With Covid-19 outbreak, educational activities have been carried out through distance education necessarily. The aim of this study is to learn teachers’ views on the status of Syrian students learning Turkish during distance education process. In order to achieve this aim, teachers’ views were analyzed, and three main themes were created as the qualities of distance education, teaching process and the impact of online lessons on teaching Turkish. The study was conducted through qualitative research methods and phenomenology design, one of the qualitative approaches, was used in the study. Semi structured interview forms were created by the researcher, in order to use in the interviews. The interview form consisted of 10 open-ended questions. 17 Turkish Language teachers working in Kilis Hoca Ahmet Yesevi İmam Hatip Secondary School participated in the study voluntarily; interview forms were shared with teachers within the study. Research data was collected within a week; the data was analyzed by using inductive content analysis. The data was collected under three themes (the qualities of distance education, teaching process and the impact of online lessons on teaching Turkish). Communication channels, technical problems they face and the duration of online Turkish lessons and student participation rate subthemes and the codes regarding them were created within the qualities of distance education theme. Positive and negative aspects of teaching Turkish online, the state of teaching language skills such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking with the materials being used during educational process subthemes and the codes regarding them were created within teaching process theme. The last theme, the impact of online lessons on teaching Turkish, was categorized with some subthemes as fewer opportunities for practice and a decline in communication skills, lower interest in lessons, forgetting Turkish completely, and a decline in grammar and speaking skills. According to the results of the study, it was determined that distance education affected Syrian students negatively in terms of learning Turkish, students were unwilling to participate in lesson, and they had difficulty especially in writing skill.

Distance education, Covid 19, teaching Turkish, Syrian students