BY EHSAN SHAREEF (CTIS/II)
Dr. Özlem Aksu Kurtoğlu is a full-time instructor of Turkish in the Second Foreign Language Program of the Department of Foreign Languages at Bilkent University. She holds a PhD in Turkish Education from Ankara University, where she also completed her master’s and bachelor’s studies in linguistics. Her scholarly work focuses on Turkish linguistics and corpus-based analyses of noun-verb collocations. She is currently pursuing a second bachelor’s degree in Dramatic Writing as well as a second PhD in Fine Arts Education, reflecting her interdisciplinary interest in the intersections of language, art and pedagogy. Dr. Aksu Kurtoğlu has been teaching Turkish as a foreign language at Bilkent since 2007 and currently offers LNG 171 Turkish I, LNG 172 Turkish II, LNG 173 Turkish III, LNG 178 Advanced Turkish I and LNG 179 Advanced Turkish II to international and exchange students from a wide range of academic programs. Drawing on more than 18 years of experience in teaching Turkish to non-native speakers, she designs her courses in line with CEFR levels and develops tasks, materials and assessment rubrics that help students gradually build confidence in using Turkish, with particular emphasis on real-life communication and the subtleties of contemporary language use in academic and everyday settings.
Why did you choose an academic career?
I did not choose academia in a single moment; rather, it emerged gradually from a sustained curiosity about language and its relationship with thought, culture and human experience. During my studies in linguistics, I became increasingly interested not only in how language functions structurally but also in how it shapes perception and meaning. Teaching, on the other hand, allowed me to transform this curiosity into a shared space of inquiry. For me, academia is where research and teaching come together and enrich each another.
What subject do you most enjoy teaching, and why?
I particularly enjoy teaching courses where language is closely connected to real-life interaction and cultural context. It is especially rewarding to see students begin to use the language in meaningful ways, even at early stages. At the same time, I enjoy more advanced courses where we can explore the subtleties of meaning, context and expression. What I enjoy most is creating environments where students do not simply learn the language, but begin to think and experience through it.
What projects are you working on currently?
Currently, I am engaged in an academic trajectory that brings together theatre, language and education. I am pursuing an undergraduate degree in Dramatic Writing at Ankara University DTCF Theatre Department while undertaking a second PhD in Fine Arts Education at Ankara University Faculty of Educational Sciences. In addition to my academic work, I have recently completed my drama instructor training under the umbrella of the Contemporary Drama Association.
These parallel paths are not separate for me; rather, they form the basis of an interdisciplinary approach that seeks to integrate language teaching with arts education. I focus particularly on how theatre and creative drama can open new possibilities in language learning, transforming it from a purely communicative process into a deeper, experiential one. I strongly believe in the transformative power of art. I see art not only as a means of expression but as a way of thinking and perceiving the world. In this sense, my projects aim to create learning environments where language is not only learned but also experienced, questioned and reimagined.
What’s your best work?
For the past three years, through a non-governmental organization, we have been organizing a short story competition through which we aim to provide scholarship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, funded by the revenue generated from books published after the competition. Being able to touch young people’s lives, even in a small way, and to give people a reason to write and create, is deeply meaningful to me.
What’s the most common misconception about your work?
A common misconception is that teaching a language is primarily about grammar and vocabulary. In reality, language teaching involves culture, identity, interaction and interpretation; it is a complex and layered process.
Similarly, when I say that I am a linguist, I am often asked which language I study. Linguistics is not the study of a particular language; it is a discipline that explores how language works—its structure, meaning and use and its relationship with thought and culture. Explaining this sometimes takes time, especially for those who have never thought about language in this way.
What has been the most exciting moment of your career so far? Could you share a turning point or defining moment in your career?
One of the most formative experiences in my career was teaching Turkish to international faculty members at Bilkent. For nearly ten years, I worked exclusively with faculty members. It was both challenging and incredibly instructive. They were all much more experienced than me, both in age and in their academic backgrounds. Teaching my own supervisors and senior colleagues was quite stressful, but also a very valuable experience. I learned a great deal from them. In many ways, this experience shaped my understanding of teaching as a continuous process of learning, and it also showed me the importance of growing together.
What’s one piece of information from your field that you think everyone should know?
Language is not just a tool for communication; it is a framework through which we perceive and organize reality. Learning a new language means learning a new way of seeing the world.
If you weren’t an academic, what career would you choose?
I would still be someone who thinks through and creates with words. I take great pleasure in writing, so I would pursue a career where this lies at its core.
If you had unlimited funds, what would you like to do research on?
I would explore the stories behind words—their histories, transformations and the ways in which they carry traces of culture, memory and perception. I am particularly interested in how meanings shift across time and contexts and how words reflect not only what we say but how we understand the world. This kind of research would allow me to bring together linguistics, literature and the arts and to think of language not merely as a system but as a living, evolving form of human experience.
What do you like the most about being at Bilkent?
What I appreciate most is the diversity of students and the academic environment that encourages inquiry and innovation. Teaching students from different cultural and disciplinary backgrounds creates a dynamic and enriching classroom experience. I learn a great deal from my students; in many ways, teaching is also a continuous learning process for me.
What do you like to do when you are not working?
I enjoy reading, writing and engaging with artistic forms such as theatre and film. Spending time with my family and my dog, as well as going on nature walks, often feeds my academic work in unexpected ways.
Which books have influenced you the most, and why?
Two books that have influenced me deeply are “The Tartar Steppe” by Dino Buzzati and “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” by Patrick Süskind.
“The Tartar Steppe ” presents a profound meditation on time, waiting and the human tendency to postpone life while expecting a decisive moment that may never arrive. The novel reshaped how I think about time, not as a measurable, linear entity, but as something experienced, often through absence, repetition and anticipation. While reading the book, I repeatedly found myself asking a quiet but unsettling question: how much longer am I going to keep waiting? 😊
“Perfume ” asks a really disturbing question: do we have to destroy in order to exist? Grenouille tries to build his own presence by taking what belongs to others, their scent, and that feels like more than just an individual story. It made me think about the system we live in, where being visible, being recognized, often seems to come at the expense of others. In that sense, the novel doesn’t just tell a dark story; it quietly forces you to question what we value, what we desire and what we’re willing to sacrifice just to be seen.
What is the secret of leading a happy life?
There is no single formula, but I believe it involves maintaining curiosity, staying open to new experiences and finding meaning in what you do. A sense of balance between reflection and action is essential.
If you could go back to your undergraduate/graduate student years, what advice would you give to your younger self?
I would have encouraged myself to take more intellectual risks and to be more comfortable with uncertainty.
What is one piece of advice you wish every Bilkent student would truly follow?
I’m not very fond of giving advice, but I hope students have the courage to become who they truly are and to follow their own path.
