Comparative analysis of middle school 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade Turkish textbooks in terms of including proverbs and idioms in theme texts

Education and training is a phenomenon that societies care about. For this reason, education and training are expected to contain traces of the lives, thoughts and national, cultural and social elements accumulated in the social memory of societies and to carry them to the next generation. Proverbs and idioms are very important language elements used in the realization of the aims of education and training in this way in terms of carrying such traces. Proverbs and idioms are like the mirror of the society in which they occur. They reflect the lifestyle, traditions and customs of the society they belong to, in short, the culture. Proverbs and idioms are very useful language elements that can be used in Turkish lessons in terms of expressing thoughts more effectively and permanently. These elements should be given more place in Turkish lessons, which have an important place. The frequency of use of proverbs and idioms, which have important traces of a nation's culture, in Turkish textbooks is very important. Turkish textbooks (5,6,7 and 8th grade levels) prepared by the Ministry of National Education and taught in secondary schools were selected as samples and examined by scanning method. The obtained data were evaluated by using the descriptive method through document analysis. In the study, in which the comparative evaluations of the theme texts in these books are made in terms of including proverbs and idioms, it is seen that proverbs are either not included at all or very little in the theme texts. The use of idioms varies according to grade levels. This situation causes deficiencies in the skill development of students at the point of meeting with social memory and abstract meaning. The study consists of the first part, where the introduction, research and information are given, the second part where the conceptual framework is presented, the third part where the data are presented, and the results and evaluations parts where the data about the subject discussed in the study are interpreted, answers to the assumptions are sought, and suggestions are presented.