"International Workshop on Teaching Turkish to Bilinguals" was hosted by our University

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The International Workshop on Teaching Turkish to Bilinguals, organized in cooperation with the Turkish-German University and the Turkish Maarif Foundation in order to evaluate the processes of teaching Turkish to bilinguals in Europe in various dimensions and to share the results with the relevant institutions and the public, started at our University on 22 May 2024 with the participation of representatives of relevant institutions, education consultants and field experts.

Within the scope of the workshop organized with the participation of the Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Family and Social Services, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Turkish Language Association, Yunus Emre Institute, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, Presidency of Turks Abroad and Related Communities, our Rector Prof. Dr. Cemal Yıldız, the Ministry of National Education Director for European Union and Foreign Affairs Tuba Korkmaz and President of Maarif Foundation of Turkey Prof. Dr. Birol Akgün addressed the guests with their opening speeches.

Our Rector: "We Aim to Open New Horizons in the Field of Teaching Turkish to Bilinguals"

Delivering the opening speech, our Rector Prof. Dr. Cemal Yıldız said, "Today, we have come together here to emphasize the importance of language and intercultural interaction and to open new horizons in the field of teaching Turkish to bilinguals. Today, developments in the axis of the digitalizing world increase the interaction between languages and cultures. In addition to this, the triggering effect of extremely powerful dynamics such as globalization and migration makes bilingualism or multilingualism widespread. While this situation creates current requirements and challenges in the field of language teaching and learning, it also creates undeniable opportunities. From this point of view, Turkish, which is spoken by millions of people around the world as a mother tongue or second language, is attracting more attention due to Turkey's economic development and cultural richness. For this reason, Turkish language teaching is gaining increasing value both in Turkey and abroad." Continuing his words by stating that the extraordinary technological developments and digitalization in the last half century have had an inevitable global impact on the teaching and learning of Turkish, our Rector said, "This impact offers opportunities that will contribute to the studies to be carried out in the field, but it also brings challenges that need to be overcome with cooperation. For this reason, it is of utmost importance to continuously review and update language teaching processes and methods and to make improvements by integrating them with technology. In this workshop, where we make language and intercultural interaction the common denominator, we aim to open new horizons in the field of teaching Turkish to bilinguals.
This important event, which will last for two days, will be organized by institutions that have experience in teaching Turkish. It brings together experts, researchers and teachers and provides a platform for sharing knowledge and experience. Our aim is to increase collaboration among participants, identify best practices and develop effective strategies in language teaching."

Korkmaz: "I Wish The Results of the Workshop to be a Guide for Practitioners"

Tuba Korkmaz, Director General for European Union and Foreign Relations at the Ministry of National Education, spoke after the Rector, started his speech by talking about their institutional functioning. Korkmaz said, "First of all, I am honored to be present at this workshop. Our Directorate General for European Union and Foreign Affairs has a policy-making and diplomatic role. We establish the relationship between MoNE and ministries of education abroad within the framework of bilateral relations with international organizations and agreements. While establishing this relationship, we also carry out many activities and policies for the rights and development of our citizens living abroad and we have signed many agreements. The other unit of our Ministry, the General Directorate of Higher Education and Education Abroad, carries out education and training activities. It carries out the duties of assigning Turkish teachers, Turkish culture teachers and academicians in the field of teaching Turkish to foreigners to universities." Korkmaz continued his speech by talking about the activities carried out by MoNE for Turks living abroad and said, "Since the 1960s, when migration abroad started, MoNE has been continuing its policies regarding our citizens living abroad. Policies are being renewed and need to be renewed due to changing conditions and needs. Turkish lessons, which started in order not to make Turkish children forget their identity, language and culture, are now starting to develop in the field of teaching Turkish to our bilingual students due to changing conditions. As our Rector said, this field is very new and needs to be progressed very quickly. We know that it is of vital importance both in terms of making policies, expressing this field correctly when consulting with countries and reaching results, and in terms of educators being able to transfer bilingual education to their students and informing parents about this issue, and we need to take quick action. The Turkish-German University and the Turkish Maarif Foundation have already taken swift action in this area. As the Ministry of Education, we are renewing the curricula in this field and attach importance to teacher training. We follow the developments in this field and as an implementing unit, we continue our activities for implementation. I hope that this workshop will contribute to the creation of a more appropriate, usable and qualified system with the contributions of our esteemed professors. I hope that the results of the workshop will be a guide for practitioners."

Akgün: “Turkey Maarif Foundation Would Like to Discuss Our Model of Teaching Turkish to Bilingual Children”

In his speech, Prof. Dr. Birol Akgün, President of the Turkish Maarif Foundation, said, "Our Foundation has already made official contacts with 107 countries in 6 continents. In 52 of these 107 countries, we continue our activities strongly with 467 educational institutions in 52 of these 107 countries with 446 schools, 1 university and 20 education centers within the scope of K-12.

Our Foundation, which serves more than 53 thousand students at all levels of education from pre-school to higher education, has become the fifth international education institution with the most widespread education network in the world with the distance it has taken in a short period of seven or eight years as the gateway of our country to education abroad." Emphasizing that they carry out activities to ensure that Turkish is spoken and Turkish culture is adopted abroad, Akgün said: "Our Foundation contributes to the development of the human capital of many countries by providing qualified education opportunities to the young generations of many countries in the educational institutions it has opened abroad, on the one hand, and on the other hand, it endeavors to raise Turkey-friendly young generations who know Turkiye, speak Turkish, and recognize Turkish culture all over the world by carrying Turkey's accumulated knowledge to different geographies.
Since its establishment, our Foundation has opened European Education Centers in Germany (Cologne, Duisburg), Austria (Vienna), Belgium (Brussels, Ghent) and France (Strasbourg, Lyon). I would like it to be known that Turkish is at the center of all the training activities we organize in the European Training Centers. We would especially like to discuss the new approach, which we have piloted through workshops and which we call the "Turkey Maarif Foundation Model for Teaching Turkish to Bilingual Children". I believe that this workshop will be beneficial for all institutions and organizations that carry out activities for our bilingual citizens in Europe, and that the evaluations and solution proposals to be put forward at the workshop will make significant contributions to the mother tongue education of Turkish children in Europe, their academic success and becoming more active and harmonious individuals in social relations."

Gagarina: “We Aimed to Understand the Development of Grammar Systems in Multicultural Societies.”
The program continued with the speech of Prof. Dr. Natalia Gagarina from Humboldt University titled "A Critical Overview of the Formation of Authentic/Inauthentic Grammatical Systems in Turkish-German Bilingual Children from First Words to Primary School". Gagarina discussed the intricacies of the development of grammatical systems in Turkish-German children from the earliest stages of their language acquisition to primary school. Gagarina stated that understanding the linguistic journey of Turkish-German children involves the investigation of various factors such as Turkish and German grammar, sociocultural influences, family dynamics and educational environments. "Our study aims to provide information about the uniqueness of the development of grammatical systems within this group by examining multifaceted situations," Gagarina continued, "Another aim of the research is to address the challenges and opportunities Turkish-German children face in different language environments. By identifying common developmental milestones and areas of potential differences, it aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the development of grammatical systems in multicultural societies. Finally, this research not only advances our understanding of Turkish-German language development, but also advocates for policies and interventions that support bilingual children's linguistic and academic success in multicultural societies."
The program continued with a question and answer session, afternoon sessions, discussions and panels.