TÖMER Held a Seminar on Intercultural Communication in Language Teaching

Istanbul Medipol University TÖMER Held a Seminar on “Intercultural Communication in Language Teaching”

As part of the TÖMER Talks organized by Istanbul Medipol University Turkish Teaching Application and Research Center (TÖMER), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Göçmenler from Hacettepe University met with participants in an online seminar titled “Intercultural Communication in Language Teaching.”
The seminar, held online on August 31, 2026, emphasized that foreign language teaching should not be limited to grammar and vocabulary instruction alone, but should also address language within its cultural and social context.

During his presentation, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Göçmenler discussed the strong relationship between language and culture, the place of cultural elements in foreign language teaching, and the development of learners’ intercultural communicative competence. The role of cultural awareness, sociocultural competence, and communication skills in language learning was also examined through situations that individuals from different cultural backgrounds may encounter during communication.

The seminar also addressed cultural frameworks, body language, social conventions, everyday practices, and traditional patterns of behavior that directly influence language use. It was emphasized that these elements are important for foreign language learners to use the target language accurately and appropriately within different communicative contexts.

The event, which attracted considerable interest from participants, also included academic and practice-oriented discussions on how cultural transmission can be incorporated into teaching Turkish as a foreign language and how intercultural communication approaches can be utilized effectively in the teaching process.

Through the TÖMER Talks series, Istanbul Medipol University TÖMER continues to bring together academics, instructors, and experts in the field of teaching Turkish as a foreign language, contributing to the discussion of current approaches and the strengthening of professional knowledge sharing.