Türkçe Öğretmeni Eğitiminde Yeterlik, Yaşam Doyumu ve Öğretme Motivasyonu Arasındaki Bağlantıların Çözülmesi

This quantitative study examines the relationships among prospective Turkish language teachers’ personal and professional competencies, life satisfaction, and teaching motivation, and explores the effects of selected demographic variables on these constructs. A relational survey design was used, and data were collected from senior students enrolled in Turkish Language Teaching Departments at several state universities during the 2023-2024 academic year. The instruments included the Teaching Motivation Scale, the Perceived Personal and Professional Competencies Scale, and the Life Satisfaction Scale. Analyses were conducted using SPSS 24.0. Skewness and kurtosis values confirmed normal distribution, allowing the use of parametric tests. Pearson correlation analysis examined relationships among variables, while independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA were used for demographic comparisons. Results revealed a weak but positive relationship between perceived competence and teaching motivation, a slight positive association between life satisfaction and competence perceptions, and a moderate positive relationship between life satisfaction and teaching motivation. The mediating roles of teaching motivation and perceived competence were also examined. Overall, findings indicated that prospective teachers showed high teaching motivation, adequate professional competence perceptions, and moderate life satisfaction. These results offer important implications for teacher education programs and provide guidance for curriculum developers and policymakers.