Concept Teaching in B1-Level Foreign Language Learning: A Mixed-Methods Study.

In teaching Turkish as a foreign language, learners’ ability to acquire concepts meaningfully and effectively, to establish relationships among concepts, and to concretise abstract notions is crucial to conceptual learning. Especially at the B1 proficiency level, where abstract concepts become more prevalent, conceptual instruction needs to be systematically addressed to enable learners to use the target language effectively. However, studies conducted in the field of teaching Turkish as a foreign language indicate that instructional materials and classroom practices predominantly focus on vocabulary teaching. Moreover, the absence of a comprehensive instructional model specifically designed for concept teaching negatively affects the quality of the concept learning process. Given this gap in the literature, the present study aims to examine the effect of the Holistic Concept Development Model (HCDM) on learners of Turkish as a foreign language's concept learning outcomes. The study was designed according to a mixed-methods research approach and conducted during the 2024–2025 academic year at the Gaziantep University Turkish Language Teaching Implementation and Research Centre, involving 34 volunteer students: 21 in the experimental group and 13 in the control group. In the experimental group, concepts were structured according to the stages of the HCDM and taught through activities utilising concept teaching tools and Web 2.0 tools. In contrast, instruction in the control group was conducted solely through textbook-based activities, without the use of concept-teaching tools or Web 2.0 applications. Overall, the findings suggest that the HCDM strengthens the learning process and effectively supports meaningful concept learning in teaching Turkish as a foreign language.