Should I learn Turkish? Ottoman Culture and other reasons to learn Turkish

Should I learn Turkish? Ottoman Culture and other reasons to learn Turkish

INTRO

Our aim is to emphasize the resources of motivation for Turkish learners. We assert that there are unexplored opportunities and strengths in Turkish language motivation.

Caught between modernists and conservatives, Turkish language is in a double bind. In order to establish the new, the old was undermined by both sides. Due to radical tendencies in politics, Turkish language instructors did not realize its full potentials. One of the potential opportunities is Ottoman culture, also known as classical Turkish culture.

Language is a part of culture and cannot be taught independent of the culture that it belongs. Due to Ottoman culture having the roots of modern Turkish culture and in addition to cultural roots, having one of the most interesting cultures, Ottoman culture and linguistic capabilities have to be included in Modern Turkish curriculum.

First of all, motivation is crucial in every learning, hence the culture of the language becomes important element of teaching that language. Pros and cons of learning a language is directly related to the culture, and the background.

There are less enthusiasts of Turkish than it’s expected to be. Turkish language has a strong historical and literary background such as Latin and Ancient Greek. In addition to this, it’s a living and thriving language. With this in mind It’s vital to emphasize its cultural importance and utilize its historical buildup.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

The term, motivation is critical in understanding human behavior. The concept of motive (or motivation) is generally unclear, and has not been well characterized. Yet, it’s usually and conventionally defined as a “hypothetical construct that causes behavior to occur.” (Kovac, 2016, p. 2)

More philosophically, motive for a behavior is an answer to a “why” question and can be answered in various ways. Briefly, we can say that when we ask why? Or what is the motive? We ask what was the reason for doing that or what was the point of it, what end was in mind.(Peters, 2015, p. 4)

There are other attempts to describe human behavior such as COM-B Model, which takes motivation into the center and defines it as “brain processes that energize and direct behavior”(Michie et al., 2011, p. 4)

In the contemporary times, researches on learning and pedagogy has directed the attention towards understanding motivation. Some implications from these researches would be that it’s unequally present among humans, its conventional definition is not universal, being unmotivated is groundless, there are other elements of behavior other than motivation and people may not be able to understand their motivations. (Hoffman, 2015, p. 3)

It’s a well-known fact that students learn more and better when they’re motivated. It’s also wiser for teachers to motivate the learners to learn by themselves. Therefore, motives for a language or any other topic would turn it into an object of desire if the instructor points out to the correct reasoning. The topic would not only be chosen but will be an internal and living part of the learners.

Motivation is especially vital to second language learning. In their book about motivation and second foreign learning (Lasagabaster et al., 2014, p. 38) propose that motivation is the key and likely to be increased when it requires complex thinking skills. We can assert that it’s necessary to provide motives for learning Turkish as a foreign language; due to the requirement of more efforts to acquire skills of this unique language family for most of the learners.

Neuroscience demonstrated that there are dopaminergic systems related to motivation. Human attention is reward driven.(Renninger & Hidi, 2019, p. 6) Researches show that reward circuitry is activated even in the anticipation of the reward. Such initiation is viewed as a proof of fundamental motivational function of the brain and generator of behavior as well as enhancer of learning.(Renninger & Hidi, 2019, p. 19)

Language is a part of culture and Teaching Turkish language require a motivation in relation to it’s cultural background. For practical purposes we will define motivation as “reasons to learn” in the scope of this paper and list the Ottoman motivational elements for learners of Turkish.

Motivational strengths for Turkish as a foreign language

These are the internal elements of Turkish language. Particular to Turkish language, and are unique and special properties from its historic grounds. It’s mostly intellectual and attention-grabbing features that will draw people if addressed correctly.

Linguistic motivation

Turkish language is the most hybrid major language having semantical and lexicological elements from three different language families. Altaic(Turkish), Indo-European(Persian) and Afroasiatic languages(Arabic) are combined in the classical era to become Ottoman Turkish. The cultural dominance of Turkish spanning from Pacific to Atlantic in its height is also another argument. Even so, Chinese and Altaic influence is still visible in contemporary Turkish. This is the most interesting fact about Ottoman and Turkish culture, it has variety of sources mixed in it. We can easily see that the breadbasket of the empire, Anatolia is like a transition point, a literal bridge between two hemispheres.

Grammatical rules as well as lexicological additions from Persian and Arabic could be introduced into the materials that provoke engagement. For instance, Turkish has a 3-dimensional vowel harmony. Vowels are characterized by three features: front/back, open/closed and round/unround. This is an uncommon feature for most of the people, that you have an easy formula for a particular vocabulary.

Turkish is an agglutinative language: complex words are formed by stringing together morphemes without changing them in spelling or phonetics. The classical Ottoman language has not dropped the subject-object-verb structure and its agglutinative verbs despite the lexicographic additions from other languages.

Modernism and dynamism motivation

Turkish language has gone through extensive transformation as well as the Turkish people. Culture shifting and social change mechanics are incredibly valuable to observe in Turkish. Not only Turkish Republic but also Ottoman Empire and their languages have transformed successively and tragically. A nomadic language becomes the primary language of the biggest empire through embracing linguistic elements that is alien to it, and then dramatically transforms into a national language, quite weirdly. That’s a stimulating outcome that has to be addressed to the Turkish learners. The historical journey, adaptability and the “change” that it’s gone through will be another intellectual achievement for the target groups.

Intercultural motivation

Ottoman Empire was a peak example of multi-culturalism. It was the long-standing exception of stability in a geography that is tormented with disorder in the contemporary times. The cultural variety, the political tension between ethnicities were managed under “millet” system and high autonomy from the central government. This element is mostly unique Ottoman qualities that are needed in the chaotic near eastern geography. The language and the culture has the signs of the Ottoman phenomenon.

Literary motivation

Countless literary works and Ottoman historical records are titanic for a language learner. Turkish literature as well as Turkish histories are a major reason. Similarly, Ottoman state is as great source as its authors. The empire was the main rival of Europe and Middle East states. Without the Ottomans history would be incomplete. Here, we can take Ancient Greece and Latin as examples. Despite a language dies, it may be popular thanks to its cultural significance.

Science

When Turkish is compared to English or other European languages, scientific output and publication quantity may seem low. On the other hand, for its own culture group; Turkic countries and Islamic countries would benefit from learning Turkish. Internet content, feature films, universities and printed material are fertile and available to Turkish learners when it’s compared to the other Turkic and Islamic countries. Turkey is a role model for a community of two billion people from its culture group.

Motivational opportunities for Turkish as a foreign language

These are external elements of Turkish language. Common to all languages, these should also be addressed in the curricula, course plans, course overviews and textbooks. The outcomes for Turkish are as follows:

Multiculturalism

Learning a foreign language makes people less biased and less negative towards others. Ottoman culture is a mix of countless ethnicities and the language also has its traces. Learning Turkish will also cultivate a comprehension of the interrelation of civilizations and especially towards and from the Muslim world.

Economy

Learners will find opportunities in Turkish business circles. Especially if they’re equipped with the Ottoman cultural background of the country. Turkey is the 11th greatest country in terms of purchasing power parity.(Wikipedia, 2022) It has also one of the youngest population in Europe. It sure is a future investment to learn Turkish.

Social skills

Turkey is maybe one of the most interesting societies in the history comprising of European, Asian and Middle Eastern elements. Such a culture will tease people into learning the language if the correct context is realized in the textbooks and the curricula. In this way people will also be able to reflect on their own culture through studying diverse Ottoman culture.

Communication Skills

Learners regularly refer to foreing language courses as probably the most significant courses in school due to the communicational abilities created all the while. It’s also an opportunity of communication between the different identities and cultures. The world will be sensed in a different way when people learn Turkish and Islamic cultures through Ottoman context. The public opinion towards the Muslim world will improve and the barriers against the communication of people will be lifted.

Thinking Skills

Problem solving, dealing with abstract concepts will be enhanced through being able to compare and contrast different conceptual worlds of the languages.

Geography

From Pacific to Atlantic, From every city in Europe to every country in the World. There is always a Turkish speaker within reach due to Turkish diaspora and Turkish language being geographically wide spread.

Challenges

The tension between old and new, history and today didn’t let Turkey to embrace it’s imperial roots and mistakes. Moreover, in terms of recognition English becomes dominant in all environments in expense of the other languages. Lastyly, Turkish scientific production is way lower than its western counterparts; and it hinders the development of this language.

Suggestions

There are more reasons to learn Turkish than Turkish TV series. The cultural roots made Ancient Greek and Latin thrive even today. The motives for learning these languages can also be present in learning Turkish. Besides, the contemporary economic developments and socio-cultural reasons make Turkish a considerable candidate language to learn.

Bibliography

Hoffman, B. (2015). Motivation for learning and performance. Elsevier Academic Press.

Kovac, V. B. (2016). Basic Motivation and Human Behaviour. Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47056-0

Lasagabaster, D., Doiz, A., & Sierra, J. M. (Eds.). (2014). Motivation and foreign language learning: From theory to practice. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Michie, S., van Stralen, M. M., & West, R. (2011). The behaviour change wheel: A new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions. Implementation Science : IS, 6, 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-6-42

Peters, R. S. (2015). The concept of motivation. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Renninger, K. A., & Hidi, S. E. (2019). The Cambridge Handbook of Motivation and Learning (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316823279

PPP, Wikipedia, 20.12. 2022 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)

This is a summary of what was presented in 7th International Congress of Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language

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