PLACE OF SOCIAL MEDIA, PARTICULARLY FACEBOOK, IN THE LAEARNING AND TEACHING OF TURKISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

TÜRKÇENİN YABANCI DİL OLARAK ÖĞRENİMİNDE VE ÖĞRETİMİNDE SOSYAL MEDYANIN ÖZELLİKLE FACEBOOK’UN YERİ

Abstract

Today, in language teaching, social media and technological environments are used. Thanks to social media, groups are formed and, by means of Facebook, Twitter, Weblogs, supplementary materials are shared in language teaching. Many students evaluate both themselves and one another with their writings.Until today, a lot of methods have been developed and applied in relation to language teaching. Although these methods seem to alternative to one another, they are generally accepted as complementary methods and a method complements another instead of denying it. We can list the basic reasons why language teaching methods continuously change with every passing day as developing technological possibilities, more transparent borders all over the world due to the Internet and, depending on this, increasing cultural communication and interaction. Today, the most common internet network which people use to establish communication has become social media. The study was carried out with the participation of the foreign students learning Turkish as a foreign language at Uludag University Turkish Teaching Application and Research Center (ULUTOMER). The purpose of the study is to determine how often and how much the students use the social networking sites when learning Turkish and how much these social networking sites contribute to their learning. When the contents and the data in hand are examined, it is observed that videos, images, music and various methods which students and teachers find in these social networking sites are used in Turkish teaching and learning. In this study, using social networking sites, particularly Facebook, as a supplementary element in teaching Turkish as a foreign language teaching is discussed. In our study, qualitative research studies were benefited from and the data obtained from our students in the proficiency groups of A2, B1, B2 and C1.Language is nested in emotions and thoughts. Emotions and thoughts are communicated to others through language. The basic means of this communication is words. Even in mother language, when words are not used properly, messages are not understood. For this reason, in foreign language teaching, vocabulary teaching should be attached particular importance. In foreign language teaching, words should be pronounced correctly and activities aiming at this should be frequently included. In order to achieve the permanency of words, practices based on audiovisual aids should be emphasized. Language is a system having a systematic and, at the same time, complicated structure. In this structure, every language has its onw rules. Moreover, with its own systemtic, Turkish has an important place among world languages. The interest in Turkish having a foundation going back hundreds of years and being among languages mostly spoken in the world is gradually increasing in parallel to developments in the World. When the historical periods of the Turkish language are examined, its rooted history attracts attention. In this historical process, Turkish has become a language which other nations want to learn as well. There are a lot of problems encountered in relation to the teaching of Turkish as a foreign language carried out by various centers both in our country and abroad. There are a lot of studies in the literature in relation to these problems (Açık, 2008; Alyılmaz, 2010; Arslan and Adem, 2010; Barın, 2004; Büyükaslan, 2007; Candaş Karababa, 2009; Demir and Açık, 2011; Derman, 2010; Doğan, 1989; Dolunay, 2005; Göçer, 2007; Göçer, 2009; Güneyli and Demirel, 2006; Güzel, 2004; İsmail, 2000; İşcan, 2011; Kara, 2011; Kont, 2000; Köse, 2004; Mavaşoğlu and Tüm, 2011; Öksüz, 2011; Özbay, 2010; Özdemir, 2012; Özyürek, 2009; Toprak, 2004; Tosun, 2005; Ungan, 2006; Ünlü, 2011; Vandewalle, 2000; Yağmur, 2006; Yüce, 2005a; Yüce, 2005b; Yücer, 2011; Er, Biçer and Bozkırlı, 2012). These studies determined that the Turkish teaching programs did not take the mother languages, ages, educational levels and cultures of foreign students into consideration, the methods and the materials used in these programs fell short of responding to the requirements of the time. Moreover, various studies were made to eliminate these problems. According to Er, Biçer and Bozkırlı, there are some problems in relation to the teaching of Turkish to foreigners. According to Bozkırlı (2012), these problems arise from the followings: the language characteristics of Turkish, the Turkish teaching’s lacking different branches, insufficient teaching programs, insufficient resources to benefit from in teaching Turkish as a foreign language, insufficient tools and materials, insufficient communication between educational environments and teaching staff members charged at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, insufficient methods and techniques, the alphabet, the institutions being interested in Turkish teaching, lack of a state policy related with the teaching of Turkish to foreigners. Until today, a lot of methods have been developed and applied in relation to language teaching. Although these methods seem to alternative to one another, they are generally accepted as complementary methods and a method complements another instead of denying it. We can list the basic reasons why language teaching methods continuously change with every passing day as developing technological possibilities, more transparent borders all over the world due to the Internet and, depending on this, increasing cultural communication and interaction. Candaş Karababa (2009) emphasized the necessity of developing programs in the teaching of Turkish as a foreign language in accordance with the requirements and levels of learners and regulating the course programs in line with their age levels. The course subjects which people who are members of different language families have difficulty learning and the ones which they learn easily are different. Students coming from the Turkish states and communinities are more

Özet

Günümüzde dil öğretiminde sosyal medya ve teknolojik ortamlar kullanılmaktadır. Sosyal medya sayesinde gruplar oluşturulmakta ve Facebook, Twitter, Webloglar aracılığıyla dil öğretimine yardımcı materyaller paylaşılmaktadır. Birçok öğrenci yazdıklarıyla hem kendilerini hem de birbirlerini değerlendirmektedirler. Dil öğretimi konusunda günümüze kadar pek çok yöntem geliştirilmiş ve uygulanmıştır. Bu yöntemler birbirlerine alternatif yöntemler gibi görünse de genel olarak tamamlayıcı yöntemler olarak kabul edilmekte ve bir metot diğerini inkâr etme yerine tamamlamaktadır. Dil öğretim yöntemlerinin sürekli değişmesinin temel nedenlerini her geçen gün gelişen teknolojik olanaklar, internetin bütün dünyada sınırları daha şeffaf hale getirmesi ve buna bağlı olarak kültürel iletişim ve etkileşimin hızlanması olarak sıralayabiliriz. Günümüzde insanların iletişim kurmak için kullandığı en yaygın internet ağı sosyal medya olmuştur. Araştırma Uludağ Üniversitesi Türkçe öğretimi Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezinde (ULUTÖMER) Türkçeyi yabancı dil olarak öğrenen yabancı uyruklu öğrencilerin katılımıyla gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmanın amacı öğrencilerin Türkçe öğrenirken sosyal ağ paylaşımlarından daha çok hangilerinden ve ne kadar yararlandıkları ve bunun öğrenime katkısıdır. İçerikler ve eldeki veriler incelendiğinde video, resim, müzik, öğrencilerin ve öğretmenlerin buldukları değişik yöntemlerin bu sosyal ağ paylaşımlarında Türkçe öğretme ve öğrenmede kullanıldığı görülmektedir. Bu çalışmada sosyal ağ paylaşımlarının, özellikle Facebook'un bir yardımcı unsur olarak yabancı dil olarak Türkçe öğretiminde kullanılması üzerinde durulmaktadır. Araştırmamızda nitel araştırmalardan yararlanılmıştır ve A2, B1, B2, C1 seviye gruplarındaki öğrencilerimizin verileri değerlendirilmiştir.