Technology assisted tool development and implementation for improvement of vocation in teaching Turkish as a foreign language

The rapid developments in science and technology in recent years have also affected education and training. In addition to traditional teaching methods, technology-supported tools and applications and digital content have started to be preferred in the lessons. The use of technological and digital materials in teaching Turkish as a foreign language has started to become widespread, but the desired level has not been reached yet. For this reason, there is a need to develop more tools and materials in teaching Turkish as a foreign language. The main purpose of the present study is to reveal the effect of vocabulary teaching through technology-supported tools on the success of international students learning Turkish and their motivation towards learning Turkish. To fulfill the stated aims, the mixed research method was used within the scope of the study. In the disseration, embedded (nested) design, one of the mixed research method designs, was used and the quantitative dimension of the research was planned with a semi-experimental design. In the study, first, a technology supported tool was designed for vocabulary teaching and the design process of the tool was carried out according to the ADDIE instructional design model. After the completion of the technology supported tool design, the study was carried out with a total of 40 B1 students, 20 of whom were in the experimental group and 20 in the control group, who were learning Turkish in a Turkish teaching center. Before the application, "Motivation Scale For Learning Turkish as a Foreign Language", demographic information form, and vocabulary achievement test developed by the researcher were applied to the experimental and control group students. The application of the technology-supported tool was carried out only with the students of the experimental group. Additionally, with the same group of students, semi-structured interviewswere conducted. At the end of the application, the Motivation Scale For Learning Turkish as a Foreign Language and the vocabulary achievement test were applied to both the experimental and the control group students. The data of the study were analyzed with SPSS 22.0 program, by using Shaphiro Wilk test, dependent groups t-test, independent groups t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Mann Whitney U test in the analysis phase. Qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis method. The results of the study showed that the vocabulary achievement test scores of the students in the experimental group who were taught vocabulary with a technology-supported tool increased and a statistically significant difference emerged. No significant difference was found in the scores of the control group students. When the motivation scores of the students were examined, no significant difference was found between the pre-research and post-research scores of the experimental and control groups students in the overall scale and scale sub-dimensions. As a result of the interviews with the experimental group students, it was concluded that they liked the technology-supported tool and wanted to use it in other lessons. In conclusion, it is possible to say that vocabulary teaching with a technology-assisted tool increases the success of students in learning vocabulary and that students like the technology-assisted tool. Keywords: Teaching Turkish as a foreign language, Teaching vocabulary, Vocabulary, Technology, Motivation.