Çelik, G. (2022). A bridge in two Mediterranean countries: those who learn Turkish in Italian societies International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET), 9(2). 971-986. Received : 23.01.2022 Revised version received : 23.03.2022 Accepted : 25.01.2022 A BRIDGE IN TWO MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES: THOSE WHO LEARN TURKISH IN ITALIAN SOCIETIES Research Article Gamze Çelik https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1683-2349 Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey gamzecelik@gmail.com / gamzecelik@comu.edu.tr Biodata: Gamze ÇELİK is an Research Assistant Doctor at the Department of Turkish and Social Sciencies Education Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey. Her research interests are Turkish education, literature education and visual literacy. Copyright © 2014 by International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET). ISSN: 2148-225X. Material published and so copyrighted may not be published elsewhere without written permission of IOJET. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1683-2349 mailto:gamzecelik@gmail.com mailto:gamzecelik@comu.edu.tr http://orcid.org/xxxx Çelik 972 A BRIDGE IN TWO MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES: THOSE WHO LEARN TURKISH IN ITALIAN SOCIETIES Gamze Çelik gamzecelik@gmail.com Abstract Learning a foreign language enables people to get to know different cultures. People who know different cultures get richer. So, their prejudices against people are destroyed. Thus, a foreign language student may both improve himself and become a better person. In this context, the aim of the present study is to learn the thoughts of Turkish language learning Italians. The first sub-aim of the research is to determine the similarities and differences between the Turkish language and the Italian language. The second sub-aim is to learn what expectations Italians have while learning Turkish. In this study, qualitative research method was used to find answers to the above questions. In the current study, case study design was used. The interviews were analyzed through qualitative data analysis. Participants were determined using the Analogous (Homogeneous) sampling method among Italians who know or learn Turkish. Italians stated that they learned Turkish both by attending the course and by their own efforts. Italians especially have difficulty learning the sounds "h, ğ, ğı and ı". According to the results of the research, Italians who learn Turkish generally try to learn our language because they need it and because they love Turkish. Keywords: Teaching Turkish to Foreigners, Language teaching, Turkish, Italian, language. 1. Introduction With the help of written and spoken language, people expressed their needs, wishes and thoughts. It will be much more advantageous when people can do these skills, which they can do in their own language, in a foreign language. In this way, we can enrich culturally. Knowing a foreign language is no longer sufficient today. Knowing at least two foreign languages is of great importance for both business life and self-improvement. Foreigners will not have much trouble learning languages that are alike with their language structure. But for an Italian, to learn Turkish is a different experience for her/him. During the pronunciation of the letters, there are some points that should be considered in the emphasis of words due to the different sentence structures, grammar learning and differences in the alphabet as well. There are similarities between Italy and Turkey in terms of climate, food and people's structures. However, the difference in religion, customs and customs causes the culture to differ between the two countries. The people of a country want their language to be spoken, used, and spread in other lands. Thus, they can introduce their own culture to different nations of the world. Nations know that the spread of their languages will be beneficial for them. Language reflects the political and economic power of a country (Mutlu and Ayrancı, 2017, p.67). These advantages are of great importance to their economies, cultures and politics. If a country wants its citizens to develop and progress, it must try to spread its language throughout mailto:gamzecelik@gmail.com International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 9(2), 971-986. 973 the world. In this way, the number of people who can speak more than one language will increase and distances will be shortened. In the field of education, communication has shown its effect with the developing technology. The time when the computer first entered our lives were in the nineties. The use of the internet and computers in every field of our lives has become widespread day by day. Today, we also benefit from information technologies in foreign language teaching (Büyükaslan, 2006, p.2). There are not many opportunities for teaching Turkish as a foreign language in Turkey. However, when we look at countries such as France and England, we see that these countries provide all kinds of services to teach their languages to foreigners. The only mother language education in Turkey for the Turkish and Turkish Language and Literature is known as an active part in teaching. On the other hand, for the teaching of French, it is taught at a department in universities and there is an institution in France where many languages are taught, such as TÖMER as well. This is also the case for English. The easy readability of Turkish makes this language enriched with suffixes and the mathematical state of Turkish enable this language to be learned easily (Büyükaslan, 2006, p.3-4). Teaching Turkish as a foreign language will enable our culture and our unique features to spread throughout the world. For this reason, we should try to teach our language as much as the importance and care that foreign countries give to their own languages. Therefore, we must try new methods in the field of education and offer all kinds of opportunities to students. In Italy, "Turkish Language and Literature" is taught at the University of Rome, the University of Naples, the University of Venice, and the University of Lecce. Considering the relations between Turkey and Italy, it is seen that this number is very few. In Italy, students enter the departments without an examination, except for a few departments. In this case, students prefer to learn Turkish themselves. An Italian wish to learn Turkish because of personal interest, after visiting Turkey, a Turkish friendship, willingness to learn a different language and increasing relationship between Turkey and Italy in recent years. In addition, each language can be different and difficult for a foreign person. Turkish, on the other hand, is difficult for Italians due to the different sentence structure and the difficulties of the sounds of “ğ, h, ı, ö, ü” in Turkish (Sıvazlıyan, 2010). Italians with their food culture, friendliness, and physical structure share similarities with Turkey. For this reason, there is an inevitable sympathy between the two countries. That is why it is natural for Italians to want to learn Turkish. Of course, there may be some difficulties experienced while learning a new language. But there is nothing that cannot be done once it is really wanted. In this context, the aim of the present study is to learn the thoughts of Turkish language learning Italians. In this way, by determining the difficulties they encounter while learning Turkish. Deficiencies and mistakes can be seen and these issues can be corrected. For this purpose, following questions were sought: 1. To identify the similarities and differences between the Turkish language and the Italian language. 2. To learn what expectations Italians have while learning Turkish. Çelik 974 2. Method In this study, qualitative research method was used to find answers to the above questions. The case study design was used in the current study. The interviews were analyzed through qualitative data analysis. The interviews were conducted by the researcher. Participants were determined using the Analogous (Homogeneous) sampling method among Italians who know or learn Turkish. In this sampling method, unlike maximum diversity sampling, the homogeneous sampling method deals with a small and homogeneous sample. Later, this sample is studied in detail (as cited in Baltacı, 2018: Neuman 2014, p.250). The researcher determined the codes from the thoughts that emerged in the interviews. A help from another researcher was taken to determine the reliability of these codes. The findings obtained by both researchers were calculated by comparing the reliability formula proposed by Miles and Huberman (1994, p.64): Reliability = Consensus / (Consensus + Disagreement) = 41 / (41 + 8) = 0, 83. As a result of the analysis, the reliability of the research was found to be .83. According to Miles and Huberman (1994), for a study to be considered reliable, coding reliability must be at least .80 compliance level (cited in Creswell, 2013). The "harmonic method" is used when analyzing the results obtained by the interview method. In the interview conducted by the interviewer, the relations of all situations with each other are examined. Contradictions, consistencies are examined. The interview is a holistic interpretation. In order to say that a good meeting has taken place, objective information should be obtained about individual thoughts and beliefs (Büyüköztürk, Çakmak, Akgün, Karadeniz and Demirel, 2008, p.158). 2.1. Data Collection Tools Researchers prefer to use the data collection tool of the study as a qualitative interview. Because of the reason to choose this, interviews are one of the most preferred data collection tools in qualitative research. In interviews, individuals feel free when they are talking to themselves (Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2011, p.127). According to the persons’ views how to face problems when they are learning Turkish and how the components of this research will contribute to Italian people, are the research questions of the study. At the beginning of the research, an interview form was prepared by the researcher. An expert’s opinion was taken for the questions. At the end, questions below were asked to the participants. 1. Why do you want to learn Turkish? 2. When and how did you learn Turkish? 3. What difficulties do you face in pronuncing letters while learning? 4. Italian has got 21 letters and Turkish has got 29 letters. Is this situation an advantage or disadvantage when learning Turkish language? 5. In Italian words generaly end with vowels. For this reason, the language is very melodic. Emphasizing is very important. According to you, how does Turkish sound? 6. Do Turkish and in Italian have comman words? Can you give examples? 7. Do you want to say something more? / Anything else you would like to add? International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 9(2), 971-986. 975 2.2. Validity and Reliability For this research, several aspects were given importance to enhance validity and reliability: (1) Every process of the research was represented in elaboration (2) In the findings passage, firstly the topics were determined. Then participants’ opinions were provided unchanged. (3) Experts were asked to give feedback on the data collection tools used in this research. Based on their revision, the necessary changes were made in the tools. (4) Throughout the data analyses, themes and codes were along created by the researcher and the experts. The themes and codes created as such were then checked against. (5) The themes were sent to three objective participants. The themes were revised if there were missings and mistakes. (6) The data and the data collection tools were kept hide. At the beginning of the study, the researchers introduced themselves to the participants. The identities of the participants were kept confidential. They were given information that the information they provided would only be used for scientific purpose. Reliability=Consensus / (Consensus Divergence) = 41/ (41+8) = 0,83. The reliability of the survey was computed to be 0.83. Regarding Miles and Huberman (1994, as cited in Creswell, 2013), the reliability coefficient of coding should be at least 0.80 for a study to be reliable. 2.3. Study Group Table 1: Participants Participants Gender Participant Age Occupation 1W Female 55-60 Italian Teacher 2M Male 30-35 Graduated from History and Literature Department (Erasmus, Istanbul/Turkey) 3M Male 45-50 Istanbul Italian Consulate worker 4W Female 30-35 Tanslator-Italian teacher Table1 shows that the sample consists of 4 volunteer scholars, i.e., two females and two males, who are the participants studying different areas and they were graduated from different departments of universities. One of the participant lives in Turkey because of her husband is from Turkey. She is an Italian teacher in a university in Turkey. The other participant was graduated from History and Literature Department in Italy. He came to Turkey with the Erasmus program when he studied in university. Third participant is working in consulate in Istanbul. The last participant is a translator and an Italian teacher. She lives in Istanbul because of her job. The participants’ ages range between 30 and 60 years. 2.4. Gathering Data The available literature was analyzed to determine the interview questions and questions were reviewed by experts. A total of four scholars were contacted by whatsapp. Two were female and two were male. The researcher wanted to interview different people who learn Turkish language but only the volunteers participated in this research. The identity of participants attended to the research was kept confidential. Çelik 976 2.5. Data Analysis For this research, content analysis was used. This is a part of qualitative data analysis. In content analysis, primarily data are achieved. Indistinguishable data were gathered to form the themes. The researcher regulated these themes. At the end, the determined themes were analyzed. The qualitative research’s steps are as follows: 1- The data are codified. 2- The themes were created. 3-The codes and themes were regulated. 4- The findings were explained. 5- The findings were explicated (Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2011). 3.Findings Table 2. The Reasons of Learning Turkish She has a Turkish husband 1W Because she lives in Turkey. 1W Because he works in Turkey. 2M Bilingualism 3M Turkish is beautiful 2M, 4W She must live in Turkey. 1W Daily necessities 2M He/she likes Turkish language 2M, 4W He was born in Turkey 3M Because it is useful for the job 4W The participants answered the question; “Why do you want to learn Turkish?” by saying that they would prefer to learn Turkish for diffirent reasons. Some reasons are for the needs and some reasons are interest shown for Turkish language. Generally, the students who were interviewed said that they think Turkish is a nice language and they like this language. According to Karababa (2009, p.271), students who attend Turkish courses are generally adults. Among these adults are those who come to Turkey for working and studying, who marry with Turkish people, journalists, authors, and for diplomatic mission and families. Among the participants of this research, there is a participant who wants to learn Turkish because he is married to a Turkish person. Another participant started to be interested in Turkish in our country, where he came for education. This led him to learn Turkish. Another participant was already born in Turkey. He is also working in Turkey. Some of the participants think Turkish is beneficial for their working life. It is seen that the interest of Italians in Turkish has increased in recent years. When Karababa conducted the research in 2009, it cannot be denied that we were at the beginning of the road for studies on teaching Turkish to foreigners. When we compare it with today, interest in Turkish has increased. Some Italians say that they watch Turkish TV series and want to learn Turkish by being influenced by them. In an interview with Lucio Riciardelli, a student of the Tourism Department of the European Tourism University had said; “I went to Istanbul once and my heart remained there. Then I decided to learn Turkish”. He expressed his thoughts by saying so (Çolak, 2018). International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 9(2), 971-986. 977 “Because I married a Turkish man and I live in Turkey.” (1W) “I spent a period in Turkey for studying and I had to learn the basics for everyday life. I found the language charming and I started to study it.” (2M) “I learned Turkish naturally.” (3M) “Because Turkish is a nice language and very useful for business.” (4W) Table 3. Where and How Turkish is Learned Going a course in Turkey 1W Going a course in Italy 1W Teaching Italian at the university in Turkey 1W With a speech book with rules 2M Reading what you see on the Street 2M Internet 2M Book 2M In family, at home 3M Talking to the indigenous peoples in Turkey and developing in this way 4W When asked the question; "When and how did you learn Turkish?", it was seen that they wanted to learn Turkish for different reasons. Attending a course is an activity that facilitates learning Turkish. Others went to the Turkish language courses in Italy. There are students from different countries in the world who come to Turkish universities to study. As a result of the increase in demand, Turkish teaching centers (TÖMER/DİLMER), which fulfill the function of learning Turkish for foreigners, have been opened in many Turkish universities. On one hand, students from outside the Republic of Turkey studying in Turkish Universities have been supported through the Turkish and Relative Communities Directorate by way of "Turkey Scholarship" to promote them. The number of Yunus Emre Institute is increasing every year. Yunus Emre Institute centers continue to teach Turkish by opening new centers abroad. The efforts to introduce Turkish culture are an indication of the efforts to make Turkish a world language. On the other hand, opening graduate programs in the area of "Teaching Turkish to Foreigners” in Turkish universities is the evidence that progress in the academic sense of the field. In addition to all these good developments, there is a need for more studies in this area (Okur, 2016: 5). Apart from the course, participants have said they are trying to learn Turkish by reading what they see on the streets when they come to Turkey. They stated that they tried to improve their Turkish by using the internet and reading books as well. They said they developed their Turkish by way of talking to their families who live in Turkey along with the locals in Turkey. “Before moving to Turkey, I participated a basic course in Italy, after I moved, I participated in another course, but I began to learn Turkish when I teach Italian language in university.” (1W) “I began with a phrasal book with some rules and I read the inscriptions/short messages on the street whatever I saw. Then I continued with a book and internet.” (2M) “I learned in my house from my family.” (3M) “I learned Turkish in Turkey by visiting domestic public places.” (4W) Çelik 978 Table 4. Difficulties for Pronunciation and Letters Pronunciation of letter “h” 1W Pronunciation of letter “ğ” 1W, 2M Pronunciation of letter “ı” 1W, 4W Nothing 2M, 3M Pronunciation is easy 4W It is uttered as written 4W Table 4 shows the difficulties that participants encounter in pronunciation and letters while learning Turkish. The most difficult pronunciation of the letters for Italians is the pronunciation of the letters “ğ, ı and h”. Italians cannot say the "h" sound. Although the letter "h" is used in the article, the letter "h" is not said while reading. While teaching Turkish, there is a need for various visual and audio materials suitable for the technology of the age along with the course books. Many of the pronunciation disorders that are frequently encountered in students are caused by the less use of visual and auditory materials in the lessons. Using visual and audio materials is effective in increasing students' motivation. The use of movies and music in Turkish teaching will increase the interest of foreigners towards Turkish. It is seen that the resources that can be used in teaching Turkish as a foreign language are insufficient. Therefore, academicians need to do more research and publications in the field of teaching Turkish to foreigners (Er, Biçer and Bozkırlı, 2012, p.62- 63). According to the results of the research conducted by Parlakyıldız and Çelik (2018, p. 599) with the students of Istanbul Taksim TÖMER; Students especially take the pronunciation of their teachers as an example. With the help of their teachers, they increase their vocabulary knowledge. They observe the gestures and facial expressions of their teachers. In the lessons, teachers attach importance to the practice of students in correcting speech errors. Playing CDs, watching videos and preparing presentations are among the activities. Students want prepared and unprepared speaking exercises to be done more frequently. They think that practicing will improve speaking skills. For this reason, they have said that it is necessary to learn the language in life without hesitation. “In Italian language the consonant “h” letter’s pronunciation is very difficult, because while a person talking, I can’t hear this voice. “ğ” has the same problem, I don’t know how I can pronunciate, even “ı” which isn’t in Italian sound, it is difficult for pronunciation.” (1W) “None. Except ğ, ği.” (2M) “I haven’t got any difficulty for pronunciation” (3M) “The pronunciation of Turkish is quite simple; it is pronounced as it is written. I had some difficulties with the letter ‘ı’.” (4W) International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 9(2), 971-986. 979 Table 5. Comparison of Italian and Turkish It is similar to French 1W t is higly emphatic 1W It is not hard to learn 1W Different 2M It has a nice melody 2M Italian and Turkish are different (two different sound) 3M It has a high sound 3M I found letter “u” different as it is rare in Italian 4W There is a sign for every sound 1W, 4W There is no difference 2M Advantageous 4W Alphabet is important 1W, 4W Sound=Letter 4W Languages that are close to each other in terms of origin come from the same source and these languages are related languages. These languages form a language family. World languages are divided into various language families in this way. A language family is a community of languages that are separated from a mother language by development. Hungarian and Finnish are included in the family of Indo-European languages. In addition, all European languages other than those spoken in some other smaller countries are also included in Indo-European languages. Among the Asian languages, Persian and many languages available in India also belong to this language family. Italian falls under the branch of Romance languages within the Indo-European language family. Latin is the main language of the Romani languages branch. The foremost languages living today are French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian. The group in which Turkish is included among the languages on earth is the group of Ural- Altaic languages. Ural-Altaic languages do not constitute a solid family like other language families. For example, the affinity between Indo-European languages is not available in these languages. The affinity between the Ural-Altaic languages is more of a unity of structure rather than a unity of origin. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to consider these languages as a language group rather than a language family for now. There is a similarity between these languages in terms of structure. Ural-Altaic languages are additive languages. In addition, although they are different from each other, they all have a similar vocal harmony in degree and general system. Except for those under the influence of Indo-European languages, the word order in these languages is roughly similar (Ergin, 1988, p.49-51). Looking at the comments of the participants; one of the participants compared Turkish to French. There are two participants who say there is a sign for each sound. One participant said that stress is in the last syllable. Another participant said that he found letter "u" different which is rarely used in Italian. There are also participants who stated that Turkish has a very high voice. In response to one participant who said there was no difference between Italian and Turkish, another participant conversely said that there was a difference between the two languages. In addition, there are participants who think that Turkish is not difficult and so it has advantages. One participant said that Turkish has a pleasant sound. Çelik 980 “Turkish sounds like French. I mean, all words must be pronounced with emphasis in the last syllable. It isn’t difficult and it improves the sound of the sentence.” (1W) “It has a different melody, but enjoyable.” (2M) “Two different voices but I have to say Turkish has a high sound.” (3M) “When I can't speak Turkish, I have always heard the letter "u", the letter found in Italian but much less used than in Turkish.” (4W) Table 6. Common Words in Turkish and Italian Tren-treno/ Train 1W Pantolon- pantoloni/ Trousers 1W Gardrop-gardroba/ Wardrobe 1W İstasyon-stazione/ Station 1W Televizyon-televisione/ Television 1W Pijama-pigiama/ Pyjamas 1W Posta- posta/ Post 2M Rampa-rampa/ Ramp 2M Fatura-fattura/ Invoice 4W Kasa-cassa/ Safe 4W Vapur-vaporetto/ Steamboat 4W Politika-politica/ Policy 4W There are common words in different languages. From time to time we notice this when communicating or reading an article in a different language. Languages affect each other. Since language is a living being, it is able to be enriched with new words. When Table 6 is examined, the answers given by the participants to the question about which words are used in Turkish and Italian in common are seen. According to the opinions of the participants, some of the common words used in Turkish and Italian are: Train (tren-treno), trousers (pantolon-pantoloni), wardrobe (gardrop-gardroba), station (istasyon-stazione), television (televizyon-televisione), pyjamas (pijama-pigiama), post (posta- posta), ramp (rampa-rampa), invoice (fatura-fattura), safe (kasa-cassa), steamboat (vapur-vaporetto), policy (politika-politica). “A lot of words are coming from French and assimilated from Italian. Tren=treno, pantolon=pantolon, gardrop=guardaroba, istasyon=stazione, televizyon=televisioone, pijama=pigiama and many other.” (1W) “The most recurring word is “güzel”. Also, with çok, and it’s difficult to understand when it indicates “a lot”, “too much”, “many”. For instance, posta. Rampa, bomba. Capitano, kapudan. Pompa. But this one has a different meaning. Turkish people say. Pasta, it has a similar meaning.” (2M) “Yes, there are many. For example, Fatura (fatura), Cassa (kasa), Vaporetto (vapur), Politika (politika)” etc. Table 7. Anything Else to Add? Turkish and Italian are the opposite of each other's sentences 1W Turkish reading and pronunciation is simple and practical 2M Real stumbling happens in grammar 2M Nothing 4W International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 9(2), 971-986. 981 When we ask the participant “Is there anything else you’d like to add?”, they say that Turkish grammar is difficult. The participant said: “the sentence structures of Turkish and Italian are completly different. If you want to translate a sentence Turkish to Italian, you should start from the end of the sentence. Because these two languages are in two seperate language family.” According to the results of the research conducted by Güneş (2018, p.228-230); Names in ambiguous quantitative expressions obtained because of scanning Italian and Turkish annotated dictionaries and reviews are widely used in both languages. For example, as in the expression "una montagna di libri" (a mountain book), the word "mountain" is used in both languages to mean that the quantity is too great. It has been observed that the number of names used in Italian quantitative expressions is higher than the number of Turkish names. It has been determined that the names used in Italian quantitative expressions and their synonyms are also widely used. In order to strengthen the meaning in quantitative expressions, there are enlargement and reduction suffixes in Italian. For example, the word "nugolone" is obtained by adding -one magnification suffix to the word "nugolo" (cloud). Another example is the word "granello" created by adding -ello to the word "grano". Reduction affixes and word repetitions in Turkish; It has been observed that ambiguous minority expressions with names in both languages are also used in a negative sense. There are structural differences between the uncertain quantitative expressions in Italian and Turkish. While Italian quantitative expressions are formed according to a general structure, in Turkish, these structures are formed in the form of indeterminate noun phrases, analogy, comparisons, and by the use of certain words and repetition of names. Italian nouns combine with many more entity or concept names, forming more flexible quantitative expressions. Turkish nouns combine with fewer entity or concept names. It has been observed that they form more stereotyped quantitative expressions. “Sentence structure of Turkish and Italian can go against the grain. For translating one sentence from Turkish to Italian and do the opposite you should start from the end of the sentence or the exact opposite.” (1W) “I can add that Turkish reading and pronounciation are very simple and practical. The real stumble is grammar which complicates the progress of learning. And strictly; ğ, ğı sounds” (2M) 4. Results, Discussion and Suggestions Even though Turkish and Italian show different characteristics, common words are found in both languages. According to the results of the research, Italians who learn Turkish generally try to learn our language because they need it and because they love Turkish. Artistic events such as music and TV series are important factors in the promotion of Turkey and the increased interest in Turkish. When considered in terms of language teaching, there may be many reasons why people want to learn a language or languages other than their mother tongues. The reason why people want to learn a language other than their mother tongue is individual preferences influenced by social and international developments. The individual enters this type of long-term and not easy learning process. The language learner should have a high motivation. Because learning Çelik 982 a foreign language requires at least a few hours of individual work each day. It also takes maybe two or three years to learn a language. It is not a skill that can be obtained in a short time. Different levels of interests and relationships in countries, where the target language is spoken as the mother tongue, can increase or decrease the demand for learning that language. In order to meet the demand arising from the interest in learning certain languages. Countries that speak the target language as a mother tongue need to do various studies, researches and applications (Durmuş, 2003, p.208). Italians stated that they learned Turkish both by attending the course and by their own efforts. After the interviews with participants who had the chance to live for a while or moved to Turkey, it was seen that they love the melody of the Turkish. Learning a language in the local community is always an advantage. Because the person who learns the language is in contact with people whose mother language is Turkish. Italians particularly have difficulty learning the sounds "h, ğ, ğı and ı". In this study, the participants stated that they had difficulty with these letters. The most important reason for this is that these sounds are not found in the Italian alphabet. Although the "h" sound is in the alphabet, Italians do not use this sound when speaking. One of the problems encountered in teaching Turkish is teaching the pronunciation of sounds correctly. However, the methods used in the teaching of our language are also of great importance. Good materials are needed while teaching Turkish. The "Bengü" Turkish teaching set prepared by Avcı (2020, p.639) makes an important contribution to the field at this point. While teaching Turkish, the requirement to start with a sentence is taken as basis. It is emphasized that instead of the meaning of the word, the whole sentence should be given and the relationship between words should be handled with a predicate-centered approach. It was pointed out that in a predicate-centered approach, it should be emphasized that the basic expression in the sentence takes place around the persons, based on the function of the person suffixes in Turkish. Italian is in the Indo-European language family. It falls into Romance languages section. Latin is known as the father of Italian language. Turkish is included in the Ural-Altay language family. This family of languages are additive languages. Since Turkish and Italian are in two different language families, they are very different from each other. While the syntax in Turkish goes as subject, complement, predicate; it proceeds in the form of subject, predicate, complement in Italian. While the adjective comes before the noun in Turkish, it usually comes after the noun in Italian. For example, "Ho visto un Pagliaccio e ha un cappello rosso," means "I saw a clown and he has a red hat." As in the sentence, the use of adjectives and nouns is also different. According to the participants, there are those who think Turkish is not a difficult language. The letter "u" sounded different to some participants. One participant compared Turkish to French. Participants consider Turkish to have a loud sound. According to the opinions of the participants, some of the common words used in Turkish and Italian are train (tren-treno), trousers (pantolon-pantoloni), wardrobe (gardrop-gardroba), station (istasyon-stazione), television (televizyon-televisione), pyjamas (pijama-pigiama), post (posta- posta), ramp (rampa-rampa), invoice (fatura-fattura), safe (kasa-cassa), steamboat (vapur-vaporetto), policy (politika-politica). International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 9(2), 971-986. 983 The following recommendations can be given for future studies: 1. When teaching Turkish to Italians, more emphasis can be placed on the teaching of the sounds "h, ğ, ğı and ı". For the teaching of these sounds, the formation points of the sounds can be shown to the students. Continuous repetitions can be made. 2. Italians learning Turkish can be given information about common words used in Turkish and Italian. 3. 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