An Overview of the Structure of English Language Teaching Programs in the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Singapore, Norway, and Turkey: The Countries Ranking Among the Top Five in EF Proficiency Index

Abstract

As English is widely accepted as a lingua franca in today's world, the importance of the language has been acknowledged globally in the present case. To rank the countries in terms of their English language proficiency, the EF Proficiency Index is prepared each year. In this study, five countries having the highest scores according to the Index (2021) were taken into account together with the English language curricula of the top five ranking EFL countries (Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Singapore, and Norway). The English language teaching programs of these countries were analysed and compared in terms of the starting age, language assessment, and course content, adding to the comparison list a low-ranking country, Turkey. The data elicited through document analysis propounded the idea that overall, the objectives of English language curricula in these five countries have many common features and similarities. On the other hand, developing positive attitudes towards learning English is emphasised in the Turkish EFL context, and four basic language skills are treated separately in different grades. While other countries give prominence to communicative competence and communication skills together with the cognitive side of the language learning process, the affective components of the language learning process are emphasised in Turkey. Contemporary formative assessment techniques are also recommended in this continuum.