A Study On The Word Frequency In Turkish Education As A Foreign Language1

A Study On The Word Frequency In Turkish Education As A Foreign Language1

International Journal of
Turkish Education and
Training
Uluslararası Türkçe
Eğitimi ve Öğretimi Dergisi
Sayfa:61-77
Sayı/Volume: 2
Yıl/Years 1
ISSN: 2458-9462
A Study On The Word Frequency In Turkish Education As A
Foreign Language1
Yabancı Dil Olarak Türkçenin Öğretiminde Kelime Sıklığı
Üzerine Bir Çalışma
Ramazan Kılıçarslan2
, Ferdi Bülbül3
Abstract
Language education is a multidimensional process. During this process, the language
learners are expected to show same level of advance in linguistic skills. It is more difficult
especially in learning languages other than native language. In recent period, the interest of
foreigners in Turkish language has increased, and consequently teaching Turkish language to
foreigners in our country became more common. While teaching Turkish language to
foreigners, effective comprehension of all of the dimensions of linguistic skills is the most
important task for the language teachers. Among the linguistic skills, the process of teaching
and assessing the verbal skills – since it is not as easy-to-measure as reading and writing skills
are – is more difficult. In this study, the word frequency of students at B1 level in Turkish
language education for foreigners is discussed. For this purpose, the students were given
predetermined conversation topics and allowed to make free conversations; the conversations
were recorded. Then the free conversations were translated into text. Written sentences were
analyzed via internet-supported text analysis software, and the word frequencies were
determined. In this study, it was concluded how many words B1 students can utilize, to what
extent the word teaching can be achieved in proportion to targets, and when more sentences are
formed.
Keywords: Turkish education for foreigners, free conversation, debate, word frequency.

1 This study was formed from verbal presentation made in 1st International Conference on
Turkish Language Education as Foreign Language, which was organized on 28th April 2015 in
Belgium.
2 Yrd. Doç. Dr., Kilis 7 Aralık Üniversitesi, Muallim Rıfat Eğitim Fakültesi, Türkçe Eğitimi
Bölümü, e-mail: ramazankilicarslan@kilis.edu.tr
3 Yrd. Doç. Dr., Artvin Çoruh Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Türkçe Eğitimi Bölümü, e-mail:
ferdibulbul@artvin.edu.tr
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Özet
Dil öğretimi çok boyutlu bir süreçtir. Bu süreç içerisinde dil ediniminde bulunanların
dil becerilerinin hepsinde aynı oranda gelişim göstermesi beklenmektedir. Özellikle ana dili
dışında hedef bir dil ediniminde bu daha zordur. Son dönemlerde yabancılar tarafından
Türkçeye ilgi artmış, bunun sonucunda ülkemizdeki yabancılara Türkçe öğretimi de yaygınlık
kazanmıştır. Yabancılara Türkçe öğretirken dil becerilerinin tüm boyutlarının etkili şekilde
kavratılması dil öğreticileri için en önemli görevdir. Dil becerileri içerisinde konuşma
becerisinin -okuma ve yazma becerisinde olduğu gibi kolay ölçülebilir bir özellik
taşımadığından- öğretimi, değerlendirme süreci biraz daha zordur. Bu çalışmada yabancılara
Türkçe öğretiminde B1 seviyesindeki öğrencilerin kelime sıklığı üzerinde durulmaktadır. Bu
amaçla öğrencilere önceden belirlenmiş konuşma konuları verilerek onların serbest konuşma
yapmaları sağlanmış ve konuşmalar kayıt altına alınmıştır. Serbest konuşmalar daha sonra
yazıya aktarılmıştır. Yazıya aktarılan cümleler internet destekli metin analiz programıyla
çözümlenmiş ve kelime sıklığı çalışması yapılmıştır. Araştırmada B1 seviyesi öğrencilerinin ne
kadar kelime kullanabildiği, hedef düzeyde kelime öğretiminin ne kadar gerçekleştiği ve hangi
zamanlarla daha çok cümleler kurdukları sonuçlarına ulaşılmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Yabancılara Türkçe öğretimi, serbest konuşma, münazara, kelime
sıklığı.
Introduction
The number of studies on Turkish education for foreigners gradually
increases in recent years. It is very important for foreigner students learning
Turkish language to learn in more systematical and qualified way. From this
aspect, Turkish Education Practice and Research Centers (TÖMER) were
established in almost all of the universities in Turkey. As a result of increased
interest in Turkish, TÖMERs educate educators in order to provide more
qualified education, and it is tried to create awareness on this topic by
participating into national and international symposiums. But, especially in
TÖMERs, there is no consensus on a common curriculum or course book for
institutions teaching Turkish to foreigner students. This leads to the fact that
every institution teaches Turkish language according to its own standards.
From this perspective, no consensus could be achieved on which topics and
words will be taught in which course starting from A1 level. By carrying out
word frequency studies, at least the number of words to be taught in courses
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can be determined. Word frequency studies are the studies revealing the
respective frequency of words to be used in a language (Ölker, 2011). Word
frequency studies are important studies for any language. As well as they help
with establishing the vocabulary of a language, these studies also provide data
that can be used in many science branches such as education, psychology,
linguistics, and etc. For instance; it informs us about which words the learners
of a foreign language will be taught at first or, by explaining the words during
preparation of vocabulary, it reveals which meanings are used more frequently
(Çal, 2015). How many words will be used in which courses of Turkish
education for foreigners and which words will be prioritized is of significant
importance. What the criteria will be in determining these words and which
target audience will be taught to what extent should be well-determined (Barın,
2003). Language teachers may limit the words to be taught with those in course
book. But, a teacher should move beyond this limit when necessary. The
criterion here should be that these words should be frequently used and be
selected from the domains that students are interested in (Demirel, 2011). The
ones teaching Turkish to foreigners should teach the words that are in harmony
with firstly the levels of students and then their area of interest and their needs.
Even though they increase the value of word in language teaching activities, the
studies on determining or classifying the frequency of use are not solely enough
for word education (Demirel, 2013). Moreover, the ones teaching Turkish to
foreigners should also contribute to students’ worlds of thought, because richer
vocabulary in terms of words and concepts allows the individual to be richer in
thought. For this reason, teaching words should be given specific importance in
Turkish education (Özbay, Melanlıoğlu, 2008).
The studies on word frequency in Turkish education for foreigners have
generally focused on reviewing the materials presented in written, rather than
revealing the spoken Turkish. In study carried out by Aşık (2007), it was aimed
to create Turkish vocabulary for foreigners. For this purpose, he has performed
a word frequency study on 304,479 words he accessed. In another studies,
Keskin (2010), Akpınar (2010), and Demir (2010) have carried out word
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frequency studies on reviewing the written works. These studies have
examined the words, which have been examined, together with the cultural
conveyance. In another study, Arslan and Durukan (2014) have carried out a
word frequency study through the texts they took from Yeni Hitit’s course book
set of Turkish Education for Foreigners. Besides that, the dictionary study of
Öztürk (2015) on acronyms and synonyms for foreigners can be given as an
example.
This study involves a study on how frequently the students, who
completed B1 level of Turkish education for foreigners, which words. The word
frequency studies on Turkish education for foreigners may be carried out for
preparing a dictionary for any level, teaching language, as a Turkish course
book, or as reading books (Dolunay, 2012). In this study, starting from the
conversations of students that completed B1 course, their frequency of word use
was determined. From this aspect, the feedbacks were received about which
language structures they can use, which words or word groups they use
comprehend more, and to what extent they can use the structures such as verbs
and verbals more frequently in their conversations.
Objective
In this study aiming to qualitatively reveal the words used by
individuals during Turkish education as a foreign language starting from A1
course to C1 course, the answers of these sub-questions were sought:
1. What are the Top 100 words that the students, who completed B1
course, use most frequently?
2. What are the Top 10 nouns and verbs that the students, who
completed B1 course, use most frequently? Which tense have they preferred in
their conversations?
3. What are the word types and phrases that the students, who
completed B1 course, use?
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Method
In this study, the qualitative study design was used. In our study, we
aimed to explain the obtained data through qualitative data analysis. The focus
was especially placed on the numeric analysis of the data. In general, no
numeric analysis is carried out on qualitative data but, in some cases, numeric
analysis allows us to increase the reliability of digitalization, to decrease the
bias, and to compare the themes and categories emerging as a result of the
analyses of data (Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2013).
Study Participants
This study was carried out with 48 students, who completed B1 course in
a private institution providing Turkish education for foreigners. It was aimed to
reveal to what extent the students, as a result of 6 months of education
including B1 course, can comprehend the concepts such as name, verb, and
other words and phrases and how they speak Turkish.
Data Analysis
Based on the students’ conversations, the frequency study was carried
out. By providing the students with free conversation topics, the conversations
were recorded. In conversation course, the debate method was utilized and the
conversations were recorded. After recording the students’ conversations using
voice recorder, then the records were translated into written text. In this study,
a total of 3423 words were accessed. In analysis of the words, the Turkish Text
Analysis Software (ERGİN) developed by Kurt and Kara (2008) was utilized.
Results and Discussion
In order to reveal the speaking frequency, firstly a debate method was
utilized. In debate, the topic if the technology is useful or harmful was
discussed. The conversations of students were recorded approximately for 45
minutes. The students were provided with predetermined conversation topics,
and their conversations were recorded. Discussion topics were determined in
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coordination with specialists and then gathered within a pool. The students
were allowed to freely speak on the topic they selected. The findings were
obtained under the light of these data.
Table 1. Top 100 Words by Speaking Frequency
Order Word Frequency Order Word Frequency
English Turkish English Turkish
1 Much Çok 104 51 Beautiful Güzel 11
2 There’s/’re/h
ave got
Var 101 52 Advertisement Reklam 10
3 But Ama 55 53 Position Konum 10
4 One Bir 54 54 TV Televizyon 10
5 It O 50 55 Family Aile 9
6 I Ben 43 56 Before Eskiden 9
7 Yes Evet 37 57 Food Yemek 9
8 For İçin 36 58 Here Burada 9
9 And Ve 36 59 Car Araba 8
10 This Bu 32 60 Bad Kötü 8
11 Thing Şey 31 61 Ten On 8
12 Well Hoş 31 62 Father Baba 8
13 Because Çünkü 31 63 Be Olmak 8
14 Peoples İnsanlar 29 64 I’m OK İyiyim 8
15 So Yani 28 65 Will Olacak 8
16 We found Bulduk 28 66 Moon Ay 8
17 Technology Teknoloji 27 67 Decency Terbiye 7
18 Now Şimdi 26 68 Me Bana 7
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Table 1
19
continued
Good İyi 25 69 Hello Merhaba 7
20 Too de 25 70 Internet İnternet 7
21 For instance Mesela 24 71 Easy Kolay 7
22 My Benim 23 72 New Yeni 7
23 Also da 23 73 Maybe Olabilir 7
24 More Daha 23 74 You Sen 7
25 We Biz 23 75 Different Farklı 7
26 Like Gibi 22 76 Immediately Hemen 7
27 Necessary Lazım 22 77 Request Rica 7
28 Time Zaman 22 78 According to Göre 7
29 Not Değil 21 79 I don’t know Bilmiyorum 7
30 Every Her 20 80 A little Az 7
31 No Yok 19 81 Sometimes Bazen 7
32 Therefore Bu yüzden 18 82 Phone Telefon 7
33 Then Sonra 18 83 Film Film 7
34 I came Geldim 17 84 From -dan 6
35 I think Bence 17 85 Niger Nijerya 6
36 Other Başka 17 86 No Hayır 6
37 Important Önemli 16 87 Same Aynı 6
38 Most En 15 88 Thank Teşekkür 6
39 Turkey Türkiye 15 89 Two İki 6
40 Children Çocuklar 15 90 With İle 6
41 They Onlar 14 91 I would like İsterdim 6
42 Being Oluyor 12 92 Human İnsan 6
43 Ago Önce 12 93 I want İstiyorum 6
44 Mother Anne 12 94 Such Öyle 6
45 I do Ederim 12 95 Our Bizim 6
46 Going Gidiyor 12 96 We put Koyuyoruz 6
47 I am .. year
old.
Yaşındayım 11 97 Its Onun 6
48 I think Düşünüyorum 11 98 Cigarette Sigara 6
49 How Nasıl 11 99 Program Program 6
50 Some Biraz 11 100 Attention Dikkat 6
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In Table 1, there are the Top 100 words, which students have used at
most during their recorded conversations. From the aspect of uses among Top
100 words, it can be seen that the words such as conjunction, pronoun, and
preposition groups were used.
Table 2. Top 10 Nouns Used at Most
Order Noun Usage f
1 Human English Humans (29), human (6), humans’ (2), in humans(1), to humans (1),
was human (1). 40
İnsan Turkish İnsanlar(29), insan(6), insanların(2), insanlarda(1), insanlara(1),
insandı(1).
2 Thing English Thing (31), Things (4), is a thing (1), that thing (1). 37
Şey Turkish Şey(31), şeyler(4), şeydir(1), şeyi(1).
3 Technology English Technology (27), with technology (1), the technology (1). 29
Teknoloji Turkish Teknoloji(27), teknolojiyle(1), teknolojiyi(1).
4 Time English Time (22), in time (4), on time (1), with time (1), my time (1). 29
Zaman Turkish Zaman(22), zamanda(4), zamanında(1), zamanla(1), zamanım(1).
5 Advertiseme
nt
English Advertisement (10), from advertisements (3), to advertisement (2), of
advertisements (2), in advertisement (1), the advertisements (1). 19
Reklam Turkish Reklam(10), reklamlardan(3), reklama(2), reklamların(2), reklamda(1),
reklamları(1).
6 Family English Family (9), of family (2), my family (2), in family (2), with your family
(1), in my family (1), families (1). 18
Aile Turkish Aile(9), ailenin(2), ailem(2), ailede(2), ailenizle(1), ailemde(1),
aileler(1).
7 Father English Father (8), father’s (2), his/her father (1), to father (1), with your father
(1), my father (1), is father (1), fathers (1). 16
Baba Turkish Baba(8), babanın(2), babası(1), babaya(1), babanızla(1), babam(1),
babadır(1), babalar(1).
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Table 2
8
continued
Internet English Internet (7), with Internet (2), from Internet (2), in Internet (2), the
Internet (1), to Internet (1).
15
İnternet Turkish İnternet(7), internetle(2), internetten(2), internette(2), interneti(1),
internete(1).
9 Mother English Mother (15), mother (12), his/her mother (1), my mother (1), of mother
(1).
15
Anne Turkish Anne(15), anne(12), annesi(1), annem(1), annenin(1).
10 TV English TV (10), in TV (2). 12
Televizyon Turkish Televizyon(10), televizyonda(2).
In Table 2, the uses of nouns from Top 100 words are presented. Here, it can be
seen that the students were used the words, Turkish and English forms of
which are same such as technology, Internet, and TV, more. Moreover, they
preferred the word “thing” at considerable level.
Table 3. Frequently Used Preposition, Conjunction, Adverb and Pronoun Types
Order Word Frequency
English Turkish
1 Is var 102
2 But ama 55
3 A bir 54
4 It o 50
5 I ben 43
6 Yes evet 37
7 And ve 36
8 We biz 30
9 So yani 28
10 Not değil 25
11 Too de 25
12 For instance mesela 24
13 Also daha 23
14 My benim 23
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Table 3
15
continued
Necessary lazım 22
16 Like gibi 22
17 Isn’t yok 20
18 Every her 20
19 Ago sonra 18
20 I think bence 17
21 Other başka 17
In Table 3, the frequently used preposition, conjunction, adverb and pronoun
types are presented.
Table 4. Top 10 Most Frequently Used Verbs and Verb-Origin Words
Order Verb Use Frequency
1
Be
(English)
It is (12), will be (8), to be (8), may be (7), was (5), I was (5), if is (4),
should be (3), for being (2), must be (2), they are (2), when it is (2), I
may be (2), as is (2), being (2), let it be (2), If I was (1), It can be (1), we
was (1), which I was (1), what it was (1), I would be (1), it would have
been (1), let it not be (1), it won’t be (1).
77
Ol-
(Turkish)
oluyor(12), olacak(8), olmak(8), olabilir(7), oldu(5), oldum(5), olsa(4),
olmalı(3), olmaya(2), olmalıdır(2), oluyorlar(2), olunca(2),
olabilirim(2) , olarak(2), olan(2), olsun(2), olsaydım(1), olmuyor(1),
olduk(1), olduğum(1), olduğunu(1), olacaktım(1), olacakmış(1),
olmasın(1), olmayacak(1).
2 Do
(English)
I do(12), we do (5), to do (4), should do (3), did (2), doing (2), I am
doing (2), they are doing (2) I did (1), They don’t (1), I would do (1), it
does (1), I didn’t (1), it doesn’t (1).
38
Et-
(English)
ederim(12), ediyoruz(5), etmek(4), etmeli(3), etti(2), ediyor(2),
ediyorum(2), ediyorlar(2) ettim(1), etmiyorlar(1), ederdim(1), eder(1),
etmedim(1), etmiyor(1).
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3
Table 4
continued
Make
(English)
It is making (4), I am making (3), they can make (3), it would make
(2), it didn’t make (2), to make (2), we make (1), they make (1), if it
makes (1), it can make (1), I can make (1), it made (1), we make (1), if
it makes (1), we don’t make (1), it doesn’t make (1), they don’t make
(1), make it (1), I might not have made (1), you make it (1).
30
Yap-
(Turkish)
yapıyor(4), yapıyorum(3), yapabiliyorlar(3), yapardı(2), yapmadı(2),
yapmak(2), yapıyoruz(1), yapıyorlar(1), yaparsa(1), yapabilir(1),
yapabilirim(1), yaptı(1), yaptık(1), yapsa(1), yapmıyoruz(1),
yapmıyor(1), yapmıyorlar(1), yap(1), yapmayadabilirdim(1),
yapın(1).
4
Come
(English)
I came (17), It came (4), it is coming (2), I am coming (1), they are
coming (1), since I cane (1), you came (1), you come (1), is coming (1). 29
Gel-
(Turkish)
geldim(17), geldi(4), geliyor(2), geliyorum(1), geliyorlar(1),
geldiğimden(1), geldin(1), gelirsin(1), gelmekte(1).
5
Use
(English)
We are using (5), they are using (3), shouldn’t use (2), is using (2), not
using (1), that I haven’t used (1), while using (1), I am using (1), that
they used (1), being used (1), if used (1), to be used (1), to use (1).
21
Kullan-
(Turkish)
kullanıyoruz (5), kullanıyorlar(3),kullanmamalı(2), kullanıyor(2),
kullanmamak(1), kullanmadığım(1), kullanırken(1), kullanıyorum(1),
kullandıkları(1), kullanılıyor(1), kullanılırsa(1), kullanılma(1),
kullanmak(1).
6
Want
(English)
I want (6), I would want (6), he/she wants (2), they don’t want (2), it
wants (1), I don’t want (1), I do want (1), if I want (1).
20
İste-
(Turkish)
istiyorum(6), isterdim(6), istiyor(2), istemiyorlar(2), ister(1),
istemiyorum(1), isterim(1), istiyorsam(1).
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7 Table 4
continued
Take
(English)
I am taking (3), we are taking (2), I can take (2), to take (2), you took
(1), I took (1), that they took (1), after taking (1), take (1), they can take
(1), I may take (1), to taking (1), we shouldn’t take (1).
18
Al-
(Turkish)
alıyorum(3), alıyoruz(2), alabiliyorum(2), almak(2), aldın(1), aldım(1),
aldıkları(1), aldıktan(1), al(1), alabiliyorlar(1), alabilirim(1), almaya(1),
almamalıyız(1).
8 Know
(English)
I don’t know (7), it doesn’t know (1), I know (1), you know (1), he/she
knew (1), he/she knows (1), it knows (1), to know (1)
14
Bil-
(Turkish)
bilmiyorum(7), bilmiyor(1), biliyorum(1), biliyorsunuz(1),
biliyordu(1), biliyor(1), bilir(1), bilmek(1).
9 Live
(English)
I live (3), we live (2), they live (1), we will live (1), to live (1), lived (1).
10
Yaşa-
(Turkish)
yaşıyorum(3), yaşıyoruz(2), yaşıyorlar(1), yaşayacağız(1),
yaşamak(1), yaşanan(1).
10
Give
(English)
It gives (2) it gave (1) they don’t give (1) we give (1) they are giving
(1), to give (1)
7
Ver-
(Turkish)
veriyor(2) vermiş(1) vermiyorlar(1) veriyoruz(1) veriyorlar(1),
vermek(1)
In Table 4, top 10 most frequently used verbs detected from the students’
conversations are presented. Here, while determining the verbs, not only the
finite verbs but also the verbals were represented. Hence, it was seen how
frequent the students used the verbals during their conversations in B1 course.
The negative verbs the students used are also presented in table.
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Table 5. The Use of Tenses by Top 10 Verbs
Verbs Fiiller Tense Zaman
Being oluyor Present Continuous T. Şimdiki zaman
I do ederim Simple Present Tense Geniş zaman
It is doing yapıyor Present Continuous T. Şimdiki zaman
I came geldim Past Tense Geçmiş zaman
We are using kullanıyoruz Present Continuous T. Şimdiki zaman
I want istiyorum Simple Present Tense Şimdiki zaman
I take alıyorum Simple Present Tense Şimdiki zaman
I don’t know bilmiyorum Simple Present Tense Şimdiki zaman
I live yaşıyorum Simple Present Tense Şimdiki zaman
It gives veriyor Simple Present Tense Şimdiki zaman
In Table 5, it was presented which verbs the students used in which tense
at most frequently. Students generally used simple present tense during their
conversations.
Table 6. Use of Words or Phrases Used During Conversations
Words or Phrases Kelime ya da Kalıplar
Thanks Teşekkürler
I swear Valla
God willing İnşallah
Hope the best Hayırlısı
Thanks giving Şükür
Hallelujah Elhamdülillah
Thank God Allah’a şükür
Thank you Teşekkür ederim
Teaching the phrases is very important for any language education. The
language learners can better express themselves by using these phrases and can
be better adapted to the society, language of which they are learning. In Table 6,
the phrases that the students used are presented. Use of some phrases and
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words, which have important place in Turkish culture, well-indicates that the
language education is also a culture education.
Table 7. The Most Difficult Words for Speaking for B1 Course Students
Words Kelimeler Words Kelimeler
Bag Poşet Sector Sektör
Licenseless Ehliyetsiz I care Önemsiyorum
Was ethical Ahlaklıydı I might haven’t done Yapmaya da bilirdim
Activities Faaliyetler Etcetera Vesaire
Wastage İsraf Delight Lokum
Dill Dereotu Is coloring Renklendiriyor
We are steeping Demliyoruz Pedagogic Pedagojik
Charcoal Kömür Suicide İntihar
A student, who completed the B1 course, is expected to know almost
1000 words. Some of the difficult words detected from the conversations of
students are presented in Table 7. Sometimes may the students speak through
advanced level words by interacting with the society, in which they live
Discussion, Conclusion, and Suggestions
In Turkish education for foreigners, “usefulness and suitability to
necessities” are very important concepts. Therefore, teaching the words that the
students should know and use is very important. For this reason, word
frequency studies should be performed. A student with limited vocabulary,
regardless of the command of grammar structures, will fail in effectively using
Turkish language. This study provides feedbacks about to what extent the
students learn Turkish language during the education. The word frequency
study is important since it reveals if the students had qualified education
regarding the topics such as word types, grammar structures, and other topics.
In speaking and writing domains are the word frequency study carried out.
Since the writing skills develop slightly later than verbal skills, the word
IJTET, Cilt 1, Sayı 2, Temmuz 2016 Ramazan Kılıçarslan, Ferdi Bülbül
Uluslararası Türkçe Eğitimi ve Öğretimi Dergisi: Kuram ve Uygulama 75
frequency study was carried out on conversation domain. At the same time, this
study is also important because it reveals how learnable the words and phrases
of Turkish culture are. As a result of increasing number of publications and
studies on this topic, it is considered for researchers to focus on the word
frequency studies. In order to make current course books of Turkish education
for foreigners more functional, the scientific contribution to this domain
through the scientific studies will improve the quality of education. A common
word frequency study to be adopted in this branch will create the awareness of
consensus in Turkish education and also prevent the formation of different
terminological ecoles in Turkish education. And this is important for ensuring
the linguistic integrity. At the same time, the data revealed are thought to
contribute to the lecturers and researchers in this branch. In this study, it was
examined how many words the students learnt in which course of Turkish
education and how they used them. At the end of research, the conversations of
students after completing B1 course were analyzed, and the results were
reported. It was concluded that the students know the grammatical subjects,
and that they use the verbs and verbals accurately. Besides that, they
sufficiently use the word types such as nouns, adverbs, prepositions, and
pronouns in their conversations. They also frequently use the phrases of
Turkish language. In this study, the findings and conclusions were achieved
through their conversations without criterial evaluation. By computing the
frequencies in students’ conversations, the situation determination was
performed.
Rather than determining the word frequency of current course books in
Turkish education for foreigners, the word frequency should be determined in
intermediary courses. The conversations of students should be considered
during this determination. The specialists working on this topic should focus on
frequency studies. Thus, feedback can be obtained about to what extent they
progress in current language education.
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