Sınıf Öğretmenlerinin Görüşlerine Göre Türkçe Dil Bilgisi Öğretiminin Değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

AbstractThis study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the holistic approach to Turkish grammar instruction in the first stage of primary education from the opinions and experiences of Turkish primary school teachers. This study is a qualitative research designed as a phenomenological study. The study participants were selected using maxi mum variation arid criterion sampling, both of which are purposive sampling strategies. Thi rty-two primary school teachers working at public primary schools in Turkey during the spring term of 201 1-2012 were selected as the study participants. Data were collected using a written structured interview, then analyzed descriptively, from which themes were developed. The results showed that the study participants employed methods such as using relevant examples, teaching the grammar rules implicitly and using activities. It was found that some participants allocated a separate class hour for grammar teaching, while others found the Turkish Course Curriculum for Grades 1-5 inadequate. Some participants found the grammar teaching content arid activities in the teaching set (i.e., students' textbook, students' workbook and teachers' book) inadequate both quantitatively and qualitatively, and therefore, turned to different resources. Overall, it was found that there were i nadequacies in the teaching set because of a lack of explanations, exercises and examples, and a clear relationship to the students' social environment.KeywordsGrammar Teaching, Primary Education, Primary School, Primary School Teacher, Turkish.The Turkish language course in primary schools is a communication and skill-based course. In the light of this, the Turkish Ministry of National Education adopted a skill-based approach in the Turkish Course Curriculum (TCC) for Grades 1-5, which was developed within a constructive understanding and launched in the 2005-2006 academic year. The curriculum was developed based on listening, speaking, reading, writing, and reading and visual presentation skills, which are also called basic language skills or language arts in the research (Fray & Fisher, 2006; Harris & Hodges, 1995; Nahachewsky & Slomp, 2005; Parr & Campbell, 2007; United States National Council of Teachers of English & International Reading Association, 1996). These skills are described as learning domains in the 2005 TCC Curriculum.One of the major factors closely related to basic language skills and the teaching of these skills is grammar. While grammar is defined in various different ways (McClure 2006), research has most often defined it in general terms as the branch of science which examines and aims to explain the functioning of a language, its order, and regulations (Demirel & Sahinel, 2006; Karaduz, 2007; Koc & Muftuoglu, 1998; McWhorter, 1998; Thornbury, 2001; Williams, 2003).Grammar, which is defined in the Turkish dictionary as a science which examines the vocal, style and sentence structure of a language, and determines its rules (Turk Dil Kurumu, 2005), examines the sounds and words of a language and the duties of the words within a sentence in a detailed manner, and determines the rules which need to be paid attention to (Gunes, 2007). Thus, grammar examines the manners of narration in a language through tables and by giving examples (Ozbay, 2006), and standardizes the language (Demir, 2013) by reaching generalizations concerning the structure of the language (Chomsky, 2001).An individual who learns one's own native tongue from one's parents or in a closed environment adheres to the rules of the native tongue without much efforts (Acihoglu, 1993). Therefore, people start from an early age to use their native language with a subconscious language structure without the being taught. The purpose of grammar teaching, then, is to move this language structure from the subconscious to the conscious, and to broaden the dimensions in which it is used (Koc & Muftuoglu, 1998) so that students are able to understand the grammar explanations without having to memorize rules and definitions (Calp, 2010). …