Paper Title
The World Behind the Gild: Empowering ELT Pre-Service Teachers to Eliminate Violence Against Women

Abstract
Despite numerous advancements in human life which can all be regarded as footsteps of a perfect human life, the world in the 21st century still faces serious issues waiting for a solution and violence against women is an example of that. Education, primarily teachers, stand still at the center of human life as agents with the power to overcome these problems and shape future generations in this �gilded world�. The current study suggests that the use of comparative literature in teacher education programs has a vital role in developing awareness among pre-service teachers for violence against women which is prevalent in every society in the world. The study will adopt a quasi-experimental research design. The research group will be composed of 80 senior English language pre-service teachers enrolled at a big state university in Turkey. Students in the experimental group will be instructed to evaluate the social status of women in different cultures through the analysis of literary works from the world literature and postulate solutions to violence-related problems within the framework of the course entitled Selections from British Literature during the 2016-2017 fall term. In the control group the curriculum will include texts selected in accordance with the course content without specific focus on the issue of violence against women. As the first step of a wider project, semi-structured interviews will be conducted with students in the experimental group to explore any change in their awareness of women issues. Findings will be discussed in relation to their implications for teacher education in general. Index terms: Violence against Women, ELT Pre-service Teachers, Comparative Literature.