Adaptation of Hasan Kallimci's epic novel "Kayadaki Kurt" for teaching Turkish as a foreign language at B1 level

Supplementary reading books used in teaching Turkish as a foreign language are essential resources that allow learners to understand the grammar rules of the language and its culture, history, and social structure. These materials help students develop a reading culture and teach the language at their own pace while boosting their confidence. In this study, the aim is to create a material that B1 level readers learning Turkish can use in free reading activities, based on Hasan Kallimci's epic novel narrating the Ergenekon Legend. The Ergenekon Legend is a significant part of Turkish mythology, symbolizing the birth of a nation and the struggle for survival. This study seeks to provide students with values related to the culture and mythology of the target language while also ensuring an efficient reading process through the prepared reading comprehension activities. Although reading materials are created according to levels in the literature, it is noted that works of children's literature are not utilized, and especially adaptations in the novel genre are especially rare. To address this deficiency, Hasan Kallimci's novel "Kayadaki Kurt," an essential work in children's literature, has been adapted to the B1 level. When selecting a book to serve the purpose of the study, care was taken to ensure it does not contain deep and artistic dialogues, that the words are at a level that can be adapted to the target audience, and that it presents structures related to the culture and history of the target language through an exciting plot. During the adaptation process, the vocabulary and grammar structures used up to the B1 level in the Yunus Emre Institute's Yedi İklim Turkish Teaching Set were checked, and for activities aimed at developing reading comprehension skills, the B1 level achievements outlined in the Turkish Language Teaching Program for Foreigners by the Turkish Maarif Foundation were accepted as criteria. The selected text was adapted according to the text adaptation techniques presented in Bölükbaş's (2015) study. Additionally, during the lexical modifications and word selection process, Aydın's (2015) list of likely words that students need to know and Ölker's (2011) Frequency Dictionary of Written Turkish, along with the current dictionary from the Turkish Language Association (TDK), a reputable source for the Turkish language, were used as the basis. A pictorial dictionary for mythological concepts and cultural elements mentioned in the text was created at the end of the adaptation. In addition, a Turkish-Turkish dictionary was compiled for the words. This dictionary is included to encourage students to use Turkish resources and to deepen their understanding of the language, as it provides explanations in Turkish, thereby reinforcing their language skills.