Özet:

Even from ancient times, one can infer second language teaching, but by the 16th century, an institution for the teaching of Turkish, Farsi and Arabic as second languages for the ruling class of the Ottoman Empire had formed. Nearly all the Empire’s rulers learned those three languages as additional languages because none were Turk, Fars or Arab. The only few exceptions were members of the imperial Ottoman family. The ruling class called the seyfiye, as opposed to the learned class called the ‘ilmiye, were drafted through the “devshirme”, a levy of Christian boys. They were sent to Anatolian families to learn Turkish. Those who excelled were sent to the palace school where, among other subjects, they studied Ottoman Turkish, Farsi (i.e., Neo-Persian) and classical Arabic as additional languages. These three languages were used by the state bureaucracy. In one or all of the three languages, the sultans, viziers (ministers), pashas (military leaders), beys (governors) and secretaries in the bureaus in the capital and provinces not only read them, but they also wrote them in the course of their state duties. They also composed poetry and prose in the additional languages. How they achieved such mastery in writing those additional languages is the object of this study. The method of learning good writing of additional languages was basically the reading and copying of good models. That may well be a more appropriate method than the further, willy-nilly appropriation of the lingo of the smart phone for better and finer written communication. 

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