A study on the use of idioms in the texts in secondary school Turkish course books

Idioms; they are formulaic groups of words that describe a concept, an idea, an event in fewer words and strengthen verbal and written expression. Idioms add liveliness and beauty to the narrative. With idioms, which are the treasures of our national culture, it is aimed for students to use their language well and develop their world of thought. For this reason, it is extremely important to determine that textbooks, which are the main sources of Turkish lessons, contain these cultural products. With this study, by examining the idioms in our Turkish vocabulary in terms of quality and quantity, we examine the contribution of the idioms to the text and their gains for the students. The development of comprehension and expression skikks occurs thanks to the knowledge gained over the years. In order for this development to occur, studentts must frequently encounter idioms and proverbs, which are the treasure of the language. Therefore, this issue should be given importance in the preparation of textbooks, and efforts should be made to enrich them in terms of idioms and proverbs and to eliminate the deficiencies. In order to identify these deficiencies, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade Turkish textbooks belonging to the Ministry of National Education were selected as a sample in the research. These books were examined with the scanning method in terms of containing idioms. The data obtained were identified and developed in terms of revealing the vocabulary to be acquired by the students and making suggestions. The obtained data were examined using the descriptive method by document review. First of all, what is the availability of idioms in the Turkish textbooks selected as a sample according to the themes? What is the frequency of use of these idioms? What are the benefits of idioms for students? The questions were answered. Based on these answers, conclusions were drawn. As a result of the analysis, it is understood that the idioms were chosen according to the theme and the subject covered in the texts. There are also activity sections related to the text covered in each theme. The idioms mentioned in the text are also included in the activity studies. It is anticipated that this study will guide researchers who will work in the field regarding the necessity of teaching idioms to secondary school students. Key Words: Idioms, Turkishtextbooks, Theme, Text, Review