Turkish as a foreign language teachers' preferences for supplementary reading books and their views on their effectiveness in language teaching

An effective foreign language teaching process aim to support the functional development of the four basic language skills. In pursuit of this goal, a variety of instructional materials are used, with textbooks serving as the primary tool. Among the additional resources that contribute to languge learning, supplementary readings books prepared in accordance with learners' proficiency levels hold a significant place. These materials help reinforce the core structures presented in textbooks by offering repeated exposure within meaningful contexts. In this respect, conducting studies on the evaluation and development of such resources has become essential. Based on this idea, the present study aims to identify which supplementary reading books are prefered by teachers of Turkish as a foreign language and to examine how these books are evaluated in terms of their effectiveness in language instruction. For this purpose, a set of criteria was established regarding which supplementary reading books are used by teachers of Turkish as a foreign language, and how they evaluate this books in terms of their appropriateness for the targeted language proficiency level, their adequacy in developing vocabulary, fostering cultural interaction, and the effectiveness of the post-reading activities. In addition to these criteria, the study also includes suggestions from the teachers regarding the improvement of the books they use, in order to provide a basis for sharing potential recommendations for enhancing these materials. In this study, one of the qualitative research methods, the phenomenology design, was utilized. The study group consisted of 20 teachers who were engaged in teaching Turkish as a foreign language and who employed supplementary reading books in their instruction. The interview technique was chosen as the means of data collection. A semi-structured interview form, developed by the researchers, was used as the data collection instrument for obtaining the interview data. The data derived from the interview form were analyzed through content analysis, carried out within the framework of descriptive analysis. In order to ensure the validity and reliability of the study, the qualitative data analysis software MAXQDA 20 was employed during the analysis process. The findings of the study revealed that the teachers preferred to use supplementary reading books published by tree main institutions: the Ministry of National Educaiton (MEB) PIKTES Publications, the Turkish Maarif Foundation Publications, and the Yunus Emre Institute Yediiklim Publications. When the teachers' views regarding the appropriateness of these books to the targeted proficiency levels were examined, it was observed that the MEB PIKTES supplementary reading books were prepared in a way that corresponded to a level lower than the intended target level, whereas the supplementary reading sets of the Yunus Emre Institute and the Turkish Maarif Foundation were considered to contain structures above the targeted language level. When the teachers' views on the contribution of the books to vocabulary development were examined, it was found that these books were largely evaluated as resources making a significant contribution to the enrichment of vocabulary. At the same time, they were identified as having certain shortcomings open to criticism, particularly regarding the limited or excessive quantity of newly introduced vocabulary and the absence of a glossary section. When evaluated in terms of their contribution to intercultural interaction, the supplementary reading books in question were generally considered by the teachers to be adequate in offering opportunities for comparing different cultures and in addressing universal themes; however, certain shortcomings were expressed with regard to the inclusion of cultures other than Turkish culture. With respect to the effectiveness of the post-reading activities in these books, the teachers' views indicated that such activities were largely regarded as successful, yet they were also criticized in terms of addressing higher-order cognitive skills, being designed to develop all language skills, and including activities that encourage role-play and creativity. In addition to the specified criteria, when the suggestions provided by the teachers regarding the supplementary reading books were examined as a whole, it was observed that recommendations were offered in categories such as formal and visual design, content, vocabulary teaching, post-reading activities, cultural interaction, and the use of additional materials. The findings indicated that while each series of supplementary reading books fulfills its purpose to some extent, there are aspects that require further improvement. Various suggestions were presented to address these areas. In this context, the study is expected to contribute to the literature by revealing the current state of supplementary readings books used in the teaching of Turkish as a foreign language.