Document Type
Article
Source of Publication
Journal of Language Identity and Education
Publication Date
9-10-2026
Abstract
This research scrutinizes Turkish weekend schools in the UK, investigating their instructional practices, teaching methodologies, and educators’ perspectives. Despite the expectation of homogeneity in teaching qualifications, the study reveals a lack of consistent prerequisites for formal Turkish language teaching credentials. Findings are based on questionnaires from 22 teachers and interviews with five teachers from Turkish weekend schools across the UK. The study demonstrates that being a native Turkish speaker does not necessarily equate to effective pedagogy. The primary language of instruction is Turkish, while students predominantly employ English. It indicated that family involvement, student motivation, and the creation of an appropriate language acquisition environment play pivotal roles in language education. This study highlights the widespread provision of Turkish language instruction for bilingual learners and the challenges associated with teaching practices, home language environments, and cultural transmission, underscoring the need for further scholarly exploration in the domain of heritage language education for bilingual children.
DOI Link
ISSN
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Disciplines
Education
Keywords
Bilingualism, heritage languages, teachers, Turkish, weekend schools
Scopus ID
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Çiftci, Ayşe; Roberts, Leah; and Said, Fatma F.S., "“The Goal is to Live Their Heritage Culture, Speak Their Language”: Teaching, Techniques, and Environments in UK Turkish Weekend Schools" (2026). All Works. 8434.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/8434
Indexed in Scopus
yes
Open Access
yes
Open Access Type
Green: A manuscript of this publication is openly available in a repository