A study on 8th grade students' skills in using proverbs and phrases in written expression

Native language education is a fundamental tool for individuals to develop effective communication skills, and this education is of critical importance, especially in the acquisition of writing skills. Writing education provides individuals with the necessary tools to express their thoughts clearly and effectively, and this process includes the development of written expression skills. Vocabulary is one of the basic building blocks of language and directly affects individuals' power of expression. The elements that make up vocabulary include basic vocabulary, terms, idioms, proverbs, relationship words (formulas), formulaic words (aphorisms), reduplications, slang, and jargon. In written expression, the use of these elements increases the richness of the text and the depth of the thoughts expressed. Idioms and proverbs hold a special place, reflecting the colorfulness and cultural depth of the language. These elements allow the language to be enriched not only at the semantic level, but also in cultural and social context. From this point of view, the aim of this research was determined as to determine the frequency of use of proverbs and idioms used by 8th grade students in their written expressions and whether they use them in accordance with their meanings. In the study prepared for these purposes, document analysis, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used. A detailed literature review was conducted before the document analysis. The study group was selected as 8th grade students studying at Afyonkarahisar Erenler Şehit Ömer Sayar Secondary School in the 2023-2024 Academic Year. This sample was chosen because it was easily accessible. The fact that the researcher works at Afyonkarahisar Erenler Şehit Ömer Sayar Secondary School and is currently teaching 8th grade students was effective in this selection. 43 students are in the study group of the research. These students are 11 male and 12 female students in Branch 8/A, and 9 male and 11 female students in Branch 8/B. During the data collection phase, texts written by Erenler village 8/A and 8/B grade students were used. The proverbs and idioms in the texts written by these students were examined. The research lasted for a total of 8 months. The study group was asked to write a text every month. The topics of the texts were presented by the researcher and the participants were expected to create products on these topics. Considering the environmental conditions, socio-economic status, and the characteristics of the generation they were in, the students were asked to write texts on agriculture, trade, family, animal husbandry, education-training, entertainment, culture and technology. In this research, the data was analyzed with the content analysis method. A total of 19 proverbs were used in this study, which was prepared to determine the frequency of use of proverbs and idioms used by 8th grade students in their written expressions and whether they used them in accordance with their meanings. While 11 of these proverbs were used in accordance with their meanings, 9 were not used in accordance with their meanings. When the idioms used in the texts are examined, it is seen that the students who participated in the study used idioms 289 times in the 8 texts they wrote. It can be said that the students' idiom assets and their skills in using these assets are better than proverbs. This study emphasizes the importance of idiom and proverb usage skills of 8th grade students in written expression and the place of these elements in language education. Language is the basis of individuals' ability to express their thoughts, feelings and experiences, and this study provides valuable insights into how enriching vocabulary in written expression, especially the use of idioms and proverbs, can improve students' forms of expression. In this context, it has been concluded that language education programs should be designed to provide students with the skills to use these important language elements effectively.