Türkiye’de Yabancı Dil Ağırlıklı Beşinci Sınıf İngilizce Dersi Öğretim Programının Uygulanması: Nitel Bir Değerlendirme

Abstract

This qualitative evaluation study aims to investigate the implementation process of a current educational reform on teaching English to young learners in Turkey, the Intensive English Language Program in the Fifth Grade, from English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' viewpoints. Seven EFL teachers at pilot schools in the city-center of Erzincan were interviewed twice. The results of the first round of interviews indicated that despite the challenges arising from the pilot program, the teachers had positive attitudes regarding the potential advantages of the program. However, the final interview results painted a different picture in that although the main principles of the policy were seen as beneficial for young learners, the teachers faced a variety of challenges, such as a heavy compulsory curriculum in terms of content, lack of professional development support on the new program and scarcity of suitable language teaching materials. Based on both these problems and the benefits of the program, the teachers offered several suggestions for improving the quality of the program; these targeted elements including poor design of the program and unsatisfying professional development support. This study takes a snapshot of the implementation of the current EFL reform and presents suggestions for policymakers and teachers.

Difficulties in Learning English by EFL Students in Turkey

“…According to researches and curriculum evaluation studies, teaching and learning a foreign language in Turkey today have various problems (Ağçam and Babanoğlu, 2018;Demir-Ayaz, Özkardaş, and Özturan, 2019;Demirpolat, 2015;Erdem, 2016;Gürel and Demirhan-İşcan, 2020;Öztürk and Aydın, 2019;Soğuksu, 2013; The Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) and British Council, 2013). Some studies in Turkey tried to determine the problems in English teaching and learning by evaluating the English language teaching curricula according to the opinions of teachers, directors or inspectors (Aksoy, 2020;Cihan and Gürlen, 2013;Demirtaş and Erdem, 2015;Dinçer and Koç, 2020;Gürel and Demirhan-İşcan, 2020;Er, 2006). The results of these studies show that the most common problems can be summarized as inadequate time allotment for English course hours, difficulty in measurement of the listening and speaking skills, scarcity of suitable language teaching materials, coursebooks were not suitable for the needs of students, the objectives in the English curricula were above the level of students, course books were inadequate, classrooms were too crowded.…”