Comparison of primary school foreign language curricula of Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands

The aim of the current study is to compare the education systems of Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands and the primary school foreign language curricula of the counrties mentioned above in terms of their aims, contents, teaching-learning processes and evaluation systems. It is a comparative study and the data is gathered through document analysis. Most of the data used in the study is collected from the official resourses of each country.The results of the study reveal that the education system of Turkey is more centralized compared to the German and Dutch education systems. Besides, English Language Curriculum for primary school in Turkey is more comprehensive and detailed compared to the German and Dutch curricula, which are more flexible in this aspect. The English Language Curriculum of Germany is a framework curriculum and the Dutch Curriculum for English, on the other hand is expressed in terms of core objectives, which indeed identify the overall curriculum. The German and Dutch curricula for English give teachers more freedom while planning their lessons and allow them to take into account students? needs and interests more deeply. The three countries differ in the way they present the content in their curricula. Teachers in Germany and the Netherlands are given the opportunity to choose the content, which fits to the needs and interests of their students, whereas the content in the Turkish English Language Curriculum is given in details and teachers have to follow the curriculum. As to the learning processes, it can be said that there are no explicitly prescribed methods and techniques in the German and Dutch curricula for English and it is the teacher?s task to decide which ones are approppriate to their teaching, whereas they are listed in the Turkish English Language Curriculum but there is no reference on how and where to use them. In all three countries both product and process evaluation take place.Key Words: primary curricula, foreign language education, comparative education