Comparative analysis of Turkey and Netherlands primary education English curricula

The aim of this study is to reveal the similarities and differences by comparatively examining the basic elements of the Dutch Primary School Foreign Language Teaching Core Program and the Turkish Primary Education English Curriculum (objectives/targets, content, teaching-learning process and evaluation) with a horizontal approach. The necessary data for the research were obtained from the official education websites of the countries that were the subject of the research, academic and scientific sources by document analysis method and descriptive analysis was made. According to the results of the research; English education in Turkey begins in the second grade, at the age of seven; compulsory English education in the Netherlands starts at the age of ten in the seventh group. The program being implemented in Turkey is a central program and the same program is applied in all schools; it has been seen that the Dutch program is a framework program that can be adapted according to the needs of the region or school. The Dutch English curriculum gives the teacher more freedom in planning the lesson and considering student interests and needs. While there is no target for reading and writing skills in the primary school curriculum in Turkey, targets for four basic skills are included in the Netherlands starting from the fourth group. Both country programs differ in terms of content presentation. In the Netherlands, teachers are given the opportunity to choose content in line with the interests and needs of their students. In Turkey, the content is presented in detail and teachers have to follow the program. There are no clearly stated methods and techniques in the Netherlands program; In Turkey, the methods and techniques to be used are listed, but the choice of where and how to use them is left to the teacher. Process and product evaluation can be seen in both countries. In the last part of the study, suggestions that can benefit Turkey such as preparing the programs for the culture and needs of the region and reducing the compulsory foreign language teaching process to an earlier age level are given.