An investigation into the grammar of the listening sections in Istanbul: A Turkish Course for International Students

This thesis aims to find out to what extent the listening sections of books used in teaching Turkish as a second language represent the grammar topics taught in each unit. To this ends, it investigates the listening sections of a book frequently used in such environments, İstanbul: A Turkish Course for International Students. In particular, it tries to find out if the listening sections of the book were prepared with in intent to support grammar teaching. This was done by checking (i) the percentage of grammar topics of each unit as used in the listening sections (ii) whether each occurrence had the particular function taught in that unit and (iii) whether the listening sections throughout the books and the units in those books were consistent with respect to (i) and (ii). Ultimately, all books in the Yeni İstanbul Series (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1) were examined and 132 listening passages (including the videos at the end of the units) were transcribed. The results indicate that there is a continuous decline beginning from A1 up to C1. The representation ratios of grammatical items in the listening passages are as follows: 0.51 in A1, 0.41 in A2, 0.14 in B1, 0.89 in B2 and 0.42 in C1. This indicates that the listening passages support grammar teaching better in beginning levels that in intermediate and advanced levels.