Our Rector Described the "Workshop on Teaching Turkish to International Bilinguals" on TRT Türk

Our Rector Prof. Dr. Cemal Yıldız was a guest on the Günaydın Hayat program broadcast on TRT Türk channel on May 21, 2024. He gave information about the "International Workshop on Teaching Turkish to Bilinguals", which will be held on 22-23 May 2024, in cooperation with the Turkish Maarif Foundation and hosted by our university, with the participation of relevant institution representatives, education consultants and field experts.

Our Rector, who began his speech on the educational needs of Turks living abroad, stated that with the studies carried out by Türkiye at the institutional level, the aim for children growing up abroad is to learn their Turkish and culture without losing them. In this context, he mentioned that, Turkish-German University, together with the Turkish Maarif Foundation are planning a workshop that will fully address this issue this year. Our Rector Yıldız stated that representatives from institutions operating abroad, such as the Ministry of National Education, Turkish Maarif Foundation, Yunus Emre Institute, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities and universities, will attend the workshop. Our Rector, "We will discuss the educational activities that our country has carried out for bilinguals living abroad. Approximately 100 academicians from Europe and other countries are participating in our workshop. On the second day of the workshop, our Minister of Family and Social Services, Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, will also participate. As you know, she received her education abroad and one of the topics of our workshop is the role and function of the family, and she also showed interest in this subject." said.

Talking about the scientific studies he has carried out on bilingualism, our Rector Yıldız stated that bilingualism has become the main point in the globalizing world recently and stated that people have always been bilingual from ancient cultures to this day. Stating that "Anatolia is actually the center of bilingualism and multiculturalism.”, our Rector gave advice to the families of children growing up abroad. Emphasizing that the language is learned through interaction, he stated that families abroad should speak Turkish in the presence of their children and he highlighted that it would be beneficial to watch programs suitable for children on TV channels broadcasting in Turkish and to take the children to places where Turkish is spoken. Our Rector stated that confusing the words of two languages used at an advanced level is not a negative situation, on the contrary, it helps to express oneself better. He said that this situation does not pose a problem since there is a conscious and spontaneous transition from one language to another. However, our Rector stated that at the beginner level, children confuse the structures of the two languages because they have difficulty expressing themselves since they do not receive enough support in their native language or the second language they learn, and a limited bilingualism situation arises due to not knowing both languages well. Our Rector mentioned the equal level hypothesis and stated that knowing both languages below a certain level negatively affects success in life and academically.

Prof. Dr. Yüksel Ekinci, who will chair the session titled "The Role and Function of the Family" at the "International Workshop on Teaching Turkish to Bilinguals”, also contributed to the program by connecting to the broadcast from Germany. As a bilingual, Prof. Dr. Ekinci shared his experiences during his education in both Germany and Türkiye. Expressing that he saw the benefits of growing up bilingual, Ekinci stated that his family also played an important role in this process. Giving advice to the families of children growing up abroad, Ekinci highlighted that they should be aware that giving the necessary importance to their children's Turkish education will positively affect their future careers and success.