Cultural Competence: 

A part of understanding a language that is not your own is being able to understand certain aspects around the strict language itself, such as the appropriate structural characteristics of communication, which vary from one language to another due to differences in culture surrounding a language. Language is more than just learning vocabulary and grammar, it is learning how this vocabulary is used in certain contexts in certain cultures and in other contexts in a different cultures. According to page 219 of the article, cultural competence is: "competence that enables us to convey and interpret messages and to negotiate meanings interpersonally within specific contexts".

There are many aspects to non-verbal communication. One example in particular that I thought was relevant to my language was the non-verbal messages of "artifacts". The choice of clothing a person chooses to wear is highly reflective of a person's character, socioeconomic class, and level of conservatism. In Turkey, women who are more conservative muslims tend to cover their heads with a scarf and wear less revealing clothing compared to more liberal women (who dress like most Westerners). Women can choose to wear a scarf or not in Turkey, therefore if they do wear one it way be because of family/marital pressures or because she has certain beliefs. The act of wearing certain things and not other things is thus a non-verbal form of communication that will cause a person to adapt what he/she says or the body language that he/she will use according to this artifact. Care will be given to not upset the person being addressed, in order to avoid a cultural clash.

The cultural presentations were very interesting since I was able to learn about many facets of cultures I dis not know very well, such as the Korean culture, the Israeli culture, and the Afghan culture. While listening to the presentations and preparing my own Turkish cultural presentation, I was able to notice many overlaps in cultures that are very different from each other. The overlaps in similarities do not stem from the types of foods or such things but rather from the behavioral patterns. From the cultures that were presented, many of them were collectivist cultures, which favor the well-being of the group compared to personal successes. These are also societies which grant a large amount of importance on the respect for elders, and chastity and modesty of women. This previous example is just one of many overlaps but overall, I would say it was interesting to see how countries found on opposite sides of the world can share so much in common.

The best part of my language learning was the work I did with Haktan, my language partner. I started the semester with four other women who were taking the course for personal interests but I ended the semester with only one woman. The fact that many people dropped the class was a bit discouraging, and even though this meant that I had more one-on-one time with Haktan, it changed the classroom dynamic.

We met on a weekly basis, on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:00am to 10:00am. The reason I particularly enjoyed the time in the classroom was because it was difficult to allocate the same amount of time every day to learning on your own; therefore I ending up practicing my language less regularly but for larger amounts of time. I do realize that this is not the best way but it is easier to learn in a formal classroom setting compared to alone in your room or the library. It is less awkward and if I had any questions, I had someone who speaks fluently available to help me. Haktan taught many different aspects of the language, from vocabulary to conjugations, by providing me with visual aids and handouts. The most useful part of the learning process was the role-playing since we had to enact real life situations. Haktan put on a lot of focus on making the material we learned useful to real life situations. This was good because now when I go back to Turkey, I feel like I am more equipped to communicate with others and better understand the culture. Discussing different aspects of the Turkish culture with Haktan was interesting since he is quite conservative compared to most Turkish people I met and befriended while in Turkey.

Overall, the process of learning Turkish was more difficult than I anticipated. While looking back at my learning plan, I have accomplished a lot but I did not meet all my goals. I can understand overall meanings of sentences but I wish I knew more specific vocabulary words on their own. I reached my interpretive reading goal since I am able to read everything in Turkish, even if I cannot understand it all. My speaking goals were met, but I still struggle with some letters that are similar but different from letters found in the English alphabet.

This semester was very interesting and I hope to continue my language learning outside the classroom by returning to Turkey one day! 

The "Culture Shock" video was very interesting since I am technically an international student. Even though I was born and raised in Switzerland, I am a dual citizen and travelled to the United States a lot when I was growing up; therefore I have been well exposed to different facets of both the European culture and the American culture. This has made me not suffer to big of a culture chock. 

When I came to the University of Richmond in August of my freshman year, I remember being very concerned about whether or not I was going to make new friends in this new school and country. It was not until we started the General Orientation (for all students - after International Orientation) that I noticed how much more Americanized I was compared to my peers I met during the International Orientation, which enabled me to make new connections a lot more easily. Eventually I drifted away from the international students because I found that their inability to integrate was holding me back from experiencing the “real American experience” that I came to experience in the United States.

Looking back at my experience at the University of Richmond after having watched the movie in class, I think it would have been a good idea for the non-international students to see the movie early on freshman year. This would have allowed Americans to better understand how they can better integrate with the international students and make them feel more comfortable during their time in the United Sates (whether it is for an exchange or for all four years).

The different teaching techniques students are accustomed to and the different grading systems the students are used make the process of adapting to the American lifestyle more difficult; therefore, in order to increase the number of international students wanting to come to the United States to obtain their college education, it is important that Americans work to minimize the impact of the culture chock experienced by international students.

History%20of%20turkish%20language.pptx

The previous link is the powerpoint Mark and I made to present the History of the Turkish language. We did not cover all the aspects of the history of the Turkish language since it dates back from a long time ago and has undergone an enormous amount of changes from the original creation to modern day Turkish; however the powerpoint does give a good overall view of the history for people who just want to be a little more informed on the matter.

The artifacts that I will use to document should all be different to show different creative sides of my learning of Turkish; therefore I plan to incorporate visuals that include videos of speaking, some written work, and perhaps a song or any additional things that be found in daily Turkish pop culture. It is difficult to learn a new language independently if you do not explore different types of learning because you may discover that some techniques are more effective than others, and you do not want to repeatedly do the same thing by fear of getting bored of it. This is why the artifacts should be reflective of the work carried out during time alone - i.e. be original and creative. 

I listened to this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4a5QIKefl8 and decided to highlight all the possessive suffixes found in the lyrics since it is something we spent a lot of time with in class. It was easier for me to understand this song once I highlighted the possessive suffixes since the meaning becomes more clear.

Lyrics:

Kara gözlerinden bir damla yaş düşünce 

Güzel yüzün yanakların ıslanır 

Kara gözlerinden bir damla yaş düşünce 

Hüzün keder yüreğime yaslanır  

Sen ağlama!

Bir damla gözyaşın yeter 

Sen üzülme gülüm  

Gece gökyüzünden bir damla yaş düşünce 

Bahar gelir tüm çiçekler ıslanır 

Kara gözlerinden bir damla yaş düşünce 

Hüzün keder yüreğime yaslanır  

Sen ağlama !

Bir damla gözyaşın yeter 

Sen üzülme gülüm 

Gamzende güllerin biter 

Yollarıma taş koysalar döneceğim 

Gözlerinden yaşlarını sileceğim

Sen ağlama !

Bir damla gözyaşın yeter 

Sen üzülme gülüm 

Gamzende güllerin biter 

Yollarıma taş koysalar döneceğim 

Gözlerinden yaşlarını sileceğim

http://file:///Users/jenniferconnerton/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/Turkish%20Cultural%20Present(T2C5)/Turkish%20Cultural%20Present(T2C5)

Turkish%20Presentation%20sheet.docx

As briefly discussed in the Fifth Cultural Post, the importance of learning how to interact with vendors in stores is important, whether you are living in Turkey or simply visiting as a tourist. Knowing how to ask a vendor the price of a certain item of clothing or food item is important because in many places the act of bargaining is expected. Bargaining is engrained in the Turkish culture (except when in malls and such settings); thus not participating when it is expected will reinforce the notion that you are a tourist. With Haktan, I learned the different types of clothing (basic necessities only) and colors, so we can effectively go into a store and ask for specific items of clothing.

An example of a shopping interaction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV6TIj88j_s&feature=endscreen 

Getting around Turkey without knowing how to say directions can become a little tricky; therefore it is important to develop your vocabulary of directions. I learned the directions through basic enactments of situations in which I would need to go from one place to another. The fact that the Turkish language is very flexible and forgiving of the order of words allows the learner to put nearly every direction together. 

A sample of an interaction between two girls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoLjAKiSdus 

Starting from the first third of the semester, Haktan has taught us the present continuous tense. The previously included powerpoint that he created for the class was one of the many tools used to learn the language. It is difficult to learn how to conjugate verbs in a new language because the logic behind the conjugations are not the same when compared to romance languages such as French. In addition, the verbs used to describe certain actions are not the same in English and Turkish. Some verbs that have clear meanings in English, can be translated in Turkish but mean more than one action. For example, "dökmek" in Turkish can mean both to pour and to spill, depending on what context you use it in. Even though it is challenging to perform the translations to obtain clear meanings, there is a certain logic in the Turkish conjugations that we cannot find in English or French. In Turkish, depending on whether it is positive or negative, or other such aspects, you just have to add or remove suffixes from the verbs; however in English you would add other words to create the negation. 

turkish%20present%20continuous%20verbs.ppt