The Necessity Of The Preparatory Level in Teaching Turkish As A Foreign Language

The first stage of the foreign language learning process is the most important part of all. The basics of any language are set in the first levels especially in A1. Most of the general basics of the Turkish language are also given in A1 level. If a solid foundation has not been set in the beginning of the foreign language acquisition process, permanent problems can be faced later on. This paper studies the importance and the needs of a preparation level before A1 in order to increase one’s motivation in learning a new language, help learners adapt to a new language and culture, avoid or try to reduce the problems one may face at the begging of the foreign language acquisition, reduce one’s anxiety in learning a second language and to form a solid foundation which helps the learners acquire the basics of a language properly. A sound educational program should be based on an analysis of learners' needs as needs analysis (needs assessment) is a very important step in curriculum development. No researches have been found on the need for an introduction or preparatory (A0) level for learners of Turkish as a foreign language. Therefore, the need of such a preparatory level for students from different linguistic backgrounds who wish to learn the Turkish language is going to be searched in this study. This is a qualitative research therefore a phenomenological design has been used. In order to assess the learner’s needs of a preparatory A0 level interviews have been conducted with 8 foreign students who have obtained a C1 proficiency level certificate in the Turkish language from Sakarya University T？MER. According to the results obtained in this study a preparatory level before A1 is needed. In addition to that, a lot of problems have been encountered by students because of the absence of such a preparatory level