Primary School English Teaching in Turkey
Policymakers around the world have realized about the importance of teaching English to young people. In his “Small-Scale Study of Primary School English Language Teachers’ Classroom Activities and Problems”, Arıkan (2011) has revealed that there are notable differences between what is established in the official curriculum for primary education and what is actually taught in class. Arıkan (2011) conducted a research “to identify what happens in English language classrooms in Turkey so that further action takes place to improve the quality of teaching and learning” (p. 306).
In his study, Arıkan (2011) refers to the publication of Publication of Ministry of National Education’s English Language Curriculum for Primary Education Grades 4,5,6,7 and 8 in 2006. This document was published in a moment when English classes have gained the approval and support of parents throughout the country. It is also pointed out that parents and teachers consider English should be taught in pre-school institutions. Arıkan observes that young learners require special teaching skills and materials which Turkish teachers do not possess. This is the reason why he conducts a study to establish current activities carried out in primary English classes, teachers’ self-reported and students needs in order successfully teach and learn English.
Arikan (2011) administered a survey to collect the information for his study. The people polled were 46 teachers of English who were participating in an online forum. The results showed that a traditional curriculum was followed by most of the teachers as teacher-centered activities were favored. Regarding self-reported needs, Turkish teachers pointed out the necessity of teaching to fewer students and using new technologies for educational purposes. In the end, the survey demonstrated that teachers believe students need to improve their lexical and grammatical rather than cultural knowledge in order to be successful learners.
Arıkan (2011) concludes his study by asserting Turkish English teachers do not feel prepared to use the material or carry out activities that could enhance the learning process of young learners. He also maintains that more student-centered activities are necessary as well as culture teaching in order to educate competent users of English as a foreign Language. Additionally, the author refers to other studies emphasizing the need of updated courses in order to help teachers develop the necessary activities and appropriate material use that would favor successful language teaching.
References
Arıkan,
A. (2011). A Small-Scale Study of Primary School English Language Teachers’
Classroom Activities and Problems.2nd International conference on new
trends in education and their implications, 27-29 April, 2011.Retrieved
from http://www.iconte.org/FileUpload/ks59689/File/053.pdf
My first day at a secondary School: Vignette
I was very enthusiastic when a TEFL college teacher of mine recommended me to work in private secondary school. I was honored as I had not finished my teaching course yet. However, it was not until I entered the classroom, I found out what I was getting into. A group of 40 eighteen-year-old students were waiting for me. I was told I had to concentrate on the loose ends of previous years: grammar and vocabulary. So, I started the class; I took quite a while to get them all to be quiet and listen to my introduction. Then, I continued with a revision of the past simple basic rules, but at the very same moment, 30 out of the 40 people in the classroom stop listening to me; they were cheekily gossiping about parties or something like that. I made an effort to catch their attention again, but it was momentarily. The class went on like this until the end. I left the school really frustrated, wondering about the reasons of my failure and what I could have done instead. I could not help remembering the words of the principal who assured me the group was well-behaved and all they needed was “a reinforcement of grammatical structures” and I should not bother with the nonsense of the new teaching methodology which she found absurd. She was also a teacher of English with “30 years of experience”.
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