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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 47 (2012) 1002 – 1006

CY-ICER 2012

Implementation of the New Eighth Grade English Language

Curriculum from the Perspectives of Teachers and Students
Ozge Donmez Gunal a *, Cennet Engin-Demir b
a
Department of Educational Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
b
Department of Educational Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

Abstract

This study aimed to reveal the perceptions of teachers and students about the implementation of the new 8th grade English
language curriculum (NELC) and the challenges faced by them in the implementation process. The participants were 10 English
language teachers and 73 8th grade students of public primary schools in
analyzed through content analysis. It was revealed that NELC was not implemented effectively due to the lack of necessary
materials, crowded classes, insufficient class hours, lack of gradual implementation of the NELC, lack of guidance and support
for teachers and Level Determination Exam.
2012 Published
© 2012 PublishedbybyElsevier
ElsevierLtd.
Ltd Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Uzunboylu
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Keywords: English Language Curriculum, Curriculum Innovation, Curriculum Implementation, Constructivism, Challenges
.

1. Introduction

Being a longitudinal candidate for the membership of the European Union, Turkey has been conducting reforms in
different areas involving education. The recent changes conducted in educational field are that of reforming the

English language curriculum of the primary schools has been reformed with the whole primary school curricula by
MONE in 2004 and put it into implementation in the 4th and 5th grades gradually in 2005; and in 6th, 7th and 8th
grades in 2008 (MONE, 2006). The innovation conducted in the primary school curriculum was theoretically based
on learner-
Bulut, 2007).

Constructivist learning theory argues that learners construct the knowledge by creating their own meaning and
making connections to the previous knowledge rather than receiving it from the teachers (Brooks and Brooks, 1999).
In the implementation of the New English Language Curriculum (NELC), which is constructivist in nature, learners
are expected to create their own knowledge by doing, searching, and reasoning, while the teachers are expected to

*
E-mail address: e133534@metu.edu.tr.

1877-0428 © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Uzunboylu
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.769
 Ozge Donmez Gunal and Cennet Engin-Demir / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 47 (2012) 1002 – 1006 1003

1999; MONE, 2006). The innovated constructivist curriculum gives more emphasis on performance-based and

the teachers as prescribed by MONE, however it is necessary to reveal how and to what extent the NELC or the
innovations of NELC has been implemented in the classroom (Fullan & Pomfret, 1977; Leithwood & Montgomery,
1982). Therefore, this study aims to reveal the perceptions of the teachers and students about the implementation of
the new 8th grade English language curriculum and about the challenges or problems faced in this process.

This study has significance as it provides feedback on the implementation of the NELC as well as uncovering how
the planned curriculum differs from the perceived and implemented curriculum.

2. Method

The study is based on qualitative research design as qualitative methods are most appropriate to study the
implementation process in depth and in detail (Patton, 1990).
The study was guided by the following research questions:

1. What are the perceptions of the teachers and the students about the implementation of the new 8th grade English
language curriculum?
2. What are the challenges and/or problems concerning the implementation of the new 8th grade English language
curriculum from the perspectives of the teachers and students?

th

grade students of these teachers. The data were collected through conducting in-depth interviews with the teachers
and focus group interviews with the students by utilizing semi-structured interview schedules. All of the interviews
were recorded by audio recorder and then verbatim transcribed. The data were analyzed through content analysis by
utilizing Nvivo 8, a qualitative data analysis program. The credibility, consistency and dependability of the study
were ensured through applying different strategies such as triangulation of data sources, respondent validation, and
adequate engagement in data collection (Merriam, 2009).

3. Findings and Discussion

Perceptions of the Implementation of the NELC

that most of the teachers were content with the innovation of the English language curriculum. However, although
07;

innovations introduced by the NELC could be caused by the insufficient guidance and support provided for them.
Fullan (2007) suggests that teachers need more time, training and ongoing support to change their classroom
practices for an innovation to succeed.
More than half of the teachers stated that the students lacked interest in the lesson and had negative opinions for
learning English. Half of the students perceived the classroom activities as boring, difficult and lack of variety
which could be the reason for their lacking interest and having negative opinions for English lesson.
Regarding the perceptions of teachers and students about the attainment of objectives, it was found out that all of
the teachers and the majority of the students perceived speaking and pronunciation as the least attained skill. Both
1004 Ozge Donmez Gunal and Cennet Engin-Demir / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 47 (2012) 1002 – 1006

the teachers and the students mentioned that the students were less competent in writing and listening skills. While
some of the students perceived themselves as incompetent in reading skill, all of the teachers believed that reading
was the most attained skill by the students. The findings of this study were confirmed by the other studies
, 2007). Since the teachers regarded the textbook as the curriculum, they perceived the
content of the textbook as the content of the NELC. Most of the teachers and some of the students perceived the
content of the English language curriculum as inappropriate or ineffective in terms of the level and the interests of
the students. As consistent with the findings of some other studies conducted, most of the teachers complained about
the overloaded content of the curriculum ( ,
insufficient time allocated for teaching English in the primary school.
In terms of the opinions of the teachers and the students about the course materials, both groups regarded that the
textbook involved themes which were irrelevant to the needs and interests of the students as well as being above the
level of the students. The teachers also expressed that the textbook included unauthentic and insufficient visuals and
language mistakes. Most of the teacher
as an answer key to the exercises in the textbook. These findings of this study were also consistent with the other
eachers stated that they made use of visual materials
such as flashcards and posters in the class, most of the students complained about the lack of visual and audio
material in the lessons.
Constructivist curriculum suggests various assessments method

mainly conducted through traditional assessment techniques such as written exams, quizzes and tests. Both parties
stated that the teachers did not use peer- evaluation, self- evaluation and portfolio as alternative assessment
techniques which were considered as innovative in the NELC (MONE, 2006). Insufficient time, crowded classes,
lack of necessary guidance and lack of knowledge about alternative assessment techniques were stated by the
teachers as the factors preventing the implementation of these alternative assessment techniques. While the teachers
contended that performance and project tasks improved the research skills of the students, most of the students
stated that they did not prepare their projects by themselves since they got extra help from the Internet, their
dershane es. These findings indicate that
although alternative or authentic assessment is the most significant innovation of the NELC, teachers could not

As for the instructional approaches suggested in NELC, it was revealed that both parties seem to agree in that the
instructional activities did not appeal to different intelligence types and learning styles. Although the majority of the
students stated that they preferred working in groups in class activities, all of the teachers stated that they mostly
used individual study and whole class activities. Considering learner-centeredness, the teachers seemed
knowledgeable about learner-centered teaching; however, all of the teachers and the majority of the students
reflected that the teachers continued their traditional roles as being the presenter and the source of knowledge as
well as maintaining teacher-centered instruction. However, this finding was inconsistent with the constructivist
nature of the NELC which regards teachers as the facilitator of learning and the
the knowledge rather than being the transmitter of the knowledge (Dharmadasa, 2000).
In terms of the methods, majority of the students and the teachers stated that lecturing was used as the main
instructional method. Besides, both parties reflected that grammar was taught deductively/directly by formulizing
the rules, giving the Turkish equivalence of the structures or relating it with the Turkish ones. However, in the
NELC it is suggested to use discovery method or inductive grammar teaching by providing the students
opportunities to induce or infer the meaning and form from the context (MONE, 2006). Considering language
teaching methods, both parties indicated that Grammar Translation Method (GTM) was the most used language
 Ozge Donmez Gunal and Cennet Engin-Demir / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 47 (2012) 1002 – 1006 1005

teaching method in the class and Turkish was used as the medium of instruction. However, this practice was
inconsistent with the NELC and the related literature which suggest using Communicative Language Teaching and
Task-based instruction in language teaching (Littlewood, 2004; Richards & Rodgers, 2001).
Considering the classroom activities, it was revealed that the practice of language skills were mostly based on the
same activities such as loud reading, translation, and question and answer drill while the grammar practices were
mainly based on mechanical activities such as transformation, grammar drills, multiple choice tests and fill in the
blanks rather than meaningful or communicative activities. However, NELC proposes using not only the mechanical
activities but also the meaningful, communicative and task based activities such as games, songs, drama,
visualization, cooperative learning, etc. (MONE, 2006).

3.2.

As consistent with the other studies, it was revealed that lack of necessary materials, insufficient class hours and
crowded classes were stated by most of the teachers and students as hindering the effective implementation of the
NELC ( ;T ; ). Besides, Level Determination Exam (SBS),
lack of gradual implementation of the NELC, and lack of support or guidance to the teachers about the
implementation of the NELC were among the major challenges stated by most of the teachers and students.

4. Implications

The findings revealed that the teachers did not implement the NELC or its innovations effectively. It can be
suggested that MONE should provide all the teachers with the NELC and its guideline to increase their awareness of
the curriculum innovations. Furthermore, continuous in-service training should be offered to the teachers on the
basis of their needs especially about learner-centered instruction, constructivist learning and alternative assessment
techniques.,
This study concerned only the perceptions of the 8th grade students and the teachers implementing the 8th grade
curriculum. More studies can be conducted about the other grade levels from different perspectives. This study
focused on the implementation of the NELC, other studies can be conducted to evaluate the curriculum in terms of
its efficiency and effectiveness. Lastly, as the data for this study were
studies can be conducted in other districts and cities to compare the findings of this study.

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