Investigation of the high school students' Zazaki speaking skills: Rural-urban comparison, Bingöl case

According to the UNESCO Atlas of Languages in Danger, published online in 2009, of the more than 6,500 languages spoken worldwide, more than 2,400 are in danger of extinction. According to UNESCO, Zazaki is in the group of endangered languages. While the number of adults speaking the language is high, the number of children learning the language has decreased due to various restrictions. The age of the speakers is a significant factor in the survival of a language. The more children learn a language as their mother tongue, the less likely that language is to become extinct. This study aimed to measure Zazaki receptive and expressive skills of students studying in high schools. The extent to which they speak Zazaki in their daily lives and their attitudes towards Zazaki were also evaluated. In addition, it was evaluated whether there were differences in Zazaki receptive and expressive skills of students living in urban and rural areas, and the reasons were investigated. With this study, various suggestions were made on how Zazaki could be used more actively in daily life and what kind of studies should be carried out with the support of both state institutions and non-governmental organizations.