Teachers' reviews on curriculum of Turkish as a foreign language

In recent years, the increasing interest in teaching Turkish as a foreign language has brought some problems. In this research, the problems related to the field are determined according to the opinions of 11 female and 4 male instructors working in A.Ü. TÖMER during 2019-2020 academic year within the framework of curriculum. The data were obtained through semi-structured interviews, qualitative research methods, descriptive analysis and content analysis method were used to determine the views related to the themes and reviews of teachers are directly quoted. In this study, problems encountered in teaching Turkish as a foreign language are grouped under five main subjects such as the objectives, content, learning experiences, assessment and evaluation. After the problems were identified with the information obtained from the answers of the lecturers, they were evaluated and solutions were proposed. According to the data obtained from the lecturers related to the first sub-problem of the study, it was concluded that the objectives were not clearly defined and that the time given to achieve the objectives was not sufficient for all levels/grammar/programs. In addition, it was determined that not all objectives are appropriate for the student level. According to the data obtained from the lecturers related to the second sub-problem of the research, it was found that there is no curriculum they follow. Since there is no standard curriculum in the field of teaching Turkish as a foreign language, it is determined that the order of the subjects in the textbooks is the base of the program. It is determined that there are missing and incorrect aspects in the textbooks used by the instructors. In addition to this, it was revealed that the students had difficulty in learning process due to the grammatical and phonetic structure of Turkish. According to the data obtained from the lecturers related to the third sub-problem of the research, it was found that instructional technologies were used in the classroom environment, but there were problems from time to time due to insufficient conditions. Since there is no undergraduate program in the field, it has been determined that the need of academic staff in this field is tried to be solved with internship and course programs, but these programs do not have a standard. In addition, it was found out that the individual differences of the students had an effect on the teaching process. According to the data obtained from the lecturers related to the fourth sub-problem of the research, it was determined that there were problems in assesment and evaluation. It was determined that the exams prepared for reading and listening were above the level of the student and that speaking and writing subjects were not always appropriate. In addition, in order to make a valid and reliable assessment in speaking and writing exams, it is necessary to improve the charts used. When the studies conducted in the field of teaching Turkish as a foreign language were examined, it was found that there were more studies related to grammar and phonetics and there were limited researches on the curriculums related to the field. It is thought that this study will be the source of further studies in this field.