TURKISH LANGUAGE TEACHER TRAINING Assoc.Prof.Dr. Halit KARATAY Abant İzzet Baysal University Education of Turkish

Training Turkish Language Teachers Turkish language teaching is a profession which requires great responsibility and special talent. Teacher candidates must be trained meticulously. Ottoman civil education system consisted of sıbyan schools and madrassahs until the first half of the 19th century. Muallims, the teachers of sıbyan schools were generally madrassah graduates. Until Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror’s reign, Madrassahs did not implement any programmes designed to train muallims. The special programme implemented in Hagia Sophia and Eyüp madrassahs for those who would teach in sıbyan schools by mandate of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, was discontinued after a while. Then, having religious knowledge and being earnest was deemed sufficient to teach in sıbyan schools.

Training Turkish Language Teachers After Tanzimat, darülmuallimin and darülmuallimat supplied teachers to boys’ and girls’ schools respectively. All branch teachers were trained with a single programme in these schools. There were some changes to organisational structure and programmes of these schools brought about by the introduction of Darülmuallimin and Darülmuallimat Regulations in The Regulations divide these schools into sections called primary, preparatory and higher. “Primary” section trained primary school teachers, “preparatory” section trained darülmullimat and darülmuallimin-i iptidai teachers and inspectors. “Higher” section with 4 years of training was divided into literature, natural sciences and mathematics sections.

Training Turkish Language Teachers Changes brought about by the Regulations cannot be considered adequate for training Turkish language teachers at that time. With the proclamation of the republic, (29 October 1923) some changes to teacher training policy were made as with every other field. As per decisions of the 1st Congress of Science; primary schools, middle schools, high schools and graduate schools secured their places in the education system. Although the place of middle schools in the system was clear, special training for teachers to work in these schools had not started by then.

Training Turkish Language Teachers Middle school teachers first appeared in the education system with the adoption of Middle School Teachers Law dated 1924 and numbered 439. School of Middle School Teachers had only the Turkish language section when it was established in Konya in In the 1940s, with the impetus given by nationwide efforts to proliferate middle schools, School of Middle School Teachers and Education Institute were unable to cater to a growing need for teachers. As a result, new training institutes joined the ranks of Turkish education system.

Training Turkish Language Teachers Programmes implemented in education institutes were redesigned in various occasions to make education and training activities more effective. In this regard, programmes implemented in Turkish language departments were also amended (1931, 1941, 1944). As per Education Institutes Regulations issued on 21st January 1947, departments under the institute were merged and two departments called “multiple courses” and “single courses” were established. The reason for this was to enable teachers to be trained in more than one field at the same time, thereby preventing potential teacher shortage in middle schools to be opened.

Training Turkish Language Teachers With these regulations, courses which were priorly in the programme of Turkish language department were merged under the name of “Turkish Language and Literature” and provided under multiple courses department. ( ) However, providing within a single course the courses of a department that was established to train Turkish language teachers for middle schools, did not yield good results. It was stressed during the 4th National Education Congress that this had a negative impact on education and training activities. During the 4th National Education Congress gathered between 22nd and 31st of August 1949, it was recommended that courses provided in education institutes be divided in three groups, namely “literature, science and foreign language”. To that end, some changes to the programme of education institutes were made in 1957.

Training Turkish Language Teachers In the 1957 Programme, literature departments that provide 2 years of education focused on theoretical work for the 1st grade and focused on practical work for the 2nd grades. The 1966 Programme where Turkish language departments were put into operation again independently, was quite significant in terms of major courses. Weekly course hours for which the previous programme was criticised, were reduced and vocational courses were diversified. Duration of training provided in education institutes was increased to 3 years in academic year. We can see that in the programme implemented for Turkish languge departments; area courses make up 58% of the programme while general knowledge make up 27% and teaching profession courses make up 14%.

Training Turkish Language Teachers academic year can be regarded as a fresh start for both education institutes and Turkish language departments. In this period, duration of training provided by education institutes was increased to four years and they were renamed as higher teacher schools. Even though courses provided by Turkish language departments were more diverse compared to the ones before, changing the department name to Turkish Language and Literature was detrimental to proffesionalisation of Turkish language teaching. New structuring occured in higher education in 1982, transfering higher teacher schools under universities and turning them to faculties of education.

Training Turkish Language Teachers Training Turkish language teachers became an issue once again when Turkish Language Education and Teaching Division was established under Gazi University, Institute of Social Sciences, Division of Turkish Language and Literature Education. This was an important step which ensured relevant training for academics who would serve in the undregraduate level Turkish Teaching Programme planned for following years. Turkish Language Teaching programmes under Gazi and Buca Education faculties, Division of Turkish Language and Literature were opened in academic year.

Training Turkish Language Teachers Efforts in 1996 to restructure education faculties saw the establishment of Turkish Language Education departments under education faculties to train Turkish language teachers to serve in the 2nd stage of primary education. Even with this important development, it cannot be said that Turkish language teaching became fully professionalised. Because graduates of Turkish language education departments under education faculties were not the only ones to be appointed as Turkish language teachers. Graduates of Turkish language and literature education departments as well as Turkish language and literature education and contemporary Turkish dialects and literature departments were also appointed as teachers. The Programme neglected the issues of teaching Turkish to foreigners, those of Turkish descent and Turkish children living abroad. Some courses such as communication and linguistics which should be in a mother tongue teaching programme were also nowhere to be found.

Training Turkish Language Teachers As of academic year, a different and new programme has been initiated in Turkish language education departments of education faculties. The end of undergraduate minors is one of the important changes in thsi programme. This is an important step towards allocating more time for major courses and professionalisation of Turkish language teaching. The current programme has courses worth 145 credits. Out of 59 courses; 33 are majors, 14 are general knowledge and 12 are professional knowledge courses.

Training Turkish Language Teachers Faculties having been granted the right to determine courses at a ratio of about 30% of the Programme; increasing possibilities for elective courses; inclusion of “General Linguistics” in the programme as a compulsory course and inclusion of a course for teaching Turkish language to foreigners; are noteworhty developments concerning Turkish language teacher training. However, any courses for teaching Turkish language to Turkish children living abroad and those of Turkish descent are still lacking.

Teaching Programme Introduced in 2006: 1st Grade 131Writing Techniques Turkish Grammar I: Vocal Knowledge Knowledge and Theories of Literature I Written Expression I Verbal Expression I Ottoman Turkish Language I Atatürk’s Principles and History of Turkish Revolution I Foreign Language I Introduction to Education Science3035 TOTAL Turkish Grammar II: Morphology Knowledge and Theories of Literature II Written Expression II Verbal Expression II Ottoman Turkish Language II Atatürk’s Principles and History of Turkish Revolution II Foreign Language II Education Psychology3035 TOTAL180 30

Teaching Programme Introduced in 2006: 2nd Grade 231Turkish Grammar III: Vocabulary Turkish Folk Literature I Old Turkish Literature I New Turkish Literature I2023 AElective I Scientific Research Methods Computer I Teaching Principles and Methods 3035 TOTAL Turkish Grammar IV: Sentences Turkish Folk Literature II Old Turkish Literature II New Turkish Literature II General Linguistics Computer II Effective Communication Teaching Technologies and Material Design 2235 TOTAL

Teaching Programme Introduced in 2006: 3rd Grade 321Comprehension Techniques I:Reading Training Comprehension Techniques II:Listening Training Children’s Literature World Literature Public Service Work Special Teaching Methods I Classroom Management2024 TOTAL Expression Techniques I:Speaking Training Expression Techniques II:Writing Training Teaching Turkish Language to Foreigners Special Teaching Methods II History of Turkish Education History of Civilisations Testing and Evaluation 3035 TOTAL

Teaching Programme Introduced in 2006: 4th Grade 421Theatre and Drama Applications Turkish Textbook Reviews2023 GKElective I School Experience Counselling Special Education2023 TOTAL AElective II3035 AElective III Language and Culture2023 GKElective II Turkish Education system and School Management Applicaiton of Teaching26510 TOTAL

Conclusion Achieving desired levels of success in the field of Turkish language education and training will be possible through high quality programmes. This requires continuous monitoring, renewal and improvement through remedying deficiencies of Turkish language programmes implemented in primary schools No doubt, achieving success in education and training does not solely rely on programmes. Insufficiency of field knowledge, professional knowledge and general knowledge on the part of teachers, the implementors of the programme, prevents success in education and training process. Pre-service training is an important period for teachers to gain competences. Therefore, Turkish language teacher training programme should be improved in parallel to arising needs.