Language teaching curriculum and teaching methods is a complex process. This process needs the utility of a number of linguistic, psychological, sociological, pedagogical, and political disciplines. Also, a curriculum-designer has to answer the need of the theory. It also needs cooperative efforts in which experienced English language teachers move together with specialists in the subject-matter. (Corder, 1973:13) This paper aims to shed light on the history of English curriculum in Iraq and on the phases of reform it has witnessed. English language teaching methods (traditional and recent) in this country will be discussed as well. In fact, the old curriculum in Iraq has become out of date, However, it is helpful to understand how the curriculum of English in Iraq was and how modifications started.
Index Terms-In Iraq, English was taught for the first time in the state schools in 1873, in a few Iraqi schools in major cities. When Iraq was mandated by Britain after the First World War, a decision was taken to expand the primary education and teaching of English to the towns. English was taught as a second language starting from the first primary year during the first year of the British colonialization, but later, it was decided to teach it from the fifth primary year and its status modified from English as second language (ESL) into a English as foreign language (EFL) (Al-Chalabi, 1976:41).The textbooks were imported from Egypt and they were based on the Grammar-Translation Method.As far as this phase is concerned, there is an interesting document which belongs to the ministerial examinations of English for the primary stage in 1938 (see the Appendix).A first glance at this document reveals the emphasis is on written form. As Rivers (1980:17) claims, learners are often trained in artificial forms of language, the vocabulary was detailed and sometimes esoteric, communicative skills were neglected and little stress was laid on accurate pronunciation. The pupils were supplied with ready-made compositions, a pattern (s) of a letter, examples of using certain words in useful sentences, and they were obliged to memorize them for examinations, i.e. the teacher's role was to cram his/her students for examinations. It is also obvious that the primary skills to be developed were reading and writing. Little attention was given to speaking and listening skills and almost none to pronunciation. These are the main features of the Grammar-Translation Method (LarsenFreeman, 1986:10). Abdul-Kareem (2009:6) adds that the earliest ELT course was followed by three series of courses which had been composed in Britain. The first series bore the name of "The Oxford English Course" by Lancelot Oliphant; the second one bore the name "The Oxford English Course for the Middle East" by Lawrence Faucett; while the third one was titled "The Oxford English Course for Iraq "Albert Sydney Hornby; Donald Clifford Miller and an Iraqi expert Selim Hakim. The first two series had been used until the middle of the 1950s, while the third...
