Language Awareness Among Undergraduate Sports Sciences Students

The ability of individuals to feel part of their culture highly depends on the extent to which they can use their native language and how they can manage linguistic processes. In this context, regardless of occupation or age, one needs to use the language in daily communication—an element maintaining the social order—correctly and in accordance with the language-specific rules. The aim of this study was to explore language awareness among undergraduate sports sciences students. A total of 205 students enrolled at schools of sports sciences in Istanbul, 64.9% (n = 133) were males and 35.1% (n = 72) were females, voluntarily participated in the research. We collected the data using a demographic information form and the “Everyday Language Awareness Scale”. The 5-point Likert-type scale consists of 17 items within four sub-scales. While showing the frequencies of the responses to the scale items, we used an independent-samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to analyze the participants’ scores by their demographics. We calculated Cronbach’s alpha for the total score to be 0.86. Overall, we concluded that the participants had significantly higher awareness of the Turkish language by their total and subscale scores.


Introduction
In its most general definition, language refers to a holistic system ensuring communication between people. In other words, language can be denoted as "a communication tool enabling The increase in cultural and technological communication channels has accelerated the exchange between languages. In addition, bilingualism and multilingualism are now discussed from a broad perspective for similar reasons. The emergence of standard or different uses in a language directly depends on the needs, preferences, and language awareness of language users. Hence, the conscious sustainability of the pragmatic fields and unique characteristics of a language is again at the disposal and responsibility of its users, which is also closely associated with language awareness and functionality.
Language awareness may occur for a foreign language or mother tongue (Carter, 2003, p. 64). The aforementioned form of awareness enables one to realize the processes of deep learning and use of the characteristics of their own language and culture or other than their mother tongue. As a matter of fact, since the functioning of the mother tongue also helps to facilitate the functioning of a foreign language (Ellis, 2012, p. 4), language awareness and relevant studies are deemed necessary for every single individual.
Teaching Turkish as a native language and outcomes are designed to include pre-school language education. In addition, regardless of their program, everyone enrolling in higher education in Turkey must take Turkish language courses in each academic year of twelve-year compulsory education. In this respect, after graduation, people are expected to reach a certain language awareness and have a caring attitude toward the use of their mother tongue.
Schools of sports sciences are acknowledged as educational institutions which aim to provide students with professional competencies both at national and international levels and attempt to represent Turkey with successful athletes from different branches. Since language is the utmost indicator of culture and commitment, athletes with high language awareness are expected to have a high level of commitment to their cultural milieu and motivation for representation. Ultimately, the present study aimed to uncover everyday language awareness levels of sports sciences students.

Design
The present study employed a descriptive survey design. Survey designs are among the Journal of Educational Issues ISSN 2377-22632022 research approaches aiming to describe a past or present situation as it is (Karasar, 2016).

Population and Sample
The research sample consisted of conveniently selected 205 sports sciences students in Istanbul, 64.9% (n = 133) were males and 35.1% (n = 72) were females.

Data Collection Tools
We collected the data from the participants via an online questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire includes a demographic information form with questions about age, gender, university, department, and year of study. In the second part, we used the "Everyday Language Awareness Scale" (ELAS) to explore the everyday language awareness of the participants. Erol and Karakaya (2020) developed the 5-point Likert-type scale consisting of 17 items within four sub-scales: "Individual Awareness" (the first eight items), "Awareness in Social Media" items 9, 10, and 11), "Awareness in Everyday Life" (items 12, 13, and 14), and "Awareness in Mass Media" (items 15, 16, and 17).

Data Analysis
The distributions of the responses to the items were shown as frequencies. We calculated the total and subscale scores and explored them regarding normal distribution. Since the data showed a normal distribution, we analyzed the participants' total and subscale scores by their demographics using an independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). While the reliability coefficient of the total score was 0.86, we calculated alpha values of the subscales as follows 0.88 (Individual Awareness), 0.83 (Awareness in Social Media), 0.89 (Awareness in Everyday Life), and 0.78 (Awareness in Mass Media). We performed all statistical analyses using SPSS 20.0 at a 95% confidence level. Finally, the majority of the students were freshmen (61.6%), followed by juniors (17.7%), sophomores (11.8%), and seniors (8.9%). ISSN 2377-22632022 ISSN 2377-22632022 The rate of those who did not strongly agree with the statement "I think that Turkish words should be derived to place non-Turkish words" was 3.4%. While 9.9% and 40.9% did not agree or remained neutral with the item, respectively, 26.1% and 19.7% agreed and strongly agreed with the statement, respectively.

Journal of Educational Issues
To the item "The use of our language with foreign word patterns damages our language (For example, Cafe Sorgun, Otel The Yozgat, etc.)," 4.4% gave the response "Strongly disagree," 17.6% "Disagree," 22.4% "Neutral," 26.8% "Agree," and 28.8% "Strongly agree." While 28.3% strongly disagreed with the item "Speaking with only Turkish words and words translated into Turkish is an indication of backwardness," it was 34.6% for those not agreeing with the item. Besides, 20% remained neutral with the statement. In contrast, the rates of those agreeing and strongly agreeing with the item were 14.1% and 2.9%, respectively.
The rate of those who did not strongly agree with the statement "I warn my friends who use foreign words despite having Turkish equivalents while having a conversation" was 19.5%. While 29.8% and 24.9% did not agree or remained neutral with the item, respectively, 18.5% and 7.3% agreed and strongly agreed with the statement, respectively.
To the item "When I come across a foreign word in a text I read, I look up its Turkish equivalent from the dictionary," 5.9% gave the response "Strongly disagree," 14.7% "Disagree," 32.4% "Neutral," 32.8% "Agree," and 14.2% "Strongly agree." While 1% strongly disagreed with the item "I think that as individuals, we should speak Turkish properly in our daily lives," it was 1% for those not agreeing with the item. Besides, 11.3% remained neutral with the statement. In contrast, the rates of those agreeing and strongly agreeing with the item were 29.4% and 57.4%, respectively.
The rate of those who did not strongly agree with the statement "Wearing clothes with foreign words on them makes me uncomfortable" was 53.2%. While 33.7% and 8.3% did not agree or remained neutral with the item, respectively, 2% and 2.9% agreed and strongly agreed with the statement, respectively.
To the item "It bothers me if a text I read has foreign words used despite having Turkish equivalents," 16.2% gave the response "Strongly disagree," 27.5% "Disagree," 27% "Neutral," 20.6% "Agree," and 8.8% "Strongly agree." While 17.6% strongly disagreed with the item "The use of letters that are not in our alphabet (w, q, x) in social media bothers me (For example, wadi instead of vadi, etc.)," it was 23.5% for those not agreeing with the item. Besides, 13.7% remained neutral with the statement. In contrast, the rates of those agreeing and strongly agreeing with the item were 23.5% and 21.6%, respectively.
The rate of those who did not strongly agree with the statement "I warn my friends who misspell Turkish words on social media" was 11.3%. While 18.1% and 31.4% did not agree or remained neutral with the item, respectively, 22.1% and 17.9% agreed and strongly agreed with the statement, respectively. ISSN 2377-22632022 To the item "I approve the use abbreviated words (For example, mrb instead of merhaba, etc.)," 35.3% gave the response "Strongly disagree," 23% "Disagree," 17.2% "Neutral," 11.3% "Agree," and 13.2% "Strongly agree." While 14.7% strongly disagreed with the item "I feel uncomfortable when I see foreign names given to the main roads and streets," it was 26% for those not agreeing with the item. Besides, 19.6% remained neutral with the statement. In contrast, the rates of those agreeing and strongly agreeing with the item were 19.6% and 20.1%, respectively.

Journal of Educational Issues
The rate of those who did not strongly agree with the statement "I am not bothered by seeing signs written with foreign words around me." was 20.6%. While 18.1% and 28.9% did not agree or remained neutral with the item, respectively, 23% and 9.3% agreed and strongly agreed with the statement, respectively.
To the item "I am bothered by seeing workplaces with foreign names around me.," 14.4% gave the response "Strongly disagree," 28.7% "Disagree," 30.2% "Neutral," 12.9% "Agree," and 13.9% "Strongly agree." While 23.2% strongly disagreed with the item "It is not important for me whether the language in the mass media is used in accordance with the rules of language," it was 32% for those not agreeing with the item. Besides, 32% remained neutral with the statement. In contrast, the rates of those agreeing and strongly agreeing with the item were 8.9% and 3.9%, respectively.
The rate of those who did not strongly agree with the statement "I feel uncomfortable that the Turkish pronunciation of foreign words used in mass media change from person to person in Turkish" was 8.8%. While 30.4% and 32.8% did not agree or remained neutral with the item, respectively, 19.1% and 8.8% agreed and strongly agreed with the statement, respectively.

Relationships Between the Participants' Language Awareness and Their Demographics
We explored associations between the participants' mean subscale and total scores and their demographics using an independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results are summarized below. ISSN 2377-22632022  The t-test results revealed that the participants' mean language awareness scores (total and subscale scores) did not differ significantly by gender. In other words, male and female participants had similar levels of general language awareness (Table 3). The ANOVA results showed the participants' mean total scores and scores on the subscales "Individual Awareness" and "Awareness in Everyday Life" significantly differed by age (p < 0.05). We performed a Tukey post hoc test to reveal the source of the difference and found that those aged 21 years and over had significantly higher total and subscale scores than the participants in other age groups (Table 4). ISSN 2377-22632022  Note. *p < 0.05.

Journal of Educational Issues
Moreover, we investigated whether language awareness of the participants by their universities. Accordingly, the results demonstrated that the participants' scores on only the "Awareness in Social Media" significantly differed by university (p < 0.05). Therefore, language awareness in social media among those enrolled at a state university was significantly higher than those studying at a foundation university ( Table 5). ISSN 2377-22632022

Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations
Our findings revealed that the participants' language awareness significantly differed by their gender and year of study. In addition, we found that those aged 21 years and over had higher language awareness than others. Finally, the students enrolling at a state university had higher scores on the "Awareness in Social Media" subscale than their counterparts studying at a foundation university.
Overall, while the participants had high self-awareness regarding the correct use and preference of Turkish, their language awareness was moderate in social media and high in mass media, respectively. On the other hand, we concluded an interesting finding in terms of language awareness in everyday life. While participants were often positive for foreign-origin names on streets, avenues, and signboards, they reported negative opinions about workplaces with signboards in a foreign language. In this context, we may assert that language awareness should be discussed together with cultural awareness since it covers both sociological and psychological processes. Language awareness is also essential regarding intralinguistic and extralinguistic functions in the dialects of the same language (Sarı, 2021), which coincides with our results related to language awareness in mass media.
Based on our findings, we think that,  All occupational groups and social segments should be recruited to language awareness practices;  The number of workshops and informative meetings for language awareness needs to be increased;  Language awareness works should be visible on social media platforms;  Society needs to be informed that interculturalism can only be built on mother tongue awareness; ISSN 2377-22632022  International collaborations and projects on language awareness should be on the agenda;  Universities should increase their studies on language awareness;  Relevant projects should be kicked off to introduce children and young people with the opportunity to increase their mother tongue awareness.