Paraphrasing techniques on writing skills used by the learners of Turkish as a foreign language (B1 level)

The aim of this study is to describe the situation of Turkish learners as a foreign language in terms of using paraphrasing techniques in writing skills at B1 level. In this study, descriptive scanning model was used from qualitative research methods. As the subject of the research is to describe the use of the paraphrasing techniques of Turkish learners as a foreign language, this situation has been tried to be defined within and as such. This study was attended by 86 students between the ages of 21-30 who were Turkish learners in Turkish preparation B1 in the 2016-2017 academic year at Dokuz Eylül University Language Education Application and Research Center. Izmir has been used as a data collection tool by shortening a text consisting of 25 sentences in Turkish B1 course book for foreigners. The resulting information is assessed using content analysis method. "Sentence" is taken as an evaluation unit. The result of this study is that the students did not consciously use a paraphrasing technique in their writing activities. Especially, when asked a desired text paraphrasing, in expression it has been observed that they generally do word-to-word or they do word-to-word grammatical forms. It has been observed that in lexical paraphrasing students prefer to use of significant words in a large proportion of synonym words. In general, we can say that learners have learned enough about paraphrasing. This shows that learners proficient in understanding, meaning and transferring what they are reading. Keywords: Paraphrasing, strategy, linguistic skills, reading, writing