Problems encountred by the foreign elementary school students who study in Turkey and sollution offers

The objective of this study is to present the problems encountered by the foreign elementary school students who study in Turkey during education procces, the problems encountered by teachers about foreign students during education procces, the problems encountered by parents about their children during education procces and to offer solutions to these problems. The study group of the research involves a total of 15 teachers, namely 8 classroom teachers and 7 branch teachers, who serve in Ata Private Elementary School and Ölüdeniz Elementary School located in Fethiye county of Muğla province, 22 foreign elementary school students who study in these schools and 11 student parents. 3 different semi-structured focus group interview forms were prepared, namely the data necessary for ensuring that the research achieves the specified goal, the types of problems encountered by teachers about foreign students during education procces, the types of problems encountered by foreign students and parents at education process and the solutions offered to these problems. Data were obtained as interview and focus group interview via video and sound recording. The data obtained were deciphered and converted to Word file. The analysis of research data was performed on computer using NVİVO 8, a program developed for qualitative research in social sciences. Content analysis technique was employed in the analysis of data.In consequence of the research that was conducted, it was ascertained that the teachers confronted some problems in relation to the foreign students at the education process. These problems include family, education system difference, age, language and cultural problems.It was ascertained that the teachers had performed some studies for the solution of these problems. It was ascertained that the teachers conducted studies such as planning according to multicultural environments, parent support, cultural amalgamation, teaching Turkish, student selection and student-teacher interaction.For the solution of these problems, the teachers made suggestions such as education to parents, multicultural education, individualized program, orientation, student-teacher interaction, private school, school-family collaboration, curriculum change and Turkish child care.It was ascertained that the parents encountered problems such as education system, lack of course materials, teaching Turkish, homework, lack of social activity, counseling, pressure, school-family miscommunication, unhappiness, academic failure and error of evaluation. For the solution of these problems, the parents made suggestions such as teaching Turkish, school-family communication, education system change, increasing social activities, counseling, appreciating academic success and positive behaviors.It was ascertained that the students encountered problems such as native language, cultural differences, academic failure, pressure, nonperformance of education system activities and skill courses, harmony, homework and difficulty of understanding. For the solution of these problems, the students made suggestions such as visualizing courses, separate class for foreign students, evaluation of teachers by students, writing books for foreign students, not comparing students, learning the Turkish history, changing physical environment, holiday terms, counseling, regulating the exam system and organizing social activities.Key Words: Foreign Student, Turkish Teaching, Native Language, Multicultural Education