Cartoons as a Teaching Tool: A Research on Turkish Language Grammar Teaching.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to determine the eff ect of teaching by utilizing cartoons on student success in the Turkish language courses in primary school secondary level students. Working group of the study consists of 54 students studying in primary state school in Sakarya province Hendek district. In the study, the 'Rule and Concept Test on Sound Knowledge' was used with Cronbach α value of . 72. Mann Whitney U Test and Wilcoxon Test were used in analysis of the data. Moreover, an interview was conducted with the experimental group students. The QSR NVivo 7 program and content analysis were used in analysis of qualitative data. In the research, it is determined that teaching students with caricatures increases the Turkish language success; helps motivate them in the course; and increases participation, compared to the traditional method. Some suggestions are proposed on the use of cartoons in Turkish language grammar. Key Words Turkish Grammar Instruction, Cartoons. Language grammar courses explain the prevailing rules of his/her language to students. The main goal of the grammar rules is to provide individuals eff ective and efficient oral/written expression activities. According Sagir (2002), the greatest deficiency in the language teaching is the lack of methods. A language grammar education teaches via concrete examples by performing comparisons via combining the form with the function, not with a method emphasizing the form. Rather than abstract design and concepts, the topics should be explained by utilizing entities and concepts which students have perceived through their sensory organs. Students enter through the mental thinking process via visual elements in cartoons. Grammar course describes a student the dominant rules of the language arrangement that he/she uses. The main objective of the modern language teaching of the 21st century is to combine a strategic viewpoint, which would make learning language enjoyable, in theory and practice; to off er the ways of learning strategy that would lead students to think; and in this manner, to teach more much things about language (Gogus, 1978; Grenfell, 2000; Riegel, Pellat & Roul, 1994). Recently, linguistics theories and psycholinguistics studies put forth different approaches regarding language learning, and consequently, the concepts of context & text; and the concepts of function & form came into prominence (Nunan, 1998). The objective of language teaching in line with the modern developments is to raise subconscious structures of students to conscious level; to take them to usage area; and to transmit the operation system of language to students (Demirel & Sahinel, 2006). According to the cognitive learning approach, learning is realized by individuals' experience of cognitive processes such as perception, recalling, and thinking (Cuceloglu, 1991). Studies on learning indicate the fact that individuals can record images and words in their memories and in case of necessity, they can recall them in image and/or word forms. However, learning from texts and visual learning are seen diff erent from each other. Humans can keep images in their memories for a short time and can create schemas for long term memory, by using them in diff erent ways (Farah, 1988 quote; Akyol, 2006) Caricatures are visual images as well (Acikgoz, 2008; Delp & Jones, 1996). Learning is based on the abstraction process performed via experience obtained from concrete materials (Egan, 1988). Cartoons, which are consisted of abstract visual symbols, attract and keep interest on the topic as being abstract representatives of the reality (Cilenti, 1984; Demirel, 2004; Fisher, 1995; Gairns & Redman, 1986; Hesapcioglu, 1992; Orlich, Harder, Callahan & Gibson, 2001; Robb, 2003). They help to teach events, facts and objects in a simple and explanatory manner. Cartoons, which present visual learning possibility to students, provide observation and discussion possibility to them (Greenberg, 2002; Keogh & Naylor, 1999; Kucukahmet, 1997; Roesky & Kennepohl, 2008; Sewell, 2002), and develop their critical thinking skills (Hakam, 2009; Chin & Teou, 2009; Ozden, 1997; Song, Heo, Kmumenaker & Tippins, 2008; Thomas, 2004). …