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Journals / Uludağ Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 38 Sayı: 2

Students with Special Needs in Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language: Affective and Instructional Challenges

Türkçenin Yabancı Dil Olarak Öğretiminde Özel Gereksinimli Öğrenciler: Duyuşsal ve Öğretimsel Zorluklar

Emrah Boylu(BARTIN ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0000-0001-9529-7369
Üzeyir Süğümlü(ORDU ÜNİVERSİTESİ, EĞİTİM FAKÜLTESİ)0000-0003-2135-5399
Pages
503–531
Publication Date
2025-08-26
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The findings reveal that the teachers were eager to develop professionally, highly motivated to teach, sensitive to differences, and possessed diverse skill sets.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:Individuals with special needs, despite being active participants in social life, are often marginalized in the second or foreign language learning process.
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Key Findings & Data:However, they faced significant challenges, including difficulties in diagnosing students with invisible disabilities, managing classrooms, sourcing or creating appropriate materials, planning specialized instruction for various disabilities, and conducting effective assessments and evaluations.
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Conclusion & Impact:The findings reveal that the teachers were eager to develop professionally, highly motivated to teach, sensitive to differences, and possessed diverse skill sets.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Kapsayıcı eğitim · Özel gereksinimli birey · Yabancı dil olarak Türkçe öğretimi

Abstract

Individuals with special needs, despite being active participants in social life, are often marginalized in the second or foreign language learning process. This study addresses this gap by examining teachers' experiences instructing learners with special needs in Turkish as a foreign language. These experiences are essential for developing an inclusive foreign language teaching process and serve as an effective roadmap for identifying the educational needs of individuals with special needs and the necessary interventions. This qualitative study employs a phenomenological research design and involves ten teachers selected through criterion sampling. These teachers share the common characteristics of working with students with special needs learning Turkish as a foreign language. In the study, teacher experiences were analyzed across six themes: diagnosis of students with special needs, emotional states of students with special needs, obstacles encountered by instructors during the teaching process, classroom environment and peer relations, obstacles faced by students with special needs during instruction, and instructor suggestions. The findings reveal that the teachers were eager to develop professionally, highly motivated to teach, sensitive to differences, and possessed diverse skill sets. However, they faced significant challenges, including difficulties in diagnosing students with invisible disabilities, managing classrooms, sourcing or creating appropriate materials, planning specialized instruction for various disabilities, and conducting effective assessments and evaluations. Besides, these teachers reported insufficient academic and administrative support to help them to address these challenges.

Özet

Özel gereksinimli bireyler, toplumsal yaşamın aktif katılımcıları olmalarına karşın ikinci/yabancı dil öğrenme sürecinde sesleri duyulmayan gruplardan birisidir. Bu nedenle çalışmada, özel gereksinimli bireylere yabancı dil (Türkçe) öğreten öğreticilerin deneyimlerine odaklanılmıştır. Çünkü kapsayıcı bir yabancı dil öğretimi sürecinin yapılandırılmasında önemli bir aktör olan öğretici deneyimleri, özel gereksinimli bireylerin eğitim ihtiyaçlarının tespiti ve yapılacak müdahale için etkili bir yol haritası sunar. Fenomenolojik desen ile yürütülen bu nitel çalışma, ölçüt örnekleme tekniği kullanılarak seçilen on öğreticiyle gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu öğreticilerin ortak özelliği, sınıfında yabancı dil olarak Türkçe öğrenen özel gereksinimli öğrencilerle çalışmalarıdır. Araştırmada öğretici deneyimleri; özel gereksinimli öğrencileri tanılama, özel gereksinimli öğrencilerin duygusal durumları, öğreticilerin öğretim sürecinde karşılaştığı engeller, sınıf ortamı ve akran ilişkileri, özel gereksinimli öğrencilerin öğretim sürecinde karşılaştığı engeller ve öğretici önerileri olmak üzere altı temada incelenmiştir. Bulgulardan hareketle deneyimlerine başvurulan öğreticilerin özel gereksinimli bireylere yabancı dil öğretiminde mesleki açıdan gelişmeye istekli, öğretme konusunda büyük bir motivasyona sahip, farklılıklara duyarlı ve çok yönlü profile sahip oldukları tespit edilmiştir. Buna karşın başta görünmez engelliler olan özel gereksinimli öğrenciyi tanılayabilme, sınıf yönetimi, engel türüne göre materyal bulma veya hazırlama, engel türüne yönelik özel öğretimi planlama, ölçme değerlendirme gibi birçok konuda da zorluk yaşadıkları ve bu zorlukları aşmak için hem akademik açıdan hem yönetimden yeterli desteğin alınamadığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.

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Cite This Article

Boylu, E., Süğümlü, Ü. (2025). Students with Special Needs in Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language: Affective and Instructional Challenges. Uludağ Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, Cilt: 38 Sayı: 2, 503–531. https://doi.org/10.19171/uefad.1607761

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