Investigation of the effect of age variable on acquisition and learning processes of Turkish as a foreign language

It is seen that the age variable, which is effective in the learning processes, is ignored in planning, in implementation and evaluation of the learning processes of target language students learning Turkish as a foreign language in Turkey in a qualified manner. With this study, it is aimed to determine the current situation regarding how language learning takes place in line with the ages of individuals of different ages. It was aimed to draw attention to the importance of the age factor by determining whether the age variable makes a significant difference on the language learning processes of foreign students. For these purposes, in the second semester of the 2019-2020 academic year, 49 target language students of different age levels studying at a primary school, a secondary school, an international high school in Bursa province Osmangazi district and at Bursa Uludağ University Turkish Teaching Center and Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 15 teachers/lecturers who teach Turkish to these students. In order to examine all aspects of the current problem situation, the textbooks determined from the learning resources that ensure the implementation of the learning-teaching processes within the plan and program were also examined in terms of age variable through the developed evaluation form. In this study, in which the qualitative research method was used, case study and document analysis methods were used in order to examine the problem situation in all aspects and to support the data obtained. Within the scope of the study, the semi-structured "Effect of Age Variable While Learning Turkish as a Foreign Language -Student Interview Form-" for foreign students, which was developed by us for this study by scanning the literature, and semi-structured "The Effect of Age Variable When Learning Turkish as a Foreign Language - Teacher/Lecturer Interview Form" and "Evaluation Form of Turkish as a Foreign Language Teaching Books In terms of Age Variable", which was developed to examine the effect of the age variable on the textbooks, was used as a data collection tool. Content analysis method was used to analyze all data obtained by qualitative research method. It has been understood that the age variable is effective on the processes of learning Turkish as a foreign language in line with the opinions of foreign students studying at different ages and at different levels and the teachers/instructors who teach Turkish as a target language to these students. When we examine the effect of the age variable on the textbooks, it was concluded that the books are generally sufficient in terms of general appearance, they are partially sufficient in terms of visual design and they should be developed, they are sufficient in terms of content, but they should be developed in terms of the relationship with daily life, transferring the acquisitions with appropriate activities, the appropriateness of the text types and lengths, etc. and that they should be developed in terms of measurement and evaluation. Keywords: Age variable, interview, textbook, Turkish as a foreign language.