Exploring teachers’ implementation of the recent curriculum innovation in ELT in Turkish primary education

Globalization has made a considerable impact on the language policies of many countries. This, in turn, has created an increased demand for English as the language for international communication, given the status English holds as a global language or lingua franca (Crystal, 1997). As noted by Nunan (2003: 589), “the demand for English and English language education has exploded with economic globalization. It is the language of business, technology, science, the internet, popular entertainment, and even sports." As a consequence, many countries have attempted to ensure that they are adequately equipped with English language skills to respond to the more globalized world (Nunan, 2003; Graddol, 2006). While the extent to which globalization has affected each country has varied, one common feature of the language policy adopted in countries, particularly those in which English is used as ESL/EFL, has been to lower the age at which children start learning English in primary schools. The early introduction of English has also necessitated the need to revise the foreign language curriculum and introduce communicative language teaching (CLT) as part of the curriculum innovation process. In several countries in the Asia-Pacific region, such as mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, the governments have taken the decision to introduce English as a compulsory subject at younger ages, as part of their national policy of globalization and internationalization of the educational system (Nunan, 2003). © Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2012