Abstract:
Temporary Education Centers (TECs), which closed in 2019, were established to ensure that Syrian students
continue their interrupted education in their native language and slowly acquire the necessary Turkish language
skills for social adaptation and transition to public schools. However, these centers failed to actualize their main
role due to their administrative structure and instructional strategies. Framed within the premises of socio
cultural adaptation theory, this narrative study, analyzes how these institutions, particularly their organizational
structure, language education, and teachers‘ perception affect the socio-cultural adaptation of Syrian students in
Turkish society. The initial dialogical data supported with researchers‘ observations were gathered through
semi-structured interviews with Syrian and Turkish administrators and teachers, and Syrian students studying in
a TEC. The collected data were analyzed using Critical Discourse Analysis. The findings indicate that despite
the fact that these institutions aim to encourage Syrian students to learn the Turkish language for their social
adaptation, grammar-based language instruction remained restricted due to grammar-based teaching and lack of
the Syrian administration‘s support. Syrian students in TEC experience isolation from the Turkish community,
therefore, feel anxious about their social adaptation. Yet, Syrian and Turkish administrators do not share the
same concerns with the Syrian students because of carrying different educational and social agendas. On the
other hand, Syrian and Turkish teachers are mainly concerned about Syrian students‘ social identity construction
and educational achievement. This study explains the reasons for having various social adaptation expectations
and argues that isolated educational institutions for refugees generate negative results for refugee students‘
social adaptation.
