Teaching Strategies and Class Practices of the Teachers who Teach Turkish as a Foreign Language (A Qualitative Research)

Abstract

Problem statement: In the globalizing world, second language/foreign language has gained a great importance. The importance of the foreign language teaching has increased in our time in which knowing a foreign language has deviated from being a specialty and become a feature that everyone must have. For that purpose, teachers must know the characteristics of the learners very well and must enrich the learning environment with different techniques and materials in accordance with the environment facilities. Approach: In this study, it has been aimed to determine the language teaching strategies and class practices of the teachers who taught students of foreign origin in Turkey Turkish as a foreign language. To that end, interview and observation forms have been prepared. The content analysis of the data obtained with interview and observation forms has been conducted in the scope of qualitative research approach. Results: Teachers are not capable of giving an adequate language education due to such reasons as they did not receive a special education with the purpose of teaching Turkish as a foreign language and they preferred traditional methods instead of modern strategy and methods. Conclusions/Recommendations: In order to conduct language education in Turkey in accordance with the international norms, importance must be attached to the training of qualified language teachers, the significance of teaching Turkish as a foreign language must be discussed in academic environments and researches must be carried out.