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Turkish

A-Level Turkish in England is a Pearson Edexcel qualification, specification 9TU0, Issue 1, March 2018, with first assessment in May/June 2020. Its full title is Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Turkish (listening, reading and writing), and that parenthesis is the single most important structural fact about the course: there is no speaking paper. Speaking appears in the aims, and the specification repeats under all three papers that students should be encouraged to develop their speaking during the course of study, but no mark anywhere depends on it. Three externally examined papers are taken in the same May/June series. Paper 1, Translation into English, reading comprehension and writing (research question) in Turkish, runs two hours thirty minutes, carries 80 marks and is worth 40 per cent: Section A is an unseen passage translated from Turkish into English for 20 marks, Section B is reading for 20 marks across four questions, and Section C is the research question for 40 marks, in which the student reads an unseen Turkish text on their own researched subject and responds to a statement about it in roughly 300 to 350 words of Turkish. Section C alone is a fifth of the whole A-Level and is by a wide margin the largest single task in the qualification. Paper 2, Translation into Turkish and written response to works, runs two hours forty minutes, carries 110 marks and is worth 30 per cent: Section A is an unseen translation from English into Turkish for 20 marks, and Sections B and C carry two extended essays of 45 marks each, on either two literary texts or one literary text and one film — never on two films. Paper 3, Listening, reading and writing in Turkish, runs two hours fifteen minutes, carries 60 marks and is worth 30 per cent: Section A is listening comprehension for 30 marks, with individual control of the recording, and Section B is a 30-mark question in which the student summarises one heard and one read source on the same sub-theme and then evaluates the views in both in 200 to 250 words. Apart from the translation into English, every question in the qualification is set in Turkish and must be answered in Turkish; that had to be read in this specification rather than assumed, because the language of response varies across this Edexcel family. The content is four themes, each broken into two sub-themes and one research subject, each of those divided into three aspects, and the specification prints them all in Turkish. The scoping rule is load-bearing and differs from the Greek specification in the same family: Themes 1, 3 and 4 are set in the context of Turkey only, while Theme 2, Türkiye ve Kıbrıs’ta Sanat ve Kültür, covers both Turkey and Cyprus, and a student whose research subject comes from Theme 2 chooses one of the two countries and writes about that one only. Theme 1, Türk toplumunda değişim, covers family and relationships and the world of work, with Türkiye’de eğitim fırsatları as its research subject. Theme 2 covers modern culture and media, and traditional artistic culture, with Geleneksel kutlamaların Türkiye’de veya Kıbrıs’ta değişmesi as its research subject. Theme 3, Türkiye üzerinde görüşler, covers human geography and the environment, with Türkiye’de Turizm. Theme 4, Türkiye’de siyasal konular, covers the Atatürk reforms and contemporary political life, with 2015’ten beri Türkiye’deki mülteciler. Paper 2 draws on two prescribed works chosen from a short Appendix 1 list of three literary texts and three films, and the independent research may not use either of them as a source. Underneath all of it sits a language that works quite differently from English: Turkish is agglutinative and left-branching, it has vowel harmony, it marks evidentiality in the verb, it has no grammatical gender and no definite article, and it replaces relative clauses with participles and subordinate clauses with converbs. These notes teach the language and the content together, in English prose with authentic Turkish embedded and glossed, in the 29-letter Turkish alphabet adopted in 1928, with the dotted and dotless i treated throughout as the separate letters they are.

0/60 Texts12 Chapters~364 min total

Continue reading — Chapter I Table of contents

Pearson Edexcel 9TU0 1. Konu — Aile ve İlişkiler: aile yaşamı ve bireylerinin rollerindeki değişikliklerDfE GCE AS and A level subject content for modern foreign languagesPearson Edexcel 9TU0 1. Konu — Aile ve İlişkiler: evlilik ve boşanmaya karşı gösterilen tutumun değişmesi; aile bireylerinin sayısındaki değişimPearson Edexcel 9TU0 1. Konu — İş dünyası: genç nesil ve istihdam; gençler için mesleki eğitimPearson Edexcel 9TU0 1. Konu — İş dünyası: kadınların iş yaşamındaki yeriPearson Edexcel 9TU0 1. Konu — Araştırma Konusu: Türkiye’de eğitim fırsatları+58 moreFoundationStandardAdvanced

Table of contents · 12 ChaptersT·12

Ch. I1. Konu: Türk toplumunda değişim — family, relationships, the world of work, and eğitim fırsatları5 texts · 0 read

Ch. II3. Konu: Türkiye üzerinde görüşler — human geography, the environment, and Türkiye’de Turizm5 texts · 0 read

Ch. III2. Konu I: Modern kültür ve medya — television, contemporary art, technology, and the two countries this theme covers5 texts · 0 read

Ch. IV2. Konu II: Geleneksel sanat kültürü — theatre, music, craft, and Geleneksel kutlamaların değişmesi5 texts · 0 read

Ch. V4. Konu I: Türkiye’de Atatürk devrimleri — the founding of the Republic, the alphabet, the language and the laws5 texts · 0 read

Ch. VI4. Konu II: Siyasal alan — the system, the parties, the economy, women in politics, and mülteciler5 texts · 0 read

Ch. VIIGrammar and translation: Paper 1 Section A, Paper 2 Section A, and the whole of Appendix 25 texts · 0 read

Ch. VIIIListening: Paper 3, both sections, and the twenty per cent of the A-Level that rests on hearing Turkish5 texts · 0 read

Ch. IXReading: Paper 1 Section B, the reading half of Paper 3 Section B, and how to read Turkish fast5 texts · 0 read

Ch. XThe prescribed literary texts: Paper 2 Section B, and the 45-mark essay5 texts · 0 read

Ch. XIThe prescribed films: Paper 2 Section C, and writing about cinema in Turkish5 texts · 0 read

Ch. XIIThe independent research: Paper 1 Section C, forty marks and a fifth of the A-Level5 texts · 0 read

Instrument · 01Recommended study order

Instrument · 02Exam structure

Paper 1 — Translation into English, reading comprehension and writing (research question) in Turkish (9TU0/01): Written examination of 2 hours 30 minutes, 80 marks, 40 per cent of the A-Level — the largest single component. Three compulsory sections. Section A, translation into English, 20 marks with a recommended 20 minutes: one unseen Turkish passage rendered into English, its content drawn from any one of the eight sub-themes, marked by a points-based scheme in which one mark is given for each correct individual section of language. Section B, reading, 20 marks with a recommended 45 minutes: four questions, a mixture of multiple-choice and open-response, on texts that are authentic or adapted from authentic sources and that mix factual with abstract content — contemporary, historical, literary, fiction and non-fiction, written for different purposes and audiences, and including an extended passage. Section C, writing, the research question, 40 marks with a recommended 1 hour 25 minutes: the student reads one unseen Turkish text on their chosen research subject and responds to a statement about it, using information from the text together with their own research findings, in approximately 300 to 350 words. Section C is marked by three levels-based grids applied to the one answer: knowledge and understanding of society and culture through research (AO4) out of 20, understand and respond to written language (AO2) out of 10, and accuracy and range of language (AO3) out of 10. The AO4 and AO2 grids are printed side by side in the specification precisely because each feeds the other, and AO4 carries twice the marks of AO2, which tells the candidate where the emphasis lies. All questions in Sections B and C are set in Turkish and must be answered in Turkish; only Section A produces English. No dictionary, and no documentation relating to the research, may be taken into the examination room. This paper assesses synopticity.
Paper 2 — Translation into Turkish and written response to works (9TU0/02): Written examination of 2 hours 40 minutes, 110 marks, 30 per cent. Section A, translation into Turkish, 20 marks with a recommended 30 minutes: one unseen English passage rendered into Turkish, content drawn from any one sub-theme, marked by the same points-based logic as Paper 1 Section A — one mark per correct individual section of language. Sections B and C together, 90 marks with a recommended 2 hours 10 minutes: two extended essays of 45 marks each. Section B is the literary texts and Section C the films, and the permitted combinations are exactly two: two literary texts, in which case Section C is not completed at all, or one literary text and one film. Two films is not permitted. There is a choice of two questions for each work. Each essay is marked by three levels-based grids applied individually to it: critical and analytical response (AO4) out of 20, range of grammatical structures and vocabulary (AO3) out of 15, and accuracy of language (AO3) out of 10. The recommended length is 300 to 350 words per essay, and the whole essay is marked regardless of length. No credit is given for an essay on a literary text whose evidence comes from a film version adapted from that text — the evidence must come from the original literary work. All questions are set in Turkish and must be answered in Turkish. No dictionary, and no documentation relating to the works, may be taken in.
Paper 3 — Listening, reading and writing in Turkish (9TU0/03): Written examination of 2 hours 15 minutes, 60 marks, 30 per cent. Section A, listening comprehension, 30 marks with a recommended 45 minutes: four questions, multiple-choice and open-response, including questions that specifically test summary skills, on spoken passages covering different registers and types and featuring one or more male and female Turkish-language speakers speaking at a speed appropriate to the level, with sources including material from online media, drawn across all four themes. Recordings are issued as a CD or as MP3 files obtained by secure download from the Pearson website, and the student has individual control of the recording and may stop, revisit and replay sections as they wish — a structural fact that changes the whole method for this section. Section B, the listening, reading and writing question, 30 marks with a recommended 1 hour 30 minutes: one unseen listening source and one unseen written text, both drawn from a single sub-theme. Questions 5(a) and 5(b) ask the student to summarise the different points of view in each source and are marked by a points-based scheme; question 5(c) asks the student to evaluate the viewpoints in the recording and in the text and to draw conclusions, in approximately 200 to 250 words. Question 5(c) is marked by three grids: understand and respond to spoken language (AO1) out of 6, understand and respond to written language (AO2) out of 6, and accuracy and range of language (AO3) out of 10 — 22 of the section's 30 marks, leaving 8 for the two summary questions. All questions in both sections are set in Turkish and must be answered in Turkish. No dictionary. This paper assesses synopticity and carries the entire AO1 weighting of the qualification.
The four themes, their sub-themes and their research subjects: Papers 1, 2 and 3 all draw their content from four themes, printed in Turkish. Themes 1, 3 and 4 are set in the context of Turkey only; Theme 2 is set in the context of Turkey and Cyprus, and a student whose research subject comes from Theme 2 chooses one of those two countries and writes about that one only. Each theme has two sub-themes and one research subject, and each of those is divided into three aspects. 1. Konu, Türk toplumunda değişim, covers society past and present: Aile ve İlişkiler (aile yaşamı ve bireylerinin rollerindeki değişiklikler; evlilik ve boşanmaya karşı gösterilen tutumun değişmesi; aile bireylerinin sayısındaki değişim) and İş dünyası (genç nesil ve istihdam; gençler için mesleki eğitim; kadınların iş yaşamındaki yeri), with the research subject Türkiye’de eğitim fırsatları (eğitim sisteminde özel ve devlet okulları arasındaki farklar; zihinsel ve bedensel engellilerin eğitimi; kentsel ve kırsal bölgelerde eğitim imkânları). 2. Konu, Türkiye ve Kıbrıs’ta Sanat ve Kültür, covers artistic culture: Modern kültür ve medya (televizyon; çağdaş sanat; teknolojinin kültürel etkinlikler üzerindeki etkisi) and Geleneksel sanat kültürü (geleneksel tiyatro; geleneksel müzik; geleneksel el sanatları), with the research subject Geleneksel kutlamaların Türkiye’de veya Kıbrıs’ta değişmesi (günümüzdeki geleneksel kutlamalar; modern yaşamın geleneksel kutlamalar üzerindeki etkisi; geleneksel kutlamaların ülke yaşamındaki önemi). 3. Konu, Türkiye üzerinde görüşler, covers society past and present: Beşeri Coğrafya (yaşam standartları ve hayat kalitesinde değişim; kırsal ve kentsel kesim ayrımı; kırsal kesimden kente göç) and Çevre (çevre sorunlarına karşı değişen tutumlar; doğal kaynakların korunması; endüstrileşme ve kentleşmenin çevre üzerinde olumlu ve olumsuz etkileri), with the research subject Türkiye’de Turizm (turizmin ekonomi üzerindeki etkisi; turizmin yerel halk için yararları ve zararları; Türkiye’de turizmi teşvik amacıyla yapılan yatırımlar). 4. Konu, Türkiye’de siyasal konular, covers political culture past and present: Türkiye’de Atatürk devrimleri (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin kuruluşu; Atatürk’ün Türk dili üzerindeki değişimlere etkisi; Atatürk öncülüğünde daha eşit bir topluma yönelik çıkarılan yasalar) and Siyasal alan (başlıca siyasi partiler ve gündemleri; ekonomiyi geliştirmek için hükümetin girişimleri; siyasette kadınlar), with the research subject 2015’ten beri Türkiye’deki mülteciler (mültecilerin Türkiye’ye geliş nedenleri; Türkler ve mülteciler arasındaki ilişkiler; hükümetin ve diğer kuruluşların yardımları). One drafting inconsistency should be noticed rather than puzzled over: the preamble to the themes describes Theme 2 as covering the artistic and political culture of Turkey and Cyprus, while the heading of Theme 2 itself says the theme covers artistic culture past and present, and every printed sub-theme and aspect under it is artistic-cultural. The printed sub-themes and aspects are what is examinable.
The independent research — the rules that govern Paper 1 Section C: Independent research means research carried out without the help or instruction of others, including teachers. The student selects exactly one of the four research subjects and must cover all three of its aspects; the research must relate to the Turkish-speaking cultural or social context; it must be based on one country only, Turkey for Themes 1, 3 and 4 and either Turkey or Cyprus for Theme 2; and it must not relate to, or make reference to, either of the works studied for Paper 2. Evidence must be gathered independently from at least two authentic sources in Turkish, and the specification's list of what counts is wide — newspaper and magazine articles, online written sources, journals, literary texts, films, television, radio, online audio-visual material and interviews. The country rule has teeth in the marking: if a student writing on Themes 1, 3 or 4 refers to more than one country, examiners will mark content based on Turkey only, and for Theme 2 they will mark positively by crediting the country that gains the higher mark, but either way the student has spent time on writing that cannot score. Teachers may give guidance on how to research, on the content of the research subjects as printed in the specification, on the availability of resources and time, and on the assessment objectives; teachers must confirm that a student's research covers all the aspects, must ensure no Paper 2 work is used, must ensure a Theme 2 researcher has fixed on one country, and must monitor that students choosing the same subject work independently of one another. Teachers must not teach the content of the research subjects and must not provide sources. The specification recommends deciding on the research subject as early as possible in the year, and it says twice, in nearly identical words, that teachers should consider cultural sensitivities when giving guidance on choosing an appropriate subject. Nothing relating to the research may be taken into the examination room, and there is no dictionary.
The works, and Appendix 2, the grammar list: Appendix 1 prescribes three literary texts — Üç Anadolu Efsanesi by Yaşar Kemal, 1967, short stories; Veda by Ayşe Kulin, 2008, a novel; and Sessiz Ev by Orhan Pamuk, 1983, a novel — and three feature-length films: İftarlık Gazoz, directed by Yüksel Aksu, 2016; Çınar Ağacı, directed by Handan İpekçi, 2011; and Dedemin İnsanları, directed by Çağan Irmak, 2011. Confirm the list current for the series being sat, because prescribed-work lists are revised. Appendix 2 sets out the grammar, and it is unusually long and unusually technical for an MFL A-Level, printed with the Turkish grammatical terminology alongside the English. It begins with phonetics — vowel harmony, consonant harmony and consonant mutation — then sentence types including the canonical kurallı cümle and the inverted devrik cümle; then the morphology of nouns, the three kinds of noun phrase (belirtili, belirtisiz and zincirleme isim tamlaması), pronouns including the pronominal suffix -ki, and the declension of nouns, which covers the possessive suffixes, the interrogative particle, the equalisation suffix -ca/-ce and five cases, genitive, accusative, dative, locative and ablative; then adjectives, adverbs, postpositions and conjunctions. The verb section is the heaviest single item: the predicative ek fiil in four simple forms, auxiliary verbs, five simple indicative tenses, four simple optative moods, and then the compound moods built by stacking, narrative, inferential and conditional, on almost all of them, giving forms such as gelmişti, geliyormuş and gelecekse; then verbal nouns, seven participles, seventeen converbs, and seven voices from passive and reflexive through reciprocal and causative. The Paper 2 marking guidance adds its own working definition of complex language — the past perfect çalışmıştı, the future perfect çalışmış olacak, the conditionals gelse, gelirse and gelseydi, the passive, the subjunctive, possessive constructions, extended sentences carrying abstract argument, and varied synonymy such as bağışlamak beside affetmek — which functions as a checklist for the AO3 range mark.

Instrument · 03Official sources