NEWS CENTER - According to Socio-Political Field Research Center, the frequency of speaking the mother language decreases as the age decreases. The research stated that women speak less in their mother language "on the street/in social life", and the rate of those demanding education in their mother language for their children is 98.4 percent.

 

Socio-Political Field Research Center announced its research report titled "The Level of Use of Mother Languages Spoken Other than Turkish in Turkey, and the Demand and Trends Regarding Mother Languages". The study, which was carried out in 16 cities between 2-9 May 2024, was carried out online with the participation of 1,276 people. The research covered the provinces of Amed (Diyarbakır-Kurdistan), Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Kocaeli, Antalya, Dîlok (Antep-Kurdistan), Çanakkale, Mersin, Xarpêt (Elazığ-Kurdistan), Mêrdîn(Mardin-Kurdistan), Riha(Urfa-Kurdistan), Wan(Van-Kurdistan), Êlih(Batman-Kurdistan), Şirnex(Şırnak-Kurdistan) and Agirî(Ağrı-Kurdistan).

 

The research group consisted of 60.7 percent man and 39.3 percent woman participants. 61.1 percent of the participants reported that they had an associate degree/undergraduate degree, and 20.1 percent reported that they had a graduate degree.

 

Within the scope of the research, participants were asked what their mother language/dialect was. 74 percent of the participants answered "Kurmancî", 11.9 percent answered "Kirmanckî/Zazaki", and 5.3 percent answered "Kurmancî and Kırmanckî/Zazakî".

 

A group of 8.8 percent said that Syriac, Armenian, Arabic, Georgian, Circassian, Laz, Greek and Ossetian are their mother language.

 

 

64.8 PERCENT USE TURKISH

 

The rate of those who speak only Turkish "in their households/family", although their mother language is not Turkish, is 18.8 percent. The total rate of those who spoke Turkish and their mother language together at home is 46 percent. By calculating the answers in question, it was stated that 64.8 percent of the research group used Turkish in their households.

 

42.2 percent of the participants stated that they "always" speak their mother language at home/family. 17.7 percent of the participants reported that they "rarely" speak their mother language at home/family, and 9.1 percent reported that they "never" speak it.

 

MEN-WOMEN COMPARISON

 

According to the data; The widespread use of the mother language in the household remained below half of the participants. 46.3 percent of man interviewees said "always"; 35.9 percent of woman interviewees reported that they "always" speak their mother language at home. The low rate of women in using their mother language drew attention.

 

The middle age group constituted the group that spoke the most among mother language speakers. It was noted that the rate of people over the age of 65 always speaking their mother language is relatively low.

 

51.5 percent of the interviewees who answered "Kurmancî" to the mother language question stated that they spoke "Kurmancî-Turkish" at home, and 13.3 percent said they spoke "Turkish".

 

27.6 percent of the interviewees who responded that their mother language is "Kirmanckî/Zazakî" said they spoke "Turkish" at home, and 14.5 percent said they spoke "Kirmanckî/Zazakî-Turkish".

 

In addition, at least 7 out of 10 people with different mother languages stated that their "Street/Social life" language is "Turkish".

 

According to the gender table; It was stated that women speak "Turkish" more than men on the street or in social life.

 

"Which language/dialect do you mostly speak on the street/in social life?" In the gender comparison of the question: 66.1 percent of man interviewees said "Turkish" and 31 percent said "Kurmancî";

 

80.5 percent of the women interviewees answered "Turkish" and 18.3 percent answered "Kurmancî".

 

READING, WRITING AND COMPREHENSION RESEARCH

 

Questions were also asked to the participants about their level of "understanding, speaking, reading and writing in their mother language". 21.9 percent of the participants stated that they had little or no knowledge of their mother language. 78.1 percent of the participants said that they understood their mother language well.

 

A total of 40.5 percent of the same research group reported that they could barely or not speak their mother language, 50.9 percent could read little or not at all, and 58.9 percent reported that they could barely or not write in their mother language.

 

In gender comparison; It was stated that as the age of women decreases, the rate of understanding, speaking, reading and writing their mother language decreases.

 

Participants who reported that they understood their mother language poorly or not at all were asked, "Why can't you understand/fully understand your mother language?" question was posed. According to the answers, 38.6 percent answered "Because there is no speaker in my family/because my family did not teach me" and 37.1 percent answered "I was taught only the official language so that I would not be excluded."

 

38.7 percent of the participants who reported that they speak their mother language little or not at all said, "Because I cannot speak my mother language well and cannot express myself well."

 

33.9 percent reported that they could not speak their mother language "because there is no one in my family/surroundings who speaks it", and 24.2 percent stated that they could not speak their mother language "because there is no school or resource where I can learn my mother language".

 

THE RATE DECREASED AS AGE GROWN

 

Within the scope of the study, the research group was asked "Who/which age groups speak their mother language in the household and how often?" question was posed. It was stated that 61.8 percent of mothers and 63.4 percent of fathers in the household could speak their mother language very often.

 

It was found that as age decreases, the frequency of speaking the mother language in the household decreases dramatically. According to this; It was stated that 42.9 percent of children between the ages of 0-5 could never speak their mother language and 19.6 percent could rarely speak their mother language.

 

41.4 percent of children aged 6-11 say never, 21.5 percent rarely; It was recorded that 38.3 percent of children aged 12-17 never speak their mother language, 25.4 percent rarely, and 20.6 percent of children aged 18-24 rarely speak their mother language, and 25.2 percent never speak their mother language.

 

The research group was asked: "Are there any children between the ages of 0-18 in your household?" question was also asked. 63.9 percent of the participants answered "Yes". This age group was asked whether they spoke their mother language at home/household. 62 percent of the participants answered "Yes" to this question.

 

"Do you speak your mother language with children in the 0-18 age group in your household?" a comparison of the age range of the question was also made;

 

* 17.2 percent of the interviewees between the ages of 18-24 said "Yes" and 82.8 percent said "No".

 

* 49.4 percent of the interviewees between the ages of 25-34 said "Yes" and 50.6 percent said "No".

 

* 48.4 percent of the interviewees between the ages of 35-44 said "Yes" and 51.6 percent said "No".

 

* 29.5 percent of the interviewees between the ages of 45-54 said "Yes" and 70.5 percent said "No".

 

* 13.6 percent of the interviewees between the ages of 55-64 said "Yes" and 86.4 percent said "No".

 

* 100 percent of interviewees aged 65 and over answered "Yes".

 

Those who answered "No" to the question were asked "why?" this time. 34.7 percent said "Because I don't know it well enough to teach", 34 percent said "Because our environment always speaks Turkish", 28.1 percent said "Because I don't know my mother language". On the other hand, a total of 67.2 percent reported that they made an effort to teach their mother language to children in this age group.

 

"Do you tell fairy tales/stories in your mother language with the children living in your household? Or is there someone else in the household who tells them?" 46.3 percent of the participants answered the question, "There is no one who can explain."

 

DEMAND FOR EDUCATION IN MOTHER LANGUAGE: 98.4 PERCENT

 

The rate of those in the research group who applied to the "living languages and dialects" elective course for their school-age children was 32.8 percent. While 16.4 percent of those who requested elective courses said, "A class is opened for children in the mother language we requested," it was determined that other applications were not responded to or classes were not opened for various reasons.

 

However, 98.4 percent of the participants stated that they wanted their children to be educated in their mother language.

 

"Do you think your mother language should be protected and developed?" 99.4 percent of the participants answered "Yes" to the question "What do you think is the biggest threat to the survival of your mother language?" 52.5 percent of the participants who gave an open-ended answer to the question said "Lack of education in the mother language", 17.4 percent said "Families speak Turkish with their children", and 17.4 percent said "Opression and assimilation policies".

 

PARTICIPANTS WANT ASSURANCE

 

Then, "What would you recommend to be done as a first priority to protect and develop your mother language?" question was asked to the participants. 36.1 percent of the participants said "It should be the language of education/training",

29.6 percent said "It should have legal/constitutional guarantees", 16.5 percent said "It should be accepted as an official language", 12.5 percent responded, "Families should teach their children their mother language."

 

DISCRIMINATION DATA

 

The research group was also asked whether they were exposed to discrimination due to their mother language. According to the answers given, 77.7 percent in government offices were "Yes" and 11.6 percent were "Partly";

In health institutions, 62.1 percent said "Yes" and 23.5 percent said "Partly"; 

In educational institutions, 75.9 percent answered "Yes" and 13 percent answered "Partly"; 

In public transportation, 40.4 percent said "Yes" and 28.5 percent said "Partly"; 

In music/movie screenings, 61.1 percent said "Yes" and 19.4 percent said "Partly"; 

In clothing, 47.5 percent said "Yes" and 19.6 percent said "Partly"; 

In belief/holiday and celebration rituals, 48.6 percent said "Yes" and 20.5 percent said "Partly"; 

In his social circle, 31.2 percent said "Yes" and 31.3 percent said "Partly"; 

In virtual media, 46.6 percent said "Yes" and 26.6 percent said "Partly"; 

In the business environment, 48.4 percent said "Yes" and 22.7 percent said "Partly"; 

In the city they live in.28.7 percent said "Yes" and 27 percent said they were "Partly" discriminated.