“International Workshop on Teaching Turkish to Bilinguals” Continued with the Participation of Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş

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With the aim of evaluating the processes of teaching Turkish to bilinguals in Europe from various angles and sharing the results with the relevant institutions and the public, the second day of the International Workshop on Teaching Turkish to Bilinguals, organized in cooperation with our University and the Turkish Maarif Foundation on 22-23 May 2024, was held with the participation of Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş.

Minister Göktaş: “I wholeheartedly believe that the results of the workshop will make valuable contributions to the steps to be taken from now on”

Delivering her speech within the scope of the session entitled "The Role and Function of the Family", Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş noted, "I would like to express my great pleasure and happiness to come together with you in such a valuable program. I would like to express once again that I find this workshop organized for Turkish education activities to be given to our children residing abroad very valuable. I hope that meetings to be held with the contributions of our universities, institutions and non-governmental organizations will pave the way for efficient results. On this occasion, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the realization of this workshop, which will contribute to the survival of Turkish. Research reveals that mother tongue education is a prominent factor in the development of individuals' ability to think independently, comprehend accurately and express themselves. In this sense, it is highly significant for a person to learn his/her native language in the best way possible in shaping his/her life and future. As a child of a family who was born, raised and started life far from their homeland, I have personally experienced how valuable these studies are. Particularly, I would like to point out that mother tongue education is of critical importance in ensuring that our children living abroad do not lose touch with our culture and values. Additionally, mother tongue education has a facilitating impact upon foreign language learning. There are many scientific studies showing this. Providing our children with a strong native language education is a factor that directly affects their success in their educational and social lives. For this purpose, education courses in the mother tongue were given in schools in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Belgium many years ago. "Of course, this was made a little more difficult in some places and these teachers were directly assigned by the Ministry of National Education," she said. “The role of families in helping our children learn and use Turkish effectively is highly crucial. "Just like the strong bonds established among the family members a strong and solid communication within the society is maintained by means of the mother tongue," said Göktaş, adding, "Mother tongue plays an important role in communication within the family and in sustaining ties with the homeland. It allows children to communicate effectively with their parents and grandparents in a multilingual environment. Thus, intergenerational ties are also strengthened. In this sense, special importance should be attached to the active participation of families in this process. As identity develops in the family, the continuity and continuity of healthy generations is ensured by the family. Intergenerational transfer of national and spiritual values is only possible through the family. Hence, the family is at the center of our services and policies and as a ministry, we wholeheartedly believe that the stronger the family structure, the more hopeful and prosperous the future of our children will be. With this belief, today we pursue our work towards our goal of strong individual, strong family, strong society, strong Türkiye. We have added a new dimension to our work in this field with our Vision Document and Action Plan for the Protection and Strengthening of the Family, the details of which we announced last week. We initiated our work based on the goals we set, which is in line with our action plan. By means of the steps we will take, we will walk determinedly towards becoming a strong Türkiye with strong families in the Turkish Century. Today, we continue our work to protect family structure and values not only domestically but also internationally. Today, after the first generation that immigrated to Europe more than 60 years ago, we are now talking about the fourth and even fifth generation living abroad. We have citizens not only in Europe but all over the world. Our citizens living far away from our country are trying to lead their lives by assuring our traditions and Turkish family structure. We always strive to be there for our citizens wherever they are. Today, we currently provide guidance services through our 14 foreign representatives in 6 countries. We work with our family attachés' offices to prevent our citizens from having problems with social services in their country and to resolve existing problems. We continue our efforts to increase the number of family and social services attachés in the coming period. In this context, we aim to open family and social services attaché offices in Belgium and France. Thus, we will continue to immediately intervene in possible problems that our citizens abroad may face and quickly meet their demands. Today, everyone knows that a strong and great Turkey is not just about Türkiye's borders. Today, both our non-governmental organizations and we have great responsibilities to strengthen and protect family ties wherever they are in the world. Our President's emphasis, 'Protecting the family means protecting the future of humanity' serves as a guide for us. In this sense, we will protect our family values more than ever. We know that the best way to achieve this is for our children to learn Turkish in the best way possible. I am sure that the International Workshop on Teaching Turkish to Bilinguals, which brought us together in this hall, will serve this belief. Turkish Maarif Foundation is a valuable organization that has been serving for this purpose for years with its schools all over the world. In addition, Turkish-German University, an academic centre for bilingual children, has played an important role in this regard. In this valuable workshop led by these two institutions, the issue is discussed in all its dimensions with our participants. I wholeheartedly believe that the results of the workshop will make valuable contributions to the steps to be taken from now on. I also believe that the collaborations to be developed here will pave the way for very productive work. I would especially like to state that, as the Ministry, we are open to evaluating cooperation opportunities on this issue. As I end my words, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the organization, especially our teachers." she said.

Our Rector: “I would like to express my gratitude to our Minister for being with us by honouring our workshop”

In his speech, our Rector Prof. Cemal Yıldız, who gave information to the Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş about the International Workshop on Teaching Turkish to Bilinguals, said, "I would like to express my gratitude to our Minister for being with us on the second day of the International Workshop on Teaching Turkish to Bilinguals. Welcome to our university. Teaching Turkish is gaining increasing value both in Turkey and abroad. With globalization and digitalization. Teaching and learning Turkish together creates new opportunities and challenges. In this context, it is necessary to constantly review and improve language teaching processes and methods. This workshop aims to open new horizons in the field of teaching Turkish to bilinguals by emphasizing the importance of language and intercultural interaction. It brings together experienced institutions, experts, researchers and teachers to share knowledge and experience, and our aim is to increase cooperation between participants, identify best practices and develop effective strategies in language teaching. In this important workshop organized by our university and the Turkish Maarif Foundation, sessions are held under important headings such as multilingualism policies implemented in the world and Europe, institutions operating abroad and their activities, course contents, materials and curricula, instructor qualifications, measurement-evaluation-certification and the role of family in education in six sessions. After the opening yesterday as well as this morning, we listened to the presentations of the main speakers and carried out workshops under four main topics. In each session, the participants made significant contributions to all workshop topics. Dear Minister, I would like to thank you again for your support and contribution to us by personally attending the session on family and its contribution to education, which is also within the scope of your ministry's mandate. As an individual who grew up abroad in a multilingual environment, the messages you will give about the function and role of the family in education are of great importance, especially for our families abroad."

After the session, the Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş and our Rector Prof. Cemal Yıldız visited our campus and Mevlüde Genç Library and made observations.