Summarization as an Indicator of Understanding in Türkiye: Curriculum, Textbooks, and Teachers

Abstract

This study aims to determine how the summarizing outcome in the Turkish Curriculum (1st–8th grades) is handled, the reflection of this outcome on Turkish textbooks, and the appropriateness of the summarizing instruction in the textbooks to the sub-process steps of summarizing. Within the scope of the research, the subject, main idea, supporting idea, and summarizing outcomes related to listening/watching and reading skills in the Turkish Lesson Curriculum were examined. In addition, it was investigated to what extent the summarizing activities in Turkish textbooks can provide the substages of summarizing as a skill. In the study, all seven Turkish textbooks prepared by the Ministry of National Education and private publishing houses and used as teaching materials between the 5th and 8th grade levels were examined as the study object. The data in the curriculum and textbooks were obtained by document analysis, and the “Evaluation Criteria Form for Summarizing Activities in Turkish Textbooks” created by the researcher was used to analyse the data in the textbooks. The data obtained in this direction were analyzed by descriptive analysis. Within the scope of the study, the opinions of classroom teachers and Turkish teachers were also consulted. As the study group, it consists of 15 classroom teachers and 15 Turkish teachers working in primary and secondary schools in Ankara. A semi-structured interview form was prepared to interview the teachers and their answers to these questions were analyzed by content analysis. The findings obtained within the scope of the study concluded that the curriculum did not adopt a certain systematic order, the activities in the textbooks were not prepared according to the sub-process steps, and the teachers’ knowledge about these skills was insufficient.