Written by Okan Haluk AKBAY

The close relationship between language and culture is a well-known fact. Likewise the structural respects of the language, the socio-cultural features are also one of the important dimensions of the language. Thus, socio-cultural competency should be aimed in addition to grammatical competency in foreign language education. Acquisition of the knowledge about the target culture will let the person understand the foreign culture and behave like a member of that culture. Besides, it will also help the person to communicate effectively with the members of the target culture. The purpose of this article is to point out the importance of the target culture education. In this respect, initially, the theoretical frame of the target culture education is focused. Subsequently, some ideas, suggestions and remarks of the writer are specified about Japanese culture education as a part of the Japanese language education in Turkey.

Keywords: Culture teaching; Target culture; Cultural sensitivity; Japanese culture; Japanese language education

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