Primary School Second Grade English Language Teaching Program: Insiders’ Views on Its Strengths and Weaknesses

Abstract

The advents in technology, science and globalization have increased the need to communicate in a foreign language. In order to keep abreast of these demands of the global world and the local needs of individuals, curricula and teaching programs change constantly in formal education settings. In Turkey, English language teaching programs went through three major changes taking place in 1997, 2006 and 2013, the last of which was a major change known as 4+4+4 education system. Thus, this study was conducted to evaluate the 2013 2 nd grade English Language Teaching Program (ELTP) from teachers' perspectives with a focus on its general characteristics, aims, outcomes, and content. To address this research objective, the data were collected qualitatively by employing in-depth interviews with 14 teachers who were implementing the 2 nd grade ELTP in state primary schools in the city center of Denizli province. Inductive content analysis revealed that teachers mostly have positive opinions regarding the different components of the ELTP. The motivational quality of it, its emphasis on communicative competence with practical language use are considered as the best aspects of it while some concerns regarding the number of the outcomes, limited practice opportunities stemming from insufficient class hours, and the order of the content are reported. Keywords: 2 nd Grade ELTP, evaluation, program, 4+4+4 education system, primary school