An investigation of textbooks used to teach Turkish as a foreign language with Rasch measurement model and Maxqda

Abstract

This study aims to investigate textbooks used to teach Turkish as a foreign language according to Turkish lecturer’s perspectives. Within this scope, these textbooks were evaluated in terms of the characteristics they possess. The study benefited from qualitative and quantitative approaches. The Rach measurement model was used in the quantitative part; case study was used in the qualitative part. The perspectives of 54 lecturers working at Turkish education centers of universities in Turkey were obtained and 32 of them were used in the study. The Textbook Evaluation Scale developed by BatdA± (2010) was used to collect the quantitative data of the study. A semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers was used to collect the qualitative data. Rasch and content analysis were used to analyze the data. Codes and themes were revealed using Maxqda software while conducting the content analysis. Excerpts from the interviews were included to corroborate the participants’ assessments. At the end of the study, the general characteristics of the textbooks used to teach Turkish as a foreign language were identified and the positive and negative attributes were determined. The different analyses conducted indicated that the books of  Yedi A°klim and A°stanbul have positive characteristics compared to the other books.