TÜRKÇENİN AZ KONUŞULDUĞU BÖLGELERDE İLK OKUMA YAZMA SÜRECİNDE KARŞILAŞILAN SORUNLARA İLİŞKİN ÖĞRETMEN GÖRÜŞLERİ / TEACHER VIEWS ON THE PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED IN TEACHING BASAL READING AND WRITING IN TURKISH IS LESS WIDELY SPOKEN

Turkey is located in a region where many cultures have lived together for centuries. This cultural diversity results in different languages being spoken in this area. In this process, students who do not speak Turkish fluently experience a set of problems, particularly in communication. It is quite normal that these students have problems in terms of expressing themselves, listening and reading comprehension in the basal reading and writing process because even the students whose mother tongue is Turkish have various problems when they start elementary school. Of course, this situation affects their educational life negatively. Educational policies developed towards teaching Turkish in the areas where Turkish is less widely spoken can be effective in solving the problems that these students experience. The aim of this study is to identify teacher views on the problems encountered in teaching basal reading and writing in the areas where Turkish is less widely spoken. Among Case study designs, holistic single case design was employed. The study was conducted in three cities and their districts randomly selected from the South East Anatolian Region in 2013-2014 school year. In the study that was conducted in the cities of Mardin, Muş and Adıyaman, elementary first grade teachers’ views were examined. The schools were determined based on maximum variation sampling. As this sampling method facilitates forming a relatively small sample group, it reflects the variation of individuals in the sample to the maximum extent. 72 teachers (Female=42; Male=30) from 27 schools participated in the study. In data gathering, an open-ended question survey developed by the researchers and consisted of 10 questions was employed. Content analysis was performed by the researchers to analyze the qualitative dataset obtained through the survey form. Themes were revealed by combining codes, and then interpretations were made by the researchers. In calculating the reliability coefficient of the codes, the formula “Reliability=Agreement/Disagreement+Agreement x 100” was used. After the calculation, the agreement percentage for all questions was found to be over 80 per cent. Quotations from the teachers’ views were used to support the interpretations. Tables were formed by combining similar quotations in a common statement. The content analysis revealed 17 codes and 8 themes after these codes were combined together. The themes are respectively include: 1) The effect of speaking Turkish on the basal reading and writing process. 2) The effect of preschool education on the basal reading and writing process. 3) Students’ reactions to the instructions. 4) Communication in the basal reading and writing process. 5) Problems related to the coursebook. 6) Reading problems. 7) Students’ state of being psychologically affected. 8) Communicating with parents. In the study, it was found that the teachers had problems in communicating with parents due to their not speaking Turkish. To develop students’ speaking skills, the teachers used visuals, songs and games in their classes. On the other hand, the students who received preschool education were more successful in speaking Turkish and listening skills. These students had less problems in the basal reading and writing process. The teachers stated that when their verbal instructions were not understood, they had to repeat and wasted their time. It was revealed that the teachers communicated with the students who don’t speak Turkish by means of those who speak Turkish, the students who don’t speak Turkish were able to learn reading and reading, but had difficulties in reading comprehension and fluent reading. Changes in the basal reading and writing program for the areas where Turkish is less likely spoken can contribute to solving language problems...