Teachers' opinions on teaching Turkish as a foreign language to visually impaired people: A needs analysis and material design recommendations

Studies are being conducted both domestically and internationally for the teaching of Turkish as a foreign language. Teaching Turkish as a foreign language is an important field for cultural diplomacy. This field has found opportunities for development due to migration and significant cultural projects. As the teaching of Turkish spreads for various reasons, the student audience it addresses is diversifying. The language needs of the diversified student population are also changing. There are limited efforts in teaching Turkish as a foreign language specifically for students classified under special education. These efforts need to increase and be of high quality. Indeed, students with disabilities can request to learn Turkish by applying to Turkish language teaching centers domestically or institutions abroad engaged in Turkish language teaching activities. According to the human rights model, every individual has the right to education. This research addresses the topic of teaching Turkish as a foreign language to visually impaired individuals, which has found limited space in the literature. The aim was to gather basic information and propose material design recommendations that would form the basis for teaching Turkish as a foreign language to visually impaired individuals. For this purpose, a needs analysis was conducted. Turkish language teachers and classroom teachers teaching Turkish were consulted. A total of 14 teachers were interviewed, including 5 Turkish language teachers and 9 classroom teachers. Two expert opinions were also obtained through 14 semi-structured interview questions. These questions focused on problems and solutions related to reading, writing, listening, speaking, grammar instruction, vocabulary teaching, measurement, and evaluation encountered by teachers in their Turkish language classes. Teachers with foreign students in their classes were also asked about the challenges they face. Teachers responded to the questions in written form or in audio recordings according to their preferences. The answers were transcribed and transferred to an Excel program. The data obtained were analyzed through qualitative data analysis. The data were coded and divided into themes and sub-themes. In addition, based on the findings of the study, recommendations for materials to be used in teaching Turkish as a foreign language to visually impaired individuals were presented, considering existing literature on language teaching to visually impaired individuals, principles of material design for visually impaired individuals, and technological developments. The concretization and implementation of these recommendations are important for the field of teaching Turkish as a foreign language to visually impaired individuals. It is also believed that this will help to close the gap in materials in this field.