The Problematic Interaction between the Mother Tongues, the National Language and Foreign Language Instruction in Turkish Education

摘要

In Turkey, English language learning results have been generally poor. More than a quarter of Turkish citizens and foreign residents do not speak the standard Turkish language as their native tongue. This paper evaluated the weaknesses in the current system in light of this phenomenon and linked them to the poor results in English language learning. Relevant literature on the failure of English and other language programs in Turkey and other countries with similar multilingual populations was examined. Teaching Turkish as a second language and English as an additional language and development of appropriate curricula, methods and materials were recommended.