Macro-level foreign language education policy of Turkey: A content analysis of national education councils

Abstract

This study aims to investigate foreign language education policy of Turkey at the macro level.It gives prominence to English language teaching as it plays a major role in Turkey’seducation system. Data were collected through official documents which involve the nationaleducation councils organized from 1939 onwards. The documents were scanned andevaluated by means of qualitative research. In doing so, the information on foreign languageeducation obtained from these primary sources was summarized and analysed through mainthemes. The results indicate that although the top- level state authorities in Turkeytheoretically give importance to foreign language teaching, they show inconsistency in theirdecisions while translating them into practice.