Examination of secondary school students' communication skills and their attitudes towards the Turkish course in terms of various variables

This study was carried out as a descriptive study in order to examine secondary school students' communication skills and their attitudes towards the Turkish course in terms of various variables. The sample of the study consisted of 822 students receiving education in the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades in Kırşehir city center and districts in the fall semester of the 2018-2019 academic year. The "Personal Information Form" developed by the researcher, the "Communication Skills Assessment Scale", and the "Turkish Course Attitude Scale" were used as data collection tools. According to the findings of the study, the communication skills of the participants show no significant difference according to the variables of the family type, place of residence for the longest period, monthly average income of the family, having a mobile phone, and using social media. On the other hand, females have higher communication skills than males; 7 and 8th grades have higher communication skills than 5 and 6th grades; those whose parents have received secondary education and higher education have higher communication skills than others; those with high levels of proficiency perception in four basic language skills have higher communication skills than those with medium and low levels of proficiency perception; those with high levels of success perception of the Turkish course have higher communication skills than others. The attitudes of the participants towards the Turkish course do not differ according to the family type and the monthly average income of the family. On the other hand, females have a more positive attitude than males; 5th-grade students have a more positive attitude than 6th, 7th and 8th-grade students; those whose parents have received primary education have a more positive attitude than others; those living in the town have a more positive attitude than those living in the village and the city; those who do not have mobile phones have a more positive attitude than those who have mobile phones; those who do not use social media have a more positive attitude than those who use it; those with high levels of proficiency perception in four basic language skills have a more positive attitude than those with medium and low levels of proficiency perception; those with high levels of success perception of the Turkish course have a more positive attitude than others. It was observed that as the positive attitudes towards the Turkish course increased, communication skills also increased. Keywords: Attitude, Communication Skill, Attitude Towards the Turkish Course, Secondary School Students