Vocabulary in Turkish textbooks prepared for foreigners and vocabulary in written expression of learners of Turkish as a foreign language

When it comes to words in foreign language teaching, questions like "What to teach, how much to teach and when to teach?" are always asked. Researchers suggest that the most frequent and extensive words of languages should be taught first. In this regard, the research question of this study is "What are the vocabulary items in the textbooks for foreigners and in the written expression of the learners of Turkish as a foreign language, and what is the frequency and extensiveness of these vocabulary items?" Two studies on textbooks and the written expression of the learners were conducted with the purpose of analyzing the vocabulary items in Turkish textbooks for foreigners and in the written expression of the learners of Turkish as a foreign language. Quantitative research and survey model were applied in the part of the thesis that is related to textbooks. In order to analyze the vocabulary in the textbooks and describe its distribution on language levels, 15 Turkish textbooks for foreigners (A1, A2, B1, B2 and C1 levels from Gazi, Yeni Hitit and İstanbul textbook sets) were selected as sample. The data in the textbooks was collected by document analysis. In the analysis of frequency and extensiveness of the vocabulary items, descriptive analysis was applied. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were applied together in the part of the thesis that is related to written expression of learners. Survey method was used for the part where quantitative research method was applied. In order to analyze the vocabulary items in written expression of learners, 500 students (in A1, A2, B1, B2 and C1 levels) learning Turkish as a foreign language (in Turkish language centers of Gaziantep University, Ankara University and Istanbul University) were taken as sample. The data in the written expression of the learners was collected by document analysis. Descriptive analysis was applied in the analysis of frequency of the vocabulary items. Phenomenology was used for the part where qualitative research method was applied. 25 learners who studied Turkish from the beginning of A1 level to the end of C1 (in the Turkish language centers of Ankara University and Istanbul University) were chosen as the study population in order to analyze the extensiveness of the words in learners' written expression and distribution of these words on language levels. The data from the written expression was collected by document analysis and this data was analyzed using content analysis. The analysis of the data revealed the following results: Turkish textbooks for foreigners do not have an agreement on which vocabulary items to teach, in which levels to teach them and how many of them to teach. Only one set of textbooks has an orderly progress of vocabulary items from A1 to C1. The total number of vocabulary items provided until the end of teaching period by a whole set differs from one set to another. Additionally, extensiveness of vocabulary items provided until the end of teaching period by sets of Turkish textbooks is quite low. When the usage of a word in learners' written expression and textbooks was analyzed, it was seen that the levels in which the word was used differed. When the 15 Turkish textbooks and written expression of 500 learners of Turkish were analyzed and compared as a whole, it was concluded that the most frequent 2000 words were mostly the same and the words that learners need for their written expression mostly existed in the textbooks. In this regard, it can be concluded that the vocabulary lists, which were created by distributing the vocabulary from 15 Turkish textbooks for foreigners into levels, can be used in the field of teaching Turkish as a foreign language. Key Words: Turkish Language Education, Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language, Turkish Textbooks for Foreigners, Word Frequency, Word Extensiveness