An analysis of the writing errors of learners of Turkish as a foreign language based on different variables

This study aims to examine the spelling mistakes made by 10 students studying at Gümüşhane University Turkish Language Teaching Application and Research Centre at A1, A2, B1, B2 and C1 levels according to different variables. Based on this main purpose, answers to 6 sub-problems were sought. Qualitative research method was preferred in the research and the findings obtained were subjected to descriptive analysis and classified in the classification file prepared by using the classification techniques in the literature. Purposive sampling method was used in the selection of the study group. The necessary analyses were made, and the data were interpreted in the 'results and discussion' section. As a result of the research, misspelling of words and misuse of tense suffixes came to the fore. In morphological mistakes, incorrect use of directional and indicative case suffixes was observed, while in phonological mistakes, the use of the letter 'i' instead of the letter 'ı' was found to be the most common mistake. In syntactic mistakes, the use of words in the wrong place and the preference of unstructured sentence structures come to the fore. It was observed that the types of mistakes differed between the levels, but in general, the number of mistakes decreased at higher levels. While the density of spelling mistakes in expository texts was generally higher, it was found to be less in narrative texts. When analysed according to different variables, it was found that students who watched Turkish films made fewer spelling mistakes than those who did not watch Turkish films, similarly, students who read Turkish newspapers and magazines made fewer mistakes than those who did not read Turkish newspapers and magazines, those who wrote Turkish diaries, essays and letters made fewer spelling mistakes than those who did not write Turkish diaries, essays and letters, and students who actively used and followed social media were found to have significantly fewer spelling mistakes than those who did not use social media to learn Turkish and follow pages that share posts. These results are important in terms of determining the types of spelling mistakes that teachers should focus on in teaching Turkish as a foreign language in accordance with all language levels.