DİYARBAKIR - According to a study conducted in Kurdish cities, the proportion of parents who said that they speak “only Kurdish” with their own parents came out to be 48 percent, while 13 percent of them spoke only Kurdish with their children.
Ravest Research company published the results of a research titled “The status of mother language between parent and child” on February 21, World Mother Language Day. The research was conducted between September and October 2019 in Diyarbakır, Mardin, Urfa, Van, Ağrı, Bingöl, Şırnak and Dersim city centers and 25 districts connected to these cities.
According to the findings of the research; While the proportion of parents who speak Kurdish with their own parents is 48 percent, the proportion of those who speak Kurdish with their own children is only 13 percent.
6 PERCENT CAN NOT SPEAK THEIR MOTHER LANGUAGE
While 6 percent of the participants said that they did not learn their mother language at all, 16 percent responded that they both speak and write their mother language. 63 percent speak their mother language, but are not able to read and write it, and 15 percent understand their mother tongue, but not able to speak.
64 PERCENT DEMANDS TURKISH-KURDISH EDUCATION
"Which of the following schools would you like to send your child to?" was asked to participant parents. 64 percent of parents answered the question "The one with the education in Kurdish and Turkish" while the ratior of parents who responded “Only the one with the education in Kurdish” was 4 percent, 11 percent responded “Only the one with the education in Turkish."
72 PERCENT DEMANDS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE TO BE KURDISH-TURKISH
Question of "What shall be the official language in where you live?" was also asked. While 72 percent of the participants responded "Both Turkish and Kurdish", the rate of those who said "only Turkish" was 18 percent, and the rate of those who answered "only in Kurdish" was 11 percent.
'INCREASE IN TURKISH, DECREASE IN KURDISH'
Based on these results, the study stated that: “There is a significant decrease in parents' use of mother language for the communcation within their own families as well as in the use of mother language among children. While the ratio of parents speaking only Kurdish with their own parents is 48 percent, this rate is 13 percent when it comes to the usage of mother language when speaking with their children. The rates of use of only Turkish also confirm this situation. When the parents and children who participated in the study were compared to each other, it was observed that the use of Kurdish is decreased by 1/3, and the usage of Turkish is increased. ın case that both languages are used together, the process results in an increase in Turkish and decrease in Kurdish usage.