Derived from Arabic word “mesel”, the word masal (fairy tale) is a story which teaches a lesson while containing a moral lesson in itself (Elçin, 2013: 368).  In Turkish Dictionary, “fairy tale (masal)” is defined as “a story, telling extraordinary events experienced by mostly people or gods, mostly made up by people, transferred orally from generation to generation". According to Hungarian Turkish folklorist Ignacz Kuno? (1978: 113), fairy tale is the rotating mirror of a nation. The mirror shows not only praying rituals of the people in the past but also moral values of them (Çavu?o?lu, 2006: 64).

Affirmative acts and cultural values are boasted and dignified in the personality of good heroes and such heroes are idealized in fairy tales. Audience is taught good, right, nice and tolerance. The behavior and thoughts considered as adverse and non-affirmed are transmitted in bad figures in the fairy tales (Çobano?lu, 2012:138). At the end of the fairy tales, moral advice is given in a simple style to teach lesson of virtue to the audience. Such lessons mostly emerge from relationship of opposites such as good and bad, beautiful and ugly, strong and weak, rich and poor (Asutay, 2013:272).

Fairy tale is one of the most important genres of children literature and reflects childish sensitivity in the best way. They teach children the way of challenging in life and overcoming the problems, acting independently and living in harmony with nature. It also contributes to personality development in children. The child listening and telling fairy tales expresses himself/herself more comfortably (http://www.br-online.de). Children can find the love they desire, the excitement they look for and wishes they seek only in fairy tales (?irin, 1998: 115).

Telling fairy tales has become tradition in the past as it educates and entertains people. The fairy tale studies have indicated that fairy tales told to children have softened the conflicts, clashes and refusals experienced by children (?im?ek, 2002: 79); have trained them, contributed to the development of their personality, while they teach adults to be patient (Özdemir, http://www.zaman.com.tr).

Fairy tale is one of the oldest literature genres (Ar?c?, 2004: 59). Emerging as products of verbal literature, fairy tales were told to educate children, to entertain them, to make them joyful and teach them moral values in the past (Iranmanesh, 2013:128). However, fairy tales have gained much more importance as a means of education starting from the twenty-first century, and number of fairy tales has increased considerably. Old fairy tales have been revised taking into account the psychological conditions of children. Fairy tales and similar works of arts told in verbal customs are compiled and filtered through pedagogical filters. They are employed as materials for helping the emotional and educational development of children at educational institutes (Souza and Bernard?no, 2013:235).

Fairy tales have a special position in teaching reading, writing, speaking and listening skills to children. They can be exploited for teaching various talents, fluency, diversity and politeness of the mother tongue (Boratav, 1973: 15).

It is not correct to assume that all fairy tales are teaching and entertaining stories. Some of them are not good in terms of language and style while some are of nature to damage spiritual health of children in respect to their contents. For instance, the fairy tales of which heroes are spirits, ghosts, devil and those containing frightening themes may scare children. (K?l?ç, http://www.sabah.com.tr). For that reason, it is necessary to be careful that they are of quality in terms of the language, style and content. The qualities of the fairy tales to be told to children can be as follows:

a) They must have simple, open and fluent style. The events must be live and have action, and have abundant dialogues.

b) They must be didactic and entertaining, and encourage sense of being good person, helping people, solidarity development in children.

c) The fairy tales to be told must be proper for levels of the students and classroom composition.

d) It must be avoided to tell fairy tales causing degeneration, belittling social values, encouraging hatred and violence (K?br?s, 2002: 45).

In short, being very important in training of children, fairy tales must be didactic, entertaining and adequate in respect to language and style as well as content. In this study, the attitudes of children from grades 5, 7 and 8 in secondary schools towards fairy tales are examined by means of various variables.

Objective of the study

The importance of the fairy tales is stated in the studies conducted on place of fairy tales in education[W1] .  They suggest how to use fairy tales in Turkish teaching.

The views of the teachers about fairy tales have been identified . However, no studies have been conducted  about the attitudes of students in level 2 of their primary education. This study has two considerations:

1. Discovery of attitudes of students at Grades 5, 7 and 8 of secondary school towards fairy tales.

2. Whether or not the grade and gender are important variables in respect to their attitudes towards fairy tales. Since the attitudes of those younger are compared to attitudes of those older students, (the age range of subjects : 12-15) the samples were selected from Grades 5, 7 and 8 of secondary school

In this context, the following questions were prepared for samples forming sampling group:

a)  What is the level of students’ attitudes towards effect of fairy tales on language skills and vocabulary? Do the students’ attitudes in this matter differ on basis of genders and grades?

b) Does covering fairy tales in Turkish lessons affect students’ attitudes affirmatively? Do the students’ attitudes in this matter differ in respect to variables of gender and grades?

c) What is the level of students’ attitudes regarding effect of fairy tales on people’s behavior? Do the students’ attitudes in this matter differ on basis of genders and grades?

 

This part explains the research model, population and sampling, data collection means, data analysis and statistical techniques employed in the study.

Study model

The study has been conducted by use of general scanning models. Experimental and descriptive methods were applied and field study was conducted in the study.

Population and sampling

The population of the study is limited to 4 primary schools in Kars (Susuz Yüzüncü Y?l Regional Boarding Secondary School) and in A?r? (Do?ubayaz?t Mustafa Yassubo?a Secondary School, Tutak Kaz?m Karabekir Secondary School, A?r? Ahmet Alagöz Secondary School). The study was conducted during term two of 2013-2014 academic year. The samples were selected at random. The attitude scale was applied to total 387 students consisting of 200 girls (51.7%) and 187 boys (48.3%).

Data collection ?nstruments

The scale developed as data collection instrument for the study was applied in grades 5, 7 and 8 of secondary school. The survey consists of 22 items of four-point Likert type prepared to measure the attitudes of students towards fairy tales on the basis of genders and grades of the students.

Before applying the attitude scale about fairy tales, the students listened to and read fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Rooster and The Fox, Town Musicians of Bremen, Old Man’s Smart Donkey etc. Furthermore, the students were asked to tell fairy tale and to write them down. While developing attitude scale, opinions of professionals and “Scale about Teachers’ Opinions regarding Fairy Tales and Use of Them in Turkish Teaching“ developed by Zeynep (2007) were used. The item 1 of the scale containing personal details asks the grade of the students. In  item 2 the gender of the students is asked and points are “girl=1”, “boy=2”. Attitude scale items of the survey are scored as “not at all=1”, “a little=2”, “fairly =3” “much=4”.

Data analysis

The attitude scale prepared for the study was handed out to the students and collected upon completion. Research data were analyzed in "SPSS 15.0" package program (Özdamar, 1999: 344). The number of subjects, arithmetic average of the answers given to items and percentage rates was found out. Genders and grades of the students were assessed as independent variables. “One-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test” was used to measure the proper distribution of data in this study. “One-Way Anova Test” was applied to measure homogeneity of the study data. Since the statistical significance of the tests was under 0.005, which is deemed as borderline for calculation of significance and did not meet the parametric hypothesis tests research assumptions, non-parametric tests were applied in this study.  Mann Whitney U-Test was applied to the answers given to the survey questions by the participants in order to find out the difference on basis of gender. Kruskal Wallis H Test was applied to find out the difference in answers given to the survey items on basis of grades.

Upon analysis it is indicated that factor loads vary between 0.510 and 0.700. Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient of the scale was 0.931. Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient for initial 11 items of the scale was 0.892 and for second 11 items was 0.857, according to Split-half method. In addition, Spearman Brown reliability coefficient of the scale is 0.913 while Guttman split half coefficient is 0,912. According to the results, the reliability of the scale is considerably high.

The vocabulary meaning the entire words known by a person is one of the most important factors playing role in formation of all disciplines and language skills and use of them functionally (Vardar, 1998:190; Korkmaz, 1992:100). The individual may use language effectively, properly and accurately subject to vocabulary s/he has.

Fairy tales, enriched with politeness of the language, are one of the educational and artistic instruments improving child's imaginative world and language skills (Yavuz, 2002:153). According to a study conducted on effects of fairy tales on children development, the pre-school teachers stated that fairy tales are effective in language, emotional, psycho-social and cognitive development of children (?ahin, 2011:215). The results obtained in this study have similarities with the results of the said study because the students’ opinions about positive effects of fairy tales on language skills and vocabulary are also positive.

According to Table 1, the survey was administered to 200 girls, 187 boys; total 387 students. It has been discovered that the students’ attitudes towards effect of fairy tales on language skills and vocabulary differ according to gender.

 

 

The boy and girl students’ attitudes towards effects of fairy tale on reading, telling, writing and vocabulary development vary between 0,000 – 0,001  in significance line of test statistics table.  It can be expressed that students' attitude towards effect of fairy tales on language skills and vocabulary is significant statistically at p < 0.05 level in respect to genders.

Fairy tale is an important instrument for teaching skills such as listening, reading, speaking, writing covered in the Turkish course curriculum (Yavuz, 2002:440). This is because the activities, such as reading and telling tales in Turkish courses develop students’ comprehension and narration skills (Arslan, 2007:198).

According to the data given in Table 2, the students’ attitudes towards effect of fairy tales on success in and covering Turkish course are affirmative and indicate difference in favor of girls. Accordingly, it is seen that value of significance line in statistical table of Mann- Whitney U Test varies between 0.000 – 0.037.  It is seen that students’ attitude towards effect of fairy tales on success in and covering Turkish course is significant in respect to genders.

 

 

Effects of fairy tales on human behaviors in respect to gender

As the content of fairy tales is of teaching lesson nature, fairy tales help students develop positive attitude and habits (?ahin, 2011:215). The results given in Table 3 show that the students’ attitudes towards the effect of the fairy tales on human behavior are positive. It is seen that value of significance line in statistical table of Mann- Whitney U Test varies between 0.000 – 0.049. Accordingly, it is understood that girl students are influenced by fairy tales more than boys.

 

 

When the results shown in Table 4 are examined, it is seen that the students’ attitudes towards effect of fairy tales on language skills and vocabulary differ in respect to grades of the students. The values of significance line of statistical table of Kruskal Wallis H Test vary between 0.000 – 0.01 and fd=2.

 

 

Only the “p” values of the items "I like listening to fairy tales” with p=0,222>0.05 and "Fairy tales increase my vocabulary” with p=0,168>0,05 have not been significant statistically.

According to the results gained from the above data, fairy tales provide much more contribution to language skills of grade 5 students when compared to other grades.

The arithmetic average of the answers given to students’ attitude scale about effect of fairy tales on language skills and vocabulary varies between 2.67 and 3.20. The results indicate that the students have affirmative opinion about effect of fairy tales on success in and covering Turkish course.

The results given in the table indicate that the students’ attitudes towards telling fairy tales (2.67) and writing fairy tales (2.76) are weaker than their attitudes towards listening to and reading fairy tales. Students partially support the understanding that fairy tales develop vocabulary of students (2.67). The results show that didactic aspect of the fairy tales is not fully understood by students. The findings discovered in the study conducted by Sezer (2012: 61) support the results achieved in this study. Similarly, just like students, the teachers have not understood the didactic importance of fairy tales either.  

Activities of reading and listening to fairy tales have affirmative effects on students (Souza and Bernard?no, 2013:236). When the results given in Table 5 are examined, it is seen that the students’ attitudes regarding some of the survey items (Reading and listening to fairy tales will increase my success in Turkish course. In Turkish course when fairy tales are told, my attention rises much more. I like completing the other half of the fairy tales after one half is told by the teacher) about effect of fairy tales on success in and covering Turkish course are different in respect to their grades and are significant statistically. Accordingly, the values of significance line of statistical table of Kruskal Wallis H Test vary between 0.000 and  0.04 and fd=2.  The significance values of some survey items “I understand the fairy tales in Turkish course books. (P=0.572>0.05) The fairy tales in Turkish course books increase my interest in fairy tale books (P=0,117>0.05). I like the illustrations of fairy tales in my course book (P=0,928>0.05) I think number of the fairy tales in Turkish course book is not enough (P=0.786), I like animation of fairy tales in the classroom (P=0.135>0.05)” do not differ in respect to grades and are not significant statistically. According to the results given in the table, it is seen that fairy tales provide more contribution to language skills of grade 5 students. 

 

 

The arithmetic average of the answers given to scale survey items about students' attitudes about effect of fairy tales on success in and covering Turkish course varies between 2.45 and 3.07. The results indicate that the students have affirmative opinion about effect of fairy tales on success in and covering Turkish course.

Reading and listening to symbolic and allegoric fairy tales contribute to individual development and reading skills of the students (Aquino, 2011:1119). When the data given in the Table 6 are examined, it is seen that the students’ attitudes in some items (I associate the events in the fairy tales with daily life.  I take as sample the good behavior of fairy tale hero/heroine. Scary events in the fairy tales influence me negatively) about effect of fairy tales on humans’ behavior differ in respect to grades and are significant statistically. Accordingly, the values of significance line of statistical table of Kruskal Wallis H Test vary between 0.000 and 0.016 and fd=2.  It is seen that value of significance in some items “Fairy tales increases my imagination (p=0,995>0,05), Fairy tales develop my creativity (P=0,199>0,05), I think fairy tales enhance my love of nature (p=0,250>0,05), Fairy tales help me distinguish between good and bad, beautiful and ugly (p=0,756>0,05)” are not different in respect to grades and are not significant statistically. 

 

 

According to the findings and results of significance test (χ²⁼ 20,094, fd=6^, p=0,003<0,05),  it is understood that there is significant difference between grade variables statistically in regard to taking as sample the good behavior of fairy tale hero/heroine.

According to basic assumption of structuralism, the knowledge gained later is gained as a result of interaction of already acquired knowledge and beliefs of the individual. The fairy tales are the basic mechanism of the ideas and activities of the individual to be used in the future life (Nuho?lu, 2005:204). In this context, the effect of fairy tales on preparation of the child's future is undeniable.

The arithmetic average of the answers given to scale measurement items by the students in this table varies between 2.18 and 3.08. The results indicate that the students think that the effect of the fairy tales on humans’ behavior is positive.

 

 

 

 

In this study, the attitudes of the students studying in Grades 5, 7 and 8 of secondary school and whether or not the grades and genders of the students are important variables in regard to students’ attitudes towards fairy tales have been studied. The following conclusions were obtained:

1. It has been discovered that the students’ attitudes towards effect of fairy tales on language skills and vocabulary differ according to gender and grades.

2. It was concluded that students’ attitude towards effect of fairy tales on success in and covering Turkish course is significant in respect to genders and grades.

3. Reading fairy tales influence human behavior affirmatively.  Girls are influenced from reading and telling fairy tales more than boys. Students of Grade 5 are influenced by fairy tales more than the students of Grades 7 and 8.

4. Based on the findings gained and results of significance test,  there is significant difference in terms of gender and grades in respect to taking as sample the good behavior of fairy tale hero/heroine.

5. Students have positive opinion about effect of fairy tales on human behavior.

6. The studies “Assessment of Fairy Tales in terms of Teachers’ Perspective: Diyarbak?r case” by Sezer and “Study of Values covered in Kelo?lan Fairy Tales” by Akkaya (2014) both support the results of our study.

The author has not declared any conflict of interests.