Evaluation of Anadolu Hikâyeleri in teaching Turkish as a foreign language in terms of culture transfer

In addition to learning the words and grammar structures of the language in the process of learning a foreign language, it is essential to learn the culture developing within the target language so that the learner can communicate correctly and effectively. A number of materials are used to ensure the transfer of culture in teaching Turkish as a foreign language. One of them, storybooks, allows the learner to continue to learn outside the course, while the literary discourse of Turkish allows them to recognize the beauty of the language and the richness of Turkish culture. The subject of our thesis study was selected as the evaluation of Anadolu Hikâyeleri in terms of cultural transfer in the teaching of Turkish as a foreign language, and in this context, the " Anadolu Hikâyeleri Set (A1- A2)" prepared by Yunus Emre Institute was selected as the sample. The thesis study aimed to contribute to the developments in the field of teaching Turkish as a foreign language and to provide data opportunities for newly prepared auxiliary reading books. This study is modeled on scanning from qualitative research patterns. The document review technique was used in the study. The cultural elements in the five books in the Anadolu Hikâyeleri Set were analyzed. The total cultural elements in the books were presented separately for each book and evaluated in terms of hosting cultural elements. The scale of "Cultural Elements and Sub-Elements Reflected in Texts" used by Okur and Keskin (2013) was used in the study. A total of 166 cultural elements were found in the stories consisting of 5 separate books called Anadolu Hikâyeleri. Of these, 29 are under the category of daily life, 43 are interpersonal relations, 25 are values and education, 7 are literature, art, and music, 23 are under the category of traditions and folklore, 8 are social life, 31 are under the category of geography and space. There were 30 cultural elements in the story called Yılkı, 39 in the story called Bayramlık, 20 in Bir Bardak Çay, 42 in the story Kırmızı Ayakkabılar, and 35 in the story Laleye Sor. In the books consisting of 5 separate stories called "Anadolu Hikâyeleri", it was determined that the elements that will ensure the transfer of culture are not distributed equally to the books, and some cultural elements are not mentioned in the books at all. In terms of the distribution of cultural elements, it is seen that the story with the most cultural elements is Kırmızı Ayakkabılar, and the story with the least cultural elements is Bir Bardak Çay. As a result, although cultural elements are not included very intensively at A1-A2 levels, it is necessary to pay attention to the balanced distribution of cultural elements.