Workshop on Problems Encountered in Teaching Turkish to Foreigners was held in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, Atatürk Higher Institution of Culture, Language and History, Turkish Language Association and the Ministry of National Education of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

The “Workshop on Problems Encountered in Teaching Turkish to Foreigners” was organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, Atatürk Higher Institution of Culture, Language and History, Turkish Language Association and the Ministry of National Education of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus for teachers affiliated with the Ministry of National Education and academicians working at Turkish and Foreign Language Application and Research Center (TÖMER) schools and held with a large participation.

In the three-day workshop, the problems experienced in teaching Turkish at primary, secondary and higher education levels were discussed, and solutions to these problems were proposed in the working groups. The recorded problems and solution proposals were reported.

In the workshop where the problems and solution proposals in teaching Turkish to foreigners were discussed, Near East University Social Sciences and Turkish Education Department faculty members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yeniasır and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burak Gökbulut represented Near East University with their studies. Near East University faculty members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yeniasır and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burak Gökbulut created working groups in the first two days of the workshop, identified the problems together with secondary and primary school teachers and proposed solutions. On the last day of the workshop, they contributed to the preparation of the report on the problems experienced in teaching Turkish to foreigners at universities.

Teaching Turkish to foreigners has been examined in many aspects…
On the first day of the workshop, presentations were carried out as follows; Prof. Dr. Hülya Pilancı “The Current Situation of Curriculum, Exams and Materials and the Problems Encountered in the Field of Teaching Turkish to Foreigners in Turkey”; Prof. Dr. Nezir Temur “Corporate Standards, Problems Encountered in Inter-Institutional Collaborations and Solution Suggestions”; Dr. Zeki Akçam “General Evaluation of the Current Situation of Curriculum, Exams and Materials in the Field of Teaching Turkish to Foreigners in TRNC and the Problems Encountered in This Subject”; Prof. Dr. Ahmet Pehlivan “Current Situation, Problems and Solution Suggestions in Teaching Turkish to Foreigners in TRNC”; Prof. Dr. Fatma Bölükbaş Kaya “What Should Be the Basic Framework and Principles of Training of Trainers Programs?”; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emrah Boylu also delivered his paper on “New Approaches in Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language”.

The opening speeches of the workshop were made by the President of the Turkish Language Association, Prof. Dr. Osman Mert, TRNC Ministry of National Education General Secondary Education Department Director Cengiz Topel Uzun and TRNC Ministry of National Education Education Joint Services Department Deputy Director Nihat Ekizoğlu.

We will overcome the problems with cooperation!
In his speech, Turkish Language Association President Prof. Dr. Osman Mert informed the participants about the workshop and emphasized the social and cultural reflections of migration. Stating that migration to the TRNC continues to increase for various reasons, Prof. Dr. Mert stated that one of the most important problems that arise today is the language education of the children of immigrant families and underlined that this problem should be solved by state policy. Prof. Dr. Osman Mert also stated that studies will be carried out to solve the problems regarding language education for the children of immigrant families in cooperation with institutions and organizations such as the Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Turkey, Yunus Emre Institute and the Maarif Foundation.

Correct decisions and practices are required to solve problems.
In his opening speech at the workshop, the TRNC Ministry of National Education General Secondary Education Department Director Cengiz Topel Uzun reminded that teachers are responsible for the education given to the children of foreign families coming to the TRNC. Uzun said, “When we think that these children coming to our country will become our honorary representatives in the future, the problems experienced today should be overcome through the right decisions and practices.”

We must promote our language and culture correctly!
Nihat Ekizoğlu, Deputy Director of the Education Joint Services Department of the TRNC Ministry of National Education, also stated that there has been a lot of foreign immigration to the TRNC recently and that teachers have an important duty in this sense. Ekizoğlu said, “If we teach our language and culture to foreigners correctly, they can become our ambassadors in the future. This should not be seen as an assimilation, we should just introduce our own culture by explaining it.”