Abstract
TARGET GROUP’S / LEARNER’S IMPORTANCE IN TEACHING TURKISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Turkish Language is one of the oldest and widely spoken languages of the world. During the recent years, changes and developments in Central Asia (especially in the regions where Turkish tribes and communities lived), in the Middle East, in the European Union countries and in Turkey, have increased the interest in Turkish Language (The Language of Turkey). People from various regions and countries of the world with different mother tongues, dialects and from various age groups, educational and cultural backgrounds come to Turkey to learn Turkish or learn the Turkish Language in the relevant departments, in their own countries.
Learning the Turkish as a foreign language is derived sometimes due to a wish or sometimes due to a necessity. In fact, neighborhood and kinship relations, religious, military and commercial relations, migration, tourism, education and training are among the leading motives of Turkish Language learning.
There are a great deal of institutions and organizations that provide Turkish Language education in Turkey and also abroad. It is not possible to say that these institutions renew themselves by taking into account the state of the target group and their language learning aims and needs, and arrange the education and training conditions in line with the aims and needs that are determined. In most of these institutions and organizations, Turkish Language education is still being provided by inadequate personnel and traditional approach.
In this article, it is emphasized that, many factors regarding in teaching Turkish as a foreign language should be organized in accordance with the target group's/ “learner's” condition (age, mother tongue, dialect, linguistic competence, intelligence level, gender, learning style, culture, concern, motivation and attitude characteristics), purposes and needs.
Keywords
Turkish language education, target group / learner, instructor, foreign language.