Evaluation of the English language curriculum for the fourth and fifth grade students in elementary education: (A Sample of Adana province)

Knowing and speaking English today has been accepted as an important skill since English has become the medium of international communication all over the world. Communication in the present day among the nations is carried out through multiple media in the English language. This results in starting the English language teaching at earlier ages around the world. It has therefore been decided in Turkey that young learners in the primary school learn English. The present study explores the perceptions of the learners, teachers and administrators about of the English Language Curriculum for the fourth and fifth grade students within the framework of the Law of an Eight Year Compulsory Continuous Elementary Education. The study has been implemented on the basis of a multiple evaluation model which is structured by the aspects of various evaluation models. The survey method is utilized in the study. The data about the course objectives, content, teaching-learning process, assessment and the educational context in the school have been collected through questionnaires, interviews and observation. The data collection instruments have been finalized after they are piloted on the field and judged by the experts in the fields of education and foreign language teaching Schools in Seyhan and Yüreğir sub-provinces in Adana metropolitan city are in the population of the study. Excluding few, all schools in the sub- provinces have been included the study. A questionnaire has been applied to the administrators and the teachers who are teaching English in the primaryIV schools. Sixteen administrators in the sample schools have been interviewed and 705 students selected randomly have taken the questionnaires. English classes have been observed in the sample schools. The data obtained from the observation are used to strengthen and support the data collected through the other instruments and methods. Both quantitative and qualitative data are used in the study. The quantitative data are analyzed by the SPSS program in terms of frequency, percentage and chi-square. The qualitative data, categorized among themselves, are examined and used to strengthen and to make the quantitative data richer. The results of the study show that some modifications and adjustments should be made in the basic aspects of the English Language Gurriculum for the elementary school learners in accordance with their needs, likes and readiness; that the Turkish Language Curriculum and Social Studies Sciences Curriculum should support the English Language Curriculum ; that the quantity and quality of teachers should be improved; that the teachers should be better trained for teaching young learners; that the educational and technological tools and conditions should be improved; that awareness of the parents and learners about foreign language learning should be raised. In addition to these mentioned above the results of the study implies that some modifications are needed in the curriculum of the teacher training institutions. In service teacher training courses should be arranged more frequently and more effectively so that the English Language Curriculum can reach its objectives. Key Words: Curriculum development, curriculum evaluation, teaching young learners