Student opinions about web-based applications for writing skills in teaching Turkish as a foreign language

Writing skill, which is one of the four basic skills that are desired to be acquired in teaching Turkish to foreigners, is a difficult skill for instructors and students. Especially in recent years, as our writing habits have changed and the use of technology has taken up a large place in our lives, it is important to integrate technology and writing skills. The student profile is also changing in the new millennium, so an education system that meets the needs of the student in this new profile must be adopted. Web-based applications are tools that can be easily used by instructors in the development of writing skills in teaching Turkish, and in this study, the contribution of these tools to students' writing skills will be evaluated and student opinions will be included in this context. In this study, it was examined whether some selected web tools had a positive impact on the academic success of students learning Turkish as a foreign language in terms of gaining writing skills. At the beginning of the study, information was given about teaching Turkish to foreigners as a broad field, the web tools used were introduced, and the research carried out within 6 weeks with 34 foreign students who continued to receive education at the B2 level at Süleyman Demirel University Turkish Teaching Application and Research Center in the 2022-2023 academic year. Student opinions are included in the context of the effect of Web2.0 tools in Turkish Language Teaching on students' written expression skills. Exploratory sequential mixed design with pretest-posttest control group, which is the most widely used method in research in the field of educational sciences, was used. The study group of the research includes 34 students studying at B2 level at the Turkish Language Teaching Application and Research Center within Süleyman Demirel University. The writing skills of students in two different classes, divided into experimental and control groups, were measured in the study. In this study, quantitative analyzes of the applications made with students were made using the XLSTAT program. The suitability of the values resulting from the pre-test and post-test measurements to normal distribution was examined, and due to the low sample volume, ShapiroWilk test statistics results were taken as basis. As a result of this study, although there was no statistically significant difference in the experimental group, it was observed that web tools were compatible with the writing habits of new millennium students and contributed positively to their writing skills. On the other hand, the opinions of the experimental group students were consulted with the qualitative evaluation made in the light of these quantitative data. In the context of evaluating students' opinions, content analysis was carried out using the MAXQDA program. As a result of this analysis, it was determined that web tools had a positive contribution to writing skills. Key words: Writing Skills, Web Tools, Teaching Turkish to Foreigners