Abstract:

The purpose of the study is to determine the appropriateness of the literary genres used in social studies textbooks in terms of learning objectives, content, and values and to identify their distribution according to grade levels and learning domains. For this purpose, a total of three textbooks at the 5th, 6th, and 7th grade levels were examined. Employing the qualitative approach, the study utilized the document analysis method and the data were analyzed with the content analysis technique. The study findings were tabularized and interpreted. The study results revealed that apart from the genres of novels, stories and poems used in the subject of “Gift from the Past to the Future: Common Heritage” in the 5th grade textbook, the literary genres used at all grade levels and the activities developed based on these genres help to achieve the related learning objective, and appropriate for the subject’s content and the values the students are desired to attain. In addition, literary genres were found the most in the 7th grade textbook and the least were found in the 6th grade textbook. Furthermore, poetry was the most used literary genre in all grade levels, and the literary genres were used the most in the learning domains of Culture and Heritage, and Production, Distribution and Consumption. At the end, the study determined that literary genres used and the activities developed based on these genres were appropriate for achieving the relevant learning objectives, some of the literary genres used in the 5th and 7th grade textbooks were not appropriate for the content and values of the related subject, the literary genres were used the most in the learning domains of Culture and Heritage, and Production, Distribution and Consumption, there were no literary genres in the 5th grade textbook’s “Individual and Society” and “Science, Technology and Society” learning domains, 6th grade textbook’s “People, Places, and Environments”, “Science, Technology, and Society”, “Production, Distribution, and Consumption”, “Active Citizenship”, and “Global Connections” learning domains, and 7th grade textbook’s “Global Connections” learning domain.

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