Yasemin Kırkgöz

English Language Teaching in Turkey Policy Changes and their Implementations

Since the introduction of English in Turkish education English language teaching has undergone various changes in response to economic and political developments in the country. This article provides an overview of the development of English by outlining the policy changes in English language teaching in the Turkish education system in three phases. The first part of the article presents a historical overview of the policies implemented up to the 1997 education reform while the second part introduces the 1997 education reform, which has had a great impact on English Language Teaching at all levels of education, along with other policy changes. The effect of the 1997 macro policy is evaluated based on local research findings. The third part of the article offers the governments most recent education reforms which reflect the rising importance of English as Turkey attempts to become a member of the European Union. The article concludes with further issues and challenges facing the English language system in Turkish education.Since the introduction of English in Turkish education English language teaching has undergone various changes in response to economic and political developments in the country. This article provides an overview of the development of English by outlining the policy changes in English language teaching in the Turkish education system in three phases. The first part of the article presents a historical overview of the policies implemented up to the 1997 education reform while the second part introduces the 1997 education reform, which has had a great impact on English Language Teaching at all levels of education, along with other policy changes. The effect of the 1997 macro policy is evaluated based on local research findings. The third part of the article offers the governments most recent education reforms which reflect the rising importance of English as Turkey attempts to become a member of the European Union. The article concludes with further issues and challenges facing the English language system i...

Globalization and English Language Policy in Turkey

It is widely acknowledged that globalization has made a considerable impact on multidimensional aspects of human life including the language policies of many countries. This article examines the adjustment of Turkey’s language policy in response to the global influence of English at different levels of Turkish national education, including its role in Turkish academia, as an indication of the status that English holds in the country by investigating the macro policy changes in connection with micro level implementations based on available research, official documents, and curriculum documents. The findings indicate that although there is much evidence pointing to the prominent role that English occupies in Turkish education system largely through the government’s planned language policy, there also exist problems at the instructional level largely due to the way in which English is propagated. Finally, implications for future direction of language policy, practice, and research are presented.

Students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of foreign language instruction in an English-medium university in Turkey

This study reports the perceptions of students and lecturers on the effectiveness of the foreign language instruction in relation to students’ academic needs in an English-medium university in Turkey. The theoretical framework of the study draws upon a discourse community (DC) perspective, which considers writing as a socio-cultural practice and takes a work-embedded nature to reading. Fifteen lecturers and 220 students participated in a target situation needs assessment to identify students’ academic needs, their perception of difficulties in meeting those needs, and the extent of the relevance of the students’ previous language instruction in meeting their academic needs.The findings reveal that a skills-based English for Academic Purposes (EAP) curriculum remains inadequate in preparing students effectively for the academic requirements. Multi-dimensional nature of needs analysis is highlighted, and several innovative suggestions are proposed within the DC framework to improve the EAP curriculum.

Language Planning and Implementation in Turkish Primary Schools

This paper explores a major curriculum innovation in English language teaching in Turkish primary education from macro and micro perspectives. After an overview of the role of English in Turkey, macro-level planning underlying the introduction of English language teaching policy in state-owned primary education is presented. Then the diffusion of innovation through the governments provision of teacher opportunities is laid out. This is followed by micro-level implementation of language policy, focusing on a case study conducted in a local context. Based on survey findings, suggestions are proposed for the future direction of Turkish primary-level English language teaching.

Key Issues in English for Specific Purposes in Higher Education

This volume offers research-based studies on English for Specific Purposes in higher education from across the world. By drawing on international studies, the book brings together diverse ESP practices and aspects of relevant issues in the development of ESP programs, teachers and learners in a coherent fashion. There is a growing need for undergraduate students to develop their proficiency of ESP skills and knowledge in the increasingly globalized world. Knowledge of ESP is an important factor in subject matter learning by students, and also closely related to the performance of university graduates in the relevant sectors. Careful planning and efficient implementation are essential to ensure the quality of the language learning process. For a variety of reasons, it proves difficult to maintain ESP instruction in higher education. These reasons include the incompetence of teachers, lack of materials for that specific context, as well as lack of opportunities for ESP teachers to develop their skills. The chapters in this book, taken from a wide variety of countries, shed light on the diversity of current practices and issues surrounding ESP.

Introducing Innovation into an ESP Program: Aviation English for Cadets

The aim of English for Specific Teaching (ESP) in Turkish universities is to support the development of scientific literacy in learners’ field of specialism in English. Implicit in this objective is to make the ESP curriculum tailor-made to meet the learners’ specific needs. In this study, we describe evaluating the new Turkish Air Force Academy (TurAFA) curriculum, which has been in use for some time. TurAFA is unique in that it aims to train cadets to become combat pilots leading Turkish Air Force. After contextualizing our research, we provide an evaluation of an innovative “Aviation English for Cadets” (AEC) curriculum which has beendesigned to fulfill cadets’ individual and institutional needs. AEC is based on a comprehensive needs analysis involving all stakeholders including the graduates, field experts, instructors and cadets. The most innovative aspect of the curriculum is the introduction of virtual aviation, a challenging innovation in the curriculum for cadets. We illustrate the course content with a simulated flight snapshot. Finally, we discuss the curriculum evaluation in relation to its professional relevance, use of technology, and challenges encountered in the curriculum development process. The study illustrates a localized practice; yet, we believe that it has implications for EAP/ESP practitioners and researchers globally.

Recent Developments in ESP/EAP/EMI Contexts

ESP is a dynamic research discipline, underpinned by the fundamental question of how best to meet the needs of English learners, especially in our increasingly globalized and internationalized world. Since the early 1960s, ESP has become one of the most prominent areas of teaching in universities around the world. What began as a grass-roots solution to the need for vocationally-relevant English language education has evolved into a much broader field of research and application. Today, ESP plays a critical role globally evidenced by the massive growth of higher education institutions offering English-medium instruction (EMI), a conversation which must include the dichotomous approach of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). ESP has found its place as an essential waypoint in the foreign language learning continuum in EMI contexts. As students advance their knowledge in their fields of study, so must they continue to acquire the English to help them understand and articulate vocational concepts, thus giving prominence to ESP. Yet, as this volume argues, there is a significant gap between implementation and assuring quality of ESP offerings, stemming from teachers’ own incompetence and the lack of materials for specific contexts, as well as a lack of opportunities for ESP teachers to develop professionally and personally. This chapter reflects upon the evolution of this field from its roots to its current context. Through chapter-by-chapter synopses, it also presents an overview of the volume’s central premise that quality ESP instruction does and can exist.

English Education Policy in Turkey

The present article, which sets a global perspective, investigates foreign language education policy and planning (LPP) with reference to major education reforms that have taken place in Turkey. Adopting the six-point language-in-education planning framework developed by Kaplan and Baldauf (1997, 2003), the study focuses on the following issues: the geographical and historical context in which the LPP has developed in the Turkish context; motivation at the national and global levels that have been crucial in driving policy actors to introduce English in the medium of instruction (MOI) policy; roles and influences of the external/international as well as the national/indigenous LPP actors and organizations and their involvement in the LPP; the different goals – both linguistic and non-linguistic – set by relevant actors; implementation processes that are facilitated by the development of English LPP, and finally some insights are given into the educational outcomes of LPP at the micro-level. The article relies on empirical studies, education policies and relevant official documents as sources of data. Cukurova University is taken to illustrate how this institute of higher education has responded to the influences of globalization and internationalization at the micro level.

Exploring the Impact of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program on Grantees’ Educational and Cultural Beliefs and Practices

Educational exchanges like the Fulbright scholarship programs are viewed positively at a number of levels, from promoting personal growth to helping build cooperative relations between nations. This study reported in this chapter examined the experiences of eight Turkish Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) grantees in the years after their exchange program, to investigate the reported impacts that the Fulbright experience had on the grantees’ subsequent understandings of education, democracy and intercultural issues. The study utilized a survey instrument, follow up interviews and e-mail correspondence, and drew on Mezirow’s transformative learning theory to explore the participants’ changing perspectives. It was found that various transformations did occur in the grantees’ perspectives as a result of their international experience. Suggestions are offered for future research.

COH-METRIX: INTRODUCTION AND VALIDATION OF AN ONLINE TOOL FOR TEXT ANALYSIS

This is a corpus-based study which tries to compare lexical networks of Turkish EFL learners with native speakers of English; it also tries to verify the validity of an online database (coh-metrix), which is used for lexical computations of texts written in English. The lexical computations are performed through 60 indices such as syntax, general word and text formation and referential and semantic aspects. Three different corpora (one learner, two native) were employed to test the tool’s ability to differentiate learner texts from native ones. The learner text sets were written by 49 intermediate Turkish students learning English, and the other two text sets were written by two different native groups of speakers of English (100 native speakers in total). A number of statistical testing techniques including Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney U-test were used. Some of the indices yielded statistically significant differences between three groups; some of them were able to exclude the learner text sets from the native text sets regardless of average number of words in the texts and the prompts for the essays. The results showed that sentences in the essays written by the Turkish EFL learners lacked lexical cohesion when compared to the sentences produced by the native groups.