Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Language Research, cilt.3, sa.1, ss.26-37, 2019 (Hakemli Dergi)
One of the common instruments in daily communication, questions are
categorized into three major groups in most of the languages: polar
questions, wh- questions, and alternative questions. When it is
considered that the main purpose of teaching and learning a language is
to communicate, it is expected for language learners to acquire good
skills in exchanging information by asking and answering questions. In
this context, polar questions should be paid close attention, as several
studies revealed that the most frequently used question type in English
spoken language is polar questions. However, it is argued that
different answering systems for polar questions across languages cause
language learners to have difficulties in learning how to answer polar
questions appropriately, specifically, negative polar questions. Turkish
and English languages employ different answering systems. Accordingly,
Turkish learners of English must be aware of the differences and raise
awareness on the issue to become proficient in the target language.
Therefore, this study aims to explore the nature of the national
coursebooks of English used in Turkey in terms of the activities they
include related to polar questions. Contents of the coursebooks designed
for the grades 5, 6, 7, and 8 were descriptively analyzed. As a result,
it was found that the coursebooks do not sufficiently practice negative
polar questions for learners to raise awareness. Based on the results,
certain suggestions were proposed to enhance the quality of the
coursebooks on the current topic.