XəZƏr universiteti erciyes universiteti
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misunderstanding for international students. Learning the foreign language as the cultural heritage which contains the norms and values represents the biggest difficulty faced by international students in a foreign country. The Turkish Scholar- ship Holder's Guide not only that contains the empathized obligation for learning the Turkish language, but also provides guidance for faster acceptance of the same:
In the mentioned sentences there is the request to refrain from speaking the native language and as the most important condition not only for successful accomplishment of the Turkish language course but also for cultural integration in new cultural frame. Since we are all enclosed and encapsulated in the discourses of our mother tongue, the question is; will we understand the "others" quite better if we are able to speak "their" language, the language of the other? In the symbolic relation between "Self" and the "Other", language is one of the most important discourses. As Derrida (2008) points out, the Self has always enclosed identity given by the Other since the child accepts the language from the mother which is not "their" own language, it’s always the language of the Others. So every time when we speak themother tongue we use the language as the symbolic system of the Other. Learning a new, a foreign language is always the critical and the hardest experience and task for international students. Therefore, they "may have some problems to understand and express themselves in Turkish". (Türkiye Scho- larships Holder's Guide, 2013, p. 14)However, it must be recognized that the Self had been constructed by the Other, and that the Self must remain open to the Other, which is the presupposition of the ethics". (Kim 2008, p. 31) Therefore, since we deal with the conditional hospitality, international students need to be allowed to be changed and influenced by the new, foreign language which will allow them to become the integral part of Turkish cultural surrounding and to act as good guests.
Guest's cultural adaptation process and host's self – reflection There is no doubt that the hospitality is understood as an integral part of the culture. Derrida actually defined the hospitality as the culture. Just like the ethics, "there is no culture without the hospitality". (Westmoreland 2008, p. 3) As Derrida claims, hospitality "is culture itself and not simply one ethic among others". (Derrida 2005, p. 16) Hospitality which we could find in the Greco – Roman and even in the Judaeo – Christian tradition is spreadaround the globe and has become the inseparable component of all modern cultures, including the Turkish one.
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Turkish people who are famous with hospitality". (Türkiye Scholarships Holder's Guide, 2013, p. 14) It is clear that Turkish society possess the self – perception about themselves as good hosts and their culture and tradition as well-known by hospitality. In sentence above it is clear that the hospitality include also the "easy communication" between host and guest, which means that the hospitality in Turkey is immediately exposed and linguistically violated. That conditionality is well described in Mihai Paunescu's work, where heindicates how the mobility experience among internatio- nal students focused on the effects of their personal, cultural and linguistic enriching. (Paunescu 2008, p. 184-204) Therefore, in terms of getting in touch with the different cultural values and norms, or simply in the process of "cultural negotiation", it is evident that allparticipants in communication must be aware of cultural differ- rencesamong themselves. It seems that the mutual understanding is the essential basis forany interculturality. International communication is largely determined and governed by the culture, not constructed and negotiated by the individuals, since there is no private knowledge. The knowledge is therefore always socially constructed and accepted by the community. In the brochure for international students there is no Turkishness or such a thing, but cultural identity is set as the starting point from which we draw the values that influence on our perception of both, ourselves and the others. Cultural differences therefore show the tendency to maintain and strengthen the power relations between the guest and hostand at the same time preserve the discourse of culture. In brochure it is indicated that international students in Turkey need to try to "enjoy", discover and understand the Turkish culture which they find themselves in:
Turkey"… and…"try to know a new(Turkish) culture". (Türkiye Scholarships Holder's Guide, 2013, p. 14) From this statement it can be easily seen that the first step is accepting the new cultural surrounding and attempting to understand it. As well as realizing that cultural differences indeed exist and then trying to experience them. Those are apparently the classical components and characteristics of cultural adaptation, at the initial, and the cultural integration process, the final goal. International students thus need to adopt the Turkish culture. Discovering and remainingopen to the otherness, which presents the first step in the process of cultural integration, isespecially visible in following sentences: "Remain curious and open minded against the new culture. Don’t hesitate to try new things. Don’t forget that you will discover many novelties in Turkey… Don’t be afraid of making mistakes but be at peace with yourself. You will discover a new country and inevitably have a period of inexperience. Just accept this and make it funnier". (Türkiye Scholarships Holder's Guide, 2013, p. 15) Yüklə 4,93 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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