Experiences of primary school teachers in teaching Turkish to non-native Turkish speaking students: A case study

The aim of the study is to determine the experiences of primary school teachers in teaching Turkish to the students whose mother tongue is not Turkish. In the study phenomenology design, one of the qualitative research designs, was used. Participants were determined according to criterion-based sampling method. The study was consisted of 36 primary school teachers working in the Yakutiye and Palandöken districts of Erzurum, with Syrian and Afghan refugee students. The research data were collected through a semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers. There are 4 open-ended questions in the interview form prepared with help of the experts in the area. Content analysis technique was used in the analysis of the data. The study examines teachers' experiences under six themes: competence, encountered problems, assessment and evaluation, suggestions and expectations. The study put forwarded the problems encountered during gaining basic language skills due to teacher-student communication problems. The research explains how the assessment and evaluation process was carried out. It also states suggestions and expectations about what should be done during the education and teaching process. At the end of the study, it was concluded that teachers, students and families should take Turkish as a second language courses. It was determined that most of the participants felt themselves inadequate in teaching Turkish to the students whose mother tongue is not Turkish. The study also determined that the participants had problems in the fields of teaching reading, writing and verbal communication to the students and had difficulties in the application of teaching methods into the teaching process. In addition, it was found that during assessment and evaluation process individual development was taken into account, but no detailed information was given about the evaluation criteria. It was articulated that the majority of teachers had language problems with students whose mother tongue was not Turkish. In addition to the language courses, the study underlines that the primary school teachers suggested that it would be beneficial to create social activities with students who have language difficulties, to provide guidance support to them, and to distribute students in the classes at the beginning of the semester with a certain plan. It was concluded that special activities should be carried out within the field of teaching verbal communication. Key Words: Teaching Turkish, Non-Native Turkish Speaking Students, Primary School Teachers.