Language functions of Turkish in the aspect of teaching Turkish as a foreign language

Communicative and action-oriented foreign language teaching aiming to improve students' communication skills instead of imputing theory is based on language functions defined as the purpose of language use, because an effective communication skill is maintained through acknowledging the language functions and using them when necessary. Thus, in order to achieve a functional and communicative foreign language teaching, it is necessary to determine students' needs in target language in other words their need in language functions. This situation also applies to teaching Turkish as a foreign language that has recently been escalated significantly in both theory and application fields. However, there is no needs analysis research that has been conducted on language functions in the scope of teaching Turkish as a foreign language in the literature. The aim of this thesis is to determine the language functions needs in daily life of those who learn Turkish as a foreign language, based on the views of the instructors working in Turkish teaching research and application centers affiliated to universities in Turkey and the Turkish language students in these centers. As a result, it is aimed to shape a recent list of language functions that is based on the analysis of needs in teaching Turkish as a foreign language. The data were collected through face-to-face and online interviews in this qualitative case study model thesis. The sample of this thesis consists of 50 instructors working at 28 different universities and 200 students studying at 16 different universities in Turkey. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview form and analyzed according to descriptive analysis and content analysis techniques. The language functions needed and not needed in teaching Turkish as a foreign language were determined and the reasons for these were discussed in the thesis. As a result of the thesis, "Recent List of Language Functions of Teaching Turkish As A Foreign Language" consists of 6 themes, 20 categories and 180 codes was shaped after an extensive analysis of needs. The thesis is expected to contribute to communicative and functional Turkish teaching in both theory and application aspects.