L1 and L2 dictionaries in Turkish teaching as a foreign language

The aim of this study is to determine whether dictionaries prepared in the first language (L1) or in the target language (L2) are effective in teaching Turkish to foreigners. For this purpose, 38 of 76 students who learn Turkish as a foreign language constituted the experimental group and 38 of them constituted the control group. In the study, an experimental design with pretest-posttest control group, which is defined as a two-factor design, was used. The experimental and control group students were taught A1 level Turkish by the researcher for 6 weeks. In the experimental group, Turkish words were taught through vocabulary cards with Arabic explanations; in the control group, Turkish words were taught with Turkish explanations of Turkish words, which is the existing vocabulary learning-teaching method in institutions such as TÖMER. In addition, in the learning environment of the experimental group, Arabic-supported Turkish teaching was carried out, while in the learning environment of the control group, Turkish teaching was carried out in which Arabic was not used and only the target language (Turkish) was used. The research was conducted in a SIBA Education and Counseling Institution located in Haliliye district of Şanlıurfa province. The experimental (N=50) and control (N=50) groups of the study were determined within the scope of simple random sampling method. As a measurement tool, the "Word Usage Achievement Test" developed by the researcher was applied. According to the results of the study, it is understood that L1 (Arabic/native language) does not affect the vocabulary teaching in L2 (Turkish/target language) either negatively or positively and does not create a significant difference. Keywords: Teaching Turkish as a foreign language; Teaching word; L1 and L2