A CEFR-based Comparison of English and Turkish Language Teaching Course Books in Terms of Speaking and Writing Skills

Abstract

This study aims to investigate to what extent the competences in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (Council of Europe, 2001) are fulfilled in language teaching course books in terms of productive skills (speaking-writing) in foreign / second language teaching. More specifically, in the study, speaking and writing activities in Headway for teaching English as a foreign/second language and in Yeni İstanbul for teaching Turkish as a foreign/second language, which were said to have been developed based on CEFR, were examined and compared in terms of the compatibility with the competences specified in the CEFR through content analysis. At this point, the distinction of ‘writing / speaking as a production skill’ and ‘writing / speaking as an interaction skill’ defined in the CEFR has been used in the detailed analysis of the activities. According to the content analysis, it was observed that there were differences and similarities in both course books in terms of the implementation of CEFR and the representation of A2 level descriptors. Although both course books claim that they have been developed with reference to the CEFR, findings showed that they do not reach the learning outcomes in terms of speaking and writing skills related to ‘interaction’ and ‘production’ specified in the CEFR at the same rate. Basically, the study concluded that ‘interaction’ skills in Headway and ‘production’ skills in Yeni Istanbul are prioritized. The results also emphasize that these two course books need to be revised and reorganized to reflect the CEFR at A2 level.

Keywords

• CEFR
• foreign/second language teaching course books
• speaking skill
• writing skill

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