The aim of this research is to determine international students’ attitudes and motivations toward learning Turkish and to analyze how these attitudes change with various factors. The research examines this issue in light of variables such as the students’ gender, age, university, Turkish proficiency level, time spent in Türkiye, their families’ educational background, the number of Turkish books they have at home, the number of Turkish books they read monthly, the amount of daily internet use, the amount of time they watch Turkish television, and the number of Turkish friends they have. Additionally, face-to-face interviews with TÖMER students were conducted to assess their views on their attitudes and motivations toward learning Turkish. For this purpose, the research was conducted using an exploratory mixed method design, a mixed method design that combines both quantitative and deductive research methods. Quantitative data were collected using attitude and motivation scales, while qualitative data were collected through a semi-structured interview form. The participants in the study consisted of 295 international students studying in TÖMER programs at various state universities during the 2023-2024 academic year. The research results indicate that participants’ attitudes toward learning Turkish were moderate, while their motivation was high. In the qualitative analysis, participants’ attitudes were examined under the headings “language proficiency,” “grammar proficiency,” and “difficulty level of Turkish,” while their motivations were examined under the headings “ways to learn/improve Turkish” and “benefits of knowing Turkish”.

Learning Turkish, attitude, motivation, foreign student.