Yabancı Dil Olarak Türkçe Öğrenen Afgan Öğrencilerin Sözcük Öğrenme Stratejileri
Nabila Nazari, Mehmet GürlekSözcük öğrenme stratejileri bir yabancı dil ediniminde önemli bir konuma sahiptir. Yabancı dil öğrenim/öğretiminde sözcükler dilin yazma, konuşma, okuma ve dinleme becerilerinin gelişmesini sağlayan güçlü ögelerdir. Bu araştırma, 2019-2020 öğretim yılında Kabil Üniversitesi ve Yunus Emre Enstitüsünde öğrenim gören 202 öğrenciden oluşmaktadır. Araştırmada nicel araştırmalardan olan betimsel analiz uygulanmıştır. Verileri elde etmek için alanyazında mevcut olan Schmitt (1997), Oxford (1990), Kocaman ve Kızılkaya Cumaoğlu (2014) ölçeklerinden uyarlanan 25 maddelik sorudan oluşan bir ölçek kullanılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde Kruskal Wallis-H ve Mann Whitney-U testlerinden yararlanmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda Afgan öğrencilerin sözcük öğrenirken en çok kullandıkları strateji üst-bilişsel strateji olurken daha az kullandıkları sözcük öğrenme stratejisi ise belirleme ve sosyal stratejilerdir. Katılımcıların sözcük öğrenirken etnisite değişkenine bakıldığında, Farsça konuşanların Türk kökenli olanlara göre daha çok strateji kullandığı görülmüştür. Sözcük öğrenirken istatistiksel olarak bakıldığında cinsiyetler arasında kayda değer bir fark görülmemiştir; ancak yaş grupları arasında anlamlı bir fark bulunmaktadır.
Vocabulary Learning Strategies Utilized By Afghan Students Who Learn Turkish as a Foreign Language
Nabila Nazari, Mehmet GürlekHuman language includes many features, such as grammar, vocabulary, and communicative strategies. However, at the core of language is vocabulary, the key to clearly expressing ideas to other people. Therefore, while learning a foreign language, students develop strategies to ease the immensely difficult process of learning the vocabulary items in the target language. Vocabulary learning strategies have an important position in learning a foreign language. In other words, vocabulary is the powerful element that enhances writing, speaking, reading, and listening skills. Essentially, for learning vocabulary in a foreign language, memory-based, determination-based, cognitive, social, and metacognitive strategies are employed for the most part.
This research study explores the vocabulary-learning strategies used by Afghan students. The participants of the current study consisted of 202 students attending Kabul University and Yunus Emre Institute during AY2019–2020. Out of 202 participants, 92 were female (45.6%), and 110 (53.9%) were male. Based on the age distribution, the participants formed three groups (Group 1: 18–20, Group 2: 21–23, and Group 3: >24). A descriptive analysis quantitative research method was utilized to study the problem. To this end, the participants were given survey questions (N = 25) adapted from the Schmitt (1997), Oxford (1990), and Kocaman and Kızılkaya Cumaoğlu (2014) surveys. The survey questions were focused on memory, determination, and cognitive, social, and metacognitive vocabulary-learning strategies. The data acquired through survey questions was analyzed via Kruskal-Wallis-H and Mann-Whitney-U tests after checking whether the data were distributed normally, via the Kolmogorov-Simirnov, Skewness, and Kurtosis tests.
The results of the study indicate that among memory-based, determination-based, cognitive, social, and metacognitive vocabulary-learning strategies, Afghan students use the metacognitive strategy most frequently and the determination and social strategies least frequently. The results of the study also show that when ethnic differences among the students are considered, Persian speakers utilized more numerous vocabulary-learning strategies than Turkish-heritage students did. There was no statistically significant difference between genders in preference for vocabulary-learning strategies. However, according to the results, age was statistically significant. In other words, it is seen that participants between 18 and 20 years of age use strategies most often, and as a general tendency, the use of vocabulary-learning strategies seems to be negatively correlated to age. In other words, there is a decrease in the use of vocabulary learning strategies as age increases. Additionally, the participants aged 18–20 years and those aged 24 years and above used metacognitive and social strategies in a similar way.
In conclusion, the study revealed that Afghan students studying the Turkish language had different levels of success with different vocabulary strategies (memory-based, determination based, cognitive, social, and metacognitive). Furthermore, as a second factor determining the use of vocabulary-learning strategies, ethnicity affects the range and the use of vocabulary-learning strategies. Moreover, as age increases, the use of vocabulary-learning strategies diminishes, making age difference another factor influencing the use of vocabulary-learning strategies. However, gender difference is not a statistically significant factor in terms of the use of strategies. The findings of the study suggest that learning the crucial task of studying while learning a foreign language is affected by various factors, including the type of vocabulary-learning strategy, ethnicity, and age difference. Therefore, future studies should be conducted to reveal more about both, the vocabulary-learning process and the vocabulary-learning strategies, to ease the learning a foreign language.