Why Important is Learning Turkish as a Mother Tongue for Bilingual Students in England?

ABSTRACT: Learning a mother tongue (L2) is important for bilingual children who live abroad in order to learn the L1 of that society, improve the effectiveness of their communication with members of a family and increase transmission of cultural values and facilitate personal development. This study deploys a qualitative research methodology. Data were collected from 4 students at 9-12 years old, 4 parents and 3 teachers at the Turkish Community Saturday School, in Nottingham, England. Structured-interviews and observations were used to gather data on learning techniques. The goal is to understand and describe the perceptions of teachers’, students’ and parents’ learning of the mother tongue by bilingual Turkish students between the ages of 9-12. Research findings support that the perceptions of the participants on learning Turkish as mother tongue are critical, as they learn Turkish in order to foster effective communication with their families, by using Turkish effectively and learn Turkish cultural values. Keywords: bilingualism, mother tongue, learning Turkish, action research, qualitative researc