An action research on developing international students' reading skills for general academic purposes in Turkish

Research on the academic needs of international students in teaching Turkish as a foreign/second language shows that as students start to study in their departments, they have problems related with academic language skills. One of these academic skill areas is academic reading. Academic reading, which requires high-level reading comprehension skills, forms the basis of academic language skills (academic listening, academic writing and academic speaking). The reading instruction that students receive in general purpose language courses is not sufficient for academic reading, which requires high-level reading comprehension skills. In order to address these problems, academic Turkish lessons have been started to be given to students after C1 level; however, the development of academic reading skills takes time and research in this field shows that students have difficulty in academic reading despite academic Turkish lessons. Accordingly, it is thought that providing academic reading instruction within the framework of language teaching for general academic purposes starting from the B1 level, will contribute to the development of students' academic reading skills. In line with this purpose, based on the literature, skills for the development of students' academic reading skills starting from the B1 level were determined. In order to develop these skills, activities were prepared within the framework of informative reading texts and implemented with the students throughout the B2 level. This study, whose implementation process was designed as an action research, covered a six-week course period and lasted nine weeks in total. Qualitative and quantitative data collection tools were utilized in this process. As a result of the findings, it was determined that the training was effective, improved students' academic reading skills, and that academic reading training can be given in addition to general purpose language courses. In addition, it was seen that the training increased students' awareness of academic reading, supported their academic reading development and helped them develop positive attitudes towards academic reading. Within the scope of the research, it has been determined that the development of reading skills for general academic purposes at B2 level is beneficial and necessary for the development of academic language skills, and in line with the findings, it is suggested that in addition to Turkish language classes for general purposes, academic reading skills should be taught from B1 mid-intermediate level within the framework of language teaching for general academic purposes.