Opinions of learners of Turkish as a Foreign Language about Turkish language and Turkey

Abstract

Problem Statement: Due to the fact that teaching of Turkish as a Foreign Language (TFL) has become widespread all over the world, there have occurred some problems in the implementation. One of the most important problems stated so far is the teaching staff problem. In addition, TFL students suffer from the structure of Turkish language, the inadequacy of well written course books and other teaching materials. The lack of a methodology is another commonly stated problem.

Purpose of Study: This study aims at questing for the traces of the problems in the literature among the TFL students by consulting their opinions. The opinions of the TFL students about Turkey as well as Turkish language will contribute to the field of TFL.

Method: This research is a qualitative study trying to provide the field TFL with the opinions of students about Turkish and Turkey. The participants are 12 students from Vilnius University, Lithuania enrolled in Lithuanian Philology-Foreign Language (Turkish) program. Data were collected through student compositions and a face to face interview. Data were analyzed qualitatively and commented on with respect to a predetermined framework.

Findings: The study showed that there are problems of the structure of Turkish as an agglutinative language, teaching staff, motivation and teaching methods. It also showed that Lithuanian people have some negative thoughts about Turkish language and Turkey owing to lack of knowledge and prejudices and that when students started to study Turkish and visited Turkey after a while their negative thoughts turned positive. The only negative thought they still bear is that Turkey should wait for some time for the European Union membership.

Recommendations: Universities and the institutions which assign Turkish lecturers to foreign countries should deal with the problems of teaching staff and teaching methods in cooperation. The different structure of Turkish language should be considered in deciding on teaching methods and techniques. That is why pre-service training is essential for the lecturers of Turkish. Campaigns could make Turkish language and Turkey get better known and the prejudices demolish.