A Curricular Perspective on the Implementation Gap: Analysis of the 2018 ELT Curriculum for Primary and Secondary Schools

Abstract

Following global educational trends, many countries have updated or redesigned their English language teaching (ELT) curricula to equip their citizens with the communication skills needed for the 21st century. Turkey is among those countries where the ELT curriculum for primary and secondary schools was updated in 2018 according to the principles of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). However, problems experienced during the implementation process of the new curriculum imply that some incongruences exist between the intentions and realisations in the Turkish ELT context. To shed some light on the curricular factors that might be hindering the successful implementation of the curriculum, Posner’s (1995) curriculum analysis framework has been applied in this study. It was seen that despite the attention given to objectives, some of these such as, “resembling native speakers” might not be appropriate or realistic for the Turkish context. It was further claimed that the process dimension needs to be strengthened to facilitate the implementation of the curriculum. Finally, it was argued that context-sensitive solutions to suit the local needs through bottom-up approaches should be the priority, if the gaps between formal and operational curricula are to be minimised.