English language teaching in Turkey: Policy changes and their implementations

Since the introduction of English in Turkish education English language teaching has undergone various changes in response to economic and political developments in the country. This article provides an overview of the development of English by outlining the policy changes in English language teaching in the Turkish education system in three phases. The first part of the article presents a historical overview of the policies implemented up to the 1997 education reform while the second part introduces the 1997 education reform, which has had a great impact on English Language Teaching at all levels of education, along with other policy changes. The effect of the 1997 macro policy is evaluated based on local research findings. The third part of the article offers the government's most recent education reforms which reflect the rising importance of English as Turkey attempts to become a member of the European Union. The article concludes with further issues and challenges facing the English language system in Turkish education. © 2007 SAGE Publications