Analysis of evidential functions of morphemes "-DI" and "-mIş" in teaching Turkish as a foreign language

As the grammatical category in which the proposition expressed by the speaker and the relevant source and type of information is specified, evidentiality has different semantic features and marking forms in languages. In Turkish, the source of information is marked grammatically with morphemes ''-DI'' and ''-mIş''. In teaching Turkish as a foreign language, it is seen that learners who have typological differences between their mother tongue and target language have some difficulties in learning evidential functions. In this study, in order to analyse the evidential function of morphemes ''-DI'' and ''-mIş'' in terms of form, meaning and use, 3 units from Yedi İklim Turkish Set A1, A2 and B2 course books prepared by Yunus Emre Institute and 5 units from Yeni Hitit Turkish for Foreigners 1, 2 and 3 course books prepared by Ankara University were examined using the document analysis method. As a result of analysis, the evidential functions of ''-DI'' such as ''witness, certainty, direct experience, definiteness'' and ''-mIş'' such as ''non-witness, uncertainty, indirect experience, doubt, hearsay, rumor, quote, contempt'' have been reached. It is seen that in Yeni Hitit course books, the grammar is taught explicitly and the form is emphasized, however activities are mostly far from the context. In Yedi İklim course books, grammar is taught implicitly, meaning and use are emphasized rather than form and activities are given in the context. Within this framework, in order to comprehend the activities, it is thought that meaning and use as well as form should be taken into consideration.