. Araştırma sonuçlarına dayanarak atasözleri ve deyimlerin öğretimine ilişkin öneriler sunularak sonraki çalışmalara katkı sağlamak amaçlanmıştır.

A MEDJMUA (COLLECTION) OF PROVERBS FROM THE 18TH-19TH CENTURY: RISÂLE-I ḌURÛB-I EMS̠ÂL

Atasözleri, duygu ve düşünceleri etkili şekilde aktarmaya yarayan kalıp sözlerdir. Yerinde kullanılmış bir atasözü, anlatımı güçlü ve inandırıcı kılmaktadır. Türkçenin ilk metinlerinden itibaren atasözlerinin varlığı bilinmektedir. Atasözlerinin mecmualarda bir araya getirilmesinin tarihi ise Eski Anadolu Türkçesi dönemine dek uzanmaktadır. Atasözleri mecmualarının özellikle 16. yüzyıldan itibaren arttığı görülmektedir. Türk atasözlerini içeren çok sayıda mecmuanın transkripsiyonlu metinleri; makale, kitap veya bildiri olarak yayımlanmıştır. Bunun yanında henüz transkribe edilmeyen atasözü mecmuaları da vardır. Almanya Milli Kütüphanesinde “Ms.or.quart 1502” numarası ile kayıtlı olan bir yazmanın 66b-93a sayfaları arasında bulunan atasözleri mecmuası da bugüne kadar transkribe edilmeyen mecmualardan biridir. Bu makalede, ilgili mecmuadaki atasözleri transkribe edilecek ve metinle ilgili önemli görülen bazı açıklamalar verilecektir. Böylece Türk atasözleri külliyatına yeni bir metin kazandırılacaktır.

Rules of Speech Behavior in Tatar and Turkish Proverbs

Today, despite the abundant supply and scientific papers concerning particular features of multi-method, communicative culture and comparative linguistic research on the ethnocultural stereotypes of Turkic peoples' communicative behavior, it is vital in modern linguistics. The issue statement is because the ethnocultural examination of the Turkic peoples' communicative behavior permits us to look at the ethnos' communicative culture in the modern context and distinguish typical and distinctive characteristics of the Tatar's communicative culture Turkish peoples. This survey investigates the ethnocultural stereotypes of the communicative behavior of the Tatar and Turkish linguistic cultures expressed in the paroemiological fund. The analysis is based on the Tatar and Turkish languages' phraseological and paroemiological units within this article's framework. The research adopted descriptive, stylistic, and comparative techniques. Moreover, The methodological framework is the linguoculturological, cognitive-linguistic aspects of the investigation of paroemiological units. The most substantial typical categories of the Tatars' communicative culture are the culture of communication, politeness, sociability, verbiage, silence, conflict communication, and effective communication. In paroemias, truth is proclaimed before lie, laconicalness before loquacity, silence before speaking, deed before the word, listening before speaking. The examination of stereotypes of communicative behavior reveals that the Tatars persist faithfully to the observance of folk traditions and particular speech cultures.

EFL Learners’ Performances on Associating English proverbs with Equivalent Turkish Proverbs: A Cross-Cultural Study

As verbal folklore genres, proverbs are an essential part of cultural, social, and linguistic patterns in a given language, yet with universal tendencies present in all languages. As cultural mirrors of a given culture, proverbs may pose a resemblance in meaning and structure across cultures. There are growing appeals for translation studies that revolve around contrasting and investigating equivalent proverbs in the source language and the target language. This is the focus of the current study that aims to examine the performance of Turkish learners of English in translating selected English proverbs in terms of their interlingual equivalents in Turkish based on the theory of re-conceptualization on a comparative basis. Through the study, as an initial step 15 English proverbs were selected and examined under the scope of their re-conceptualization degrees to indicate their level of equivalency in three distinct levels as highly equivalent, roughly equivalent, and non-equivalent proverbs. As a second step, 80 learners of EFL at A2 levels participated in translating 3 groups of proverbs, and later their performance in translating these proverbs was examined and analyzed. The study is a quantitative study and the data was collected through papers uploaded by the learners on an online education program that enables remote learning called AYDEP (Ahi Qualification-Based Education Program), administered by Kırşehir Ahi Evran University. The results indicated that learners performed better in translating maximally equivalent interlingual English proverbs than roughly equivalent proverbs, and they translated and interpreted non-equivalent proverbs differently. Given these points, intertwining an intercultural affinity between the source language and the target language, interlingual equivalent proverbs prove to have facilitating roles in associating English proverbs with Turkish equivalents.

Investigating EFL teachers’ perceptions of teaching English proverbs in EFL classes: A cross-cultural study

Emerging from the experiences of a specific society, proverbs commonly mirror certain cultural signs of the traditions, beliefs, and values of that society. This appears as one of the ways of teaching the target culture through building intercultural connections in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes. Correspondingly, this study reserves two aims: First, to investigate the perceptions of Turkish EFL teachers on teaching English proverbs for intercultural relations and the frequency of using English proverbs in EFL classes and second, to examine the ideas of English native-speaker language teachers residing in Turkey about the intercultural role of learning and using proverbs in learning Turkish. To that end, 65 English teachers participated in a likert-scale pattern of two questionnaires and 4 native English lecturers were e-mail interviewed. The data collected from the participants is analysed and described related to the qualitative and quantitative research procedure of the instruments. The study revealed that for culture teaching in EFL classes, teachers favoured teaching proverbs and they believed that teaching proverbs was effective in improving learners’ language skills, grammar and vocabulary learning in learning an L2. As a second finding, native English lecturers were also positive towards learning Turkish proverbs as cultural connectors. Hence, the study accentuates the realization that proverbs can be effectively employed in teaching culture and evoking cultural relations between native language and the target language, plus in improving L2 skills and studies.