CONTRIBUTION OF THE ELP USE ON LEARNING TURKISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Abstract

The study explored the contribution of the European Language Portfolio (ELP) on students'attitudes towards learning Turkish. The study was carried out with 30 foreign students studyingat Bartın University the Language Education and Instruction Application and Research Centerin the 2018-2019 academic year. The data collection instrument used in this study was semistructuredinterviews which were administered to thirty students and an attitude surveydesigned on a five-point Likert scale with 43 items.The analysis of the interviews indicated that the ELP can boost self-assessment and as aconsequence, the students support having more positive attitudes towards learning Turkish.Additionally, it was declared that the students felt positive towards the ELP. And alsoaccording to the results of the questionnaires, they had positive attitudes towards learningTurkish since the purpose of their learning is to survive in Turkey and to pursue their educationand career.Furthermore, the findings of the study indicated the students admitted that the ELP was atool for self-assessment; however since the students were learning Turkish, they sometimeshad some problems comprehending the sentences which later turned into an advantage givingthem a chance to practice their Turkish.