The education system in Turkey

The national education system in Turkey is shaped within the framework of Atatürk’s principles in education. The Ministry of National Education (MONE) is responsible for all the organization of education systems and educational institutions. Basic Law of National Education Number 1739 (1973) covers the basic provisions regarding the objectives and principles of the Turkish national education, the general structure of the education system, the teaching profession, school buildings and facilities, educational tools, and the duties of the State in the field of education and training.

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According to Basic National Education Law, the general aim of Turkish National Education is to educate citizens who adhere Atatürk’s reforms and principles and Atatürk’s nationalism as stated in the Constitution and who adopt, protect, and develop the national, moral, human, spiritual, and cultural values of the Turkish Nation and love the family, the country and the nation and who know their duties and responsibilities towards the Republic of Turkey. Besides, it aims to educate citizens into having well-developed personality, respect for human rights, and having responsibility towards society. In order to achieve these objectives, some fundamental principles of National Education that should be followed are explained in the Law and these are equality, individual and social needs, orientation, right to education, continuity, Atatürk’s reforms, democracy education, secularism, scientificness, planning, co-education, home-school collaboration and education everywhere.

In Turkey, the new system 4+4+4 that has come into effect in 2012-2013 academic year includes three stages: primary, lower-secondary and upper-secondary education (see Figure 3.2). In this system, the aim is to have flexible programme and to understand the development characteristics of children. Basic education continues for eight years starting from the age of 6 (69 months old); however, it is mandatory to complete all the three stages. Basic education is free to all students and textbooks are handed out in public schools. The aims and duties of basic education are to equip every Turkish child with the basic knowledge, skills, behaviours, and habits which are necessary to become a good citizen; to educate him/her in accordance with the national moral understanding and to prepare every Turkish child for life and higher education by educating them in terms of interests and abilities according to the general objectives and main principles of national education.

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Figure 3.2. General structure of the Turkish education system. (Council of Higher Education, 2019)

Foreign language education in Turkey

Attitudes towards English language as a global language in Turkey cannot be underestimated.

Turkey has developed positive approaches towards English learning, especially, after Turkey became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1952 and entered into negotiations with the EU (Demirpolat, 2015, p. 8). In a sense, English was embraced by the Turkish government on behalf of modernization and westernization and gained priority among other foreign languages (Dogancay-Aktuna, 1998, p. 27). After the 1980s, English substantially spread across the country in education, culture, and business due to increased interaction with free market economies.

Starting from the 2013-2014 academic year, it was decided that foreign language education (English) would start in second grades in Turkey. Before this decision, foreign language education started in fourth grades. English language courses are taught by subject teachers.

Students have 2 hours of English lessons weekly in second, third and fourth grades and 3 hours

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in fifth and sixth grades and 4 hours in seventh and eighth grades. The English language curriculum is based on listening and speaking skills instead of reading and writing specifically in the second and third grades; the focus on reading and writing skills could be seen in the seventh and eighth grades (Irican, 2017, p. 147). English lessons are instructed through the creative activities such as songs, games, and plays. The English language curriculum mainly intends to make students be aware of the target language and culture and to prepare them for international communication.

In line with the general objectives of Turkish National Education, as specified in the Basic Law of National Education Number 1739 and the Main Principles of Turkish National Education, the English language curriculum has been reorganized in 2018 (MONE, 2018) (see Figure 3.3).

The present reorganization consists of revision of the theoretical framework which focuses on values education, basic skills as themes, testing and evaluation improvements and revision of each grade in terms of target language skills, contexts, tasks, activities, and functions.

Fundamentally, this revised curriculum focuses on learning language skills and proficiency without any specific content of the course.

The principles and the descriptors of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) are followed in the new English language curriculum (Council of Europe, 2001). In particular, the CEFR emphasizes that students’ learning should be blended with real-life practice. Hence, considering English as a means of communication and the emphasis on its authentic communicative use has become the major philosophy in the new English language curriculum in Turkey following the CEFR standards.

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Figure 3.3. Model English Language Curriculum (For 2^nd – 8^th Grades) in Turkey (Ministry of National Education, 2018)

Although English language education starts in second grades and continues almost until the end of higher education and curriculum arrangements have been made, learning English is still a problem in Turkey. Demirpolat (2015), in her study in which she broadly refers to Turkey’s examination with foreign language teaching, mentions that crowded classrooms, lack of qualified teachers, as well as language policies and approaches to language teaching are the fundamental problems in foreign language education in Turkey. In addition, Yaman (2018) lays stress on the problems about teacher qualifications, assessment tools and existing prejudices about the language learning process. Furthermore, Ulum and Uzun (2020) conclude in their study that the styles of exams and grammar-translation method can be the reasons behind the failure of English language teaching and learning in Turkey and they suggest that both teachers and students should be present in the process of curriculum preparation. Given these problems and challenges, it could be said that Turkey has to find solutions to acquire a better foreign language education.

On the other hand, the number of private schools in Turkey has significantly increased in recent years. One of the most important factors that affect parents’ preferences in search of private schools is high-quality foreign language education. Other foreign languages such as German and French are also taught in some of the private schools along with English. Other factors include the intensive use of technology and the less crowded classrooms in private schools.

Therefore, there could be a great inequality between the children going to private schools, and the children going to public schools in terms of foreign language acquisition. On the contrary,

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almost all educational institutions in Finland are public. In 2018, government-funded private schools accounted for 3% of all schools in basic education. In comparison, a little more than 95% of the schools were supported by a municipality and the rest are supported by the central government or a joint municipal authority (Eurydice, 2020).