Development of a Turkish curriculum for foreign students in higher education

The aim of this study is to develop an original Turkish language teaching curriculum for the academic, social and cultural language needs of higher education students who learn Turkish as a foreign language. For this purpose, a comprehensive needs analysis was conducted and a Turkish Language Teaching Curriculum for Foreign Students in Higher Education was designed in the context of the identified needs. The research process was structured based on qualitative research designs. Throughout the study, a literature review was conducted at regular intervals, and current studies on teaching Turkish to foreigners and teaching curriculum were examined. The findings obtained from different data sources were organized to form the basis for the curriculum design. In case of need, new data was accessed, and comparative analyses were made, thus maintaining the depth and timeliness of the findings. In the process, the findings were reviewed and reinterpreted in a spiral and repetitive manner, and detailed and comprehensive conclusions were tried to be drawn by making sense of the relationship networks between the findings. All the results obtained were subjected to re-analysis to evaluate the needs assessment process, and the results were synthesized to reach the results/needs. Following the evaluation of the needs assessment process, the prioritization of the needs was started. In this context, the identified needs were categorized and presented to the expert opinion and the boundaries of the program design were determined by deciding on the priority order of the needs. Then, the general objectives and learning outcomes of the curriculum were determined and the content creation phase began. After the instructional processes were organized and assessment activities were selected, the draft curriculum was presented to the expert opinion. In the context of expert evaluation and feedback, necessary arrangements were made, and the program was made ready for implementation. Finally, suggestions were made for the implementers of the draft curriculum and researchers.