Investigating Syrian Learners’Needs According to Various Variables within the Framework of Teaching Turkish to Children as a Second Language

Oct 15, 2026

The study identifies and analyzes language needs of Syrian children under temporary protection in Türkiye. Survey research was used with 194 primary school students, applying Çağ’s Needs Scale for Learning Turkish, the Content, and the Process. Percentages, arithmetic means, and Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests guided the analysis. Results show learning goals differ by grade level, time living in Türkiye, and out-of-school Turkish use, while gender shows no effect.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Literature Review

Language Needs Analysis

Investigating Syrian Learners’Needs According to Various Variables within the Framework of Teaching Turkish to Children as a Second Language Hatice Dilek ÇAĞ1 Comenius University Abstract The current study aims at identifying and analysing language needs of Syrian children under temporary protection. In line with this, we administered the “Needs Scale for Learning Turkish”,“Needs Scale for the Content” and “Needs Scale for the Process” developed by Çağ (2022) to 194 primary school students. We adopted survey model, one of quanlitative research methods, and used percentage, arithmetical mean, Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests to conduct the analysis. We concluded at the end of the analysis that students’ needs about the goal of learning Turkish included establishing a communication with the teacher, having a job and finding a job in Türkiye in the future. The study findings revealed that students’ goals of learning Turkish varied significantly according to grade level, time period of living in Türkiye and use of Turkish out of school, whereas there was no significant difference according to gender. On the other hand, students’ needs in terms of skills were not affected by grade level, gender, time of living in Türkiye and the frequency of using Turkish out of school. The study findings also showed that students’ needs in terms of methods and techniques, materials, subjects and themes were affected only by grade level, but not affected by gender, time period of living in Türkiye and frequency of using Turkish out of school. In the light of the study findings, it seems possible to state that students meet the need of learning Turkish mostly at school, so teachers and schools serve an important function in that sense. Keywords: Language Need Analysis, Teaching Turkish as a Second Language, Teaching Turkish To Children as a Second Language. DOI: 10.29329/epasr.2022.478.12 Submitted:29 July 2022 Accepted: 09 October 2022 Published: 05 December 2022 1 PhD, Lecturer at Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia, ORCID: 0000-0002-3359-0284, Correspondence: [dilekcag@yandex.com](dilekcag@yandex.com) Introduction Migration resulting from wars, natural disasters and financial reasons deeply affects countries’ political and social structure. Türkiye has been a country of transit as well as destination for immigrants looking for better financial and social conditions, especially for the last ten years (İçduygu and Aksel, 2012, p. 63), and it has often been exposed to migration waves due to some reasons such as the country’s geopolitical importance, geographical location, cultural features, and social opportunities. One of the most important migration waves in Turkish history started in 2011 as a result of political, social and military emergences in Syria. Türkiye has been accepting Syrian immigrants since 2011 within the framework of temporary protection. Statistical data reported by Turkish Directorate General of Migration Management (TDGMM) show that there are about 4 million Syrians under temporary protection in Türkiye today. 47% of Syrian immigrants are composed of children between the ages of 0-18 (1.772.705) (TDGMM, 2022) . Literature Review It is of great importance for immigrant children under temporary protection to learn Turkish in order to get access to the basic right of education, avoid learning loss, adapt to Turkish culture, be successful in job and social life if they happen to continue their life in Türkiye. Literature review shows that Syrian immigrants under temporary protection do not have the necessary language proficiency to adapt to school and society, and they have to deal with many problems arising from language barrier (Aksakal, 2017; Aykırı, 2017; Coşkun and Emin, 2016; ÇOÇA, 2015; Erbaş, 2021; Gözübüyük-Tamer, 2017; Human Rights Watch, 2015; Koçoğlu and Yanpar-Yelken, 2018) . Most common problems Syrian immigrants have resulting from language barrier include starting and staying

FAQs

What is the study’s main purpose?

The study aims to identify and analyze the language needs of Syrian children under temporary protection within the framework of teaching Turkish to children as a second language.

How were the language needs data collected and analyzed?

A survey model was used with 194 primary school students. Analysis relied on percentages, arithmetic mean, and Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests.

Which factors significantly influenced students’ Turkish learning needs?

Students’ learning goals varied significantly by grade level, time period of living in Türkiye, and the frequency of using Turkish out of school, while gender showed no significant difference.

How did the study interpret the role of schools and teachers?

The findings suggest students meet Turkish learning needs mostly at school, so teachers and schools play an important function in supporting those needs.

Oct 15, 2026

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