A book written in the 19th century to teach Turkish to German speakers: Praktisches Handbuch der osmanisch-tuerkischen Sprache

Abstract

This study aims to analyse the book Praktisches Handbuch der osmanisch-tuerkischen Sprache written by Adolf Wahrmund to teach Turkish to German speakers in terms of teaching Turkish as a foreign language. The first edition of the work was published in Giessen, Germany in 1869 by J. Ricker’sche Buchhandlung publishing house. The themes were created by analysing the data obtained from the study through content analysis. The work was examined under the theme headings, such as target audience, phonetics, grammar teaching, reading passages, speaking teaching, vocabulary teaching, exercises and cultural transfer. The themes first were defined and then they were exemplified and interpreted. The results of the study indicate that many skills (reading, speaking, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation) were included, cultural transfer (formulaic expressions, idioms, proverbs, Nasreddin Hodja jokes, etc.) was emphasised and authentic materials (newspaper articles, letters of agreement, stories, etc.) were used in teaching Turkish as a foreign language in the work.

Keywords: Adolf Wahrmund, Praktisches Handbuch der osmanisch-tuerkischen Sprache, teaching Turkish as a foreign language, Turkish for Germans and German speakers.