A Suggested Course Syllabus for Teaching English in Early Childhood

Year 2025, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 187 - 207, 10.09.2025

Özge Can Ceylan , Kürşat Cesur

Abstract

Teaching English in Early Childhood (TEEC) requires a variety of materials, in-class activities, skills and experience to prepare and utilize in the classroom. To design appropriate materials, in-class activities, and apply them collaboratively in the classroom, EFL teachers are required to receive necessary training in their teacher education programmes. This study aims to develop a course syllabus for pre- and in-service EFL teachers for TEEC settings. First, with the purpose of identifying the frequent topics in the content of (Teaching English to Young Learners) TEYLs and TEEC courses of state universities in Türkiye, books, published articles, and observations of online courses providing the relevant content, a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design was applied to reach the targeted data. The document analysis was employed via MS Excel. Secondly, using the qualitative data collected, a survey was prepared to gather opinions of EFL teachers having experience regarding teaching English in early childhood. The results obtained from the survey were analyzed employing SPSS Statistics Version 27. The data exhibit EFL teachers need more up-to-date topics, and opportunities to apply theory in real classroom. At the end of the study, the course syllabus was designed and offered based on the EFL teachers’ needs.

Keywords

Early childhood education , syllabus design , teacher education , teaching English to very young learners

Ethical Statement

Ethical standards were rigorously followed. It has received ethical approval from the Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University School of Graduate Studies Ethics Committee (Approval No. E-84026528-050.99-2400175311).

Supporting Institution

The authors did not receive any funding for this article from any institution.

Thanks

I would like to express my deepest appreciation to ÇOMÜ ÇABAÇAM and ÇOMÜ Kindergarten English teachers since they sincerely contributed to this study as participants.

Erken Çocuklukta İngilizce Öğretimi İçin Bir Ders İçerik Önerisi

Abstract

Erken Çocuklukta Dil Öğretimi sınıfta hazırlamak ve kullanmak için çeşitli materyalleri, sınıf içi etkinlikleri, becerileri ve deneyimleri gerektirir. Uygun materyaller ve sınıf içi etkinlikler tasarlamak ve bunları sınıfta iş birliği içinde uygulamak için, İngilizce öğretmenlerinin öğretmen eğitimi programlarında gerekli eğitimi almaları gerekmektedir. Bu çalışma, Erken Çocuklukta Dil Öğretimi hizmet öncesi ve hizmet içi İngilizce öğretmenleri için bir ders müfredatı geliştirmek amacıyla yapılmıştır. İlk olarak, sıkça geçen konuları belirlemek amacıyla Türkiye'deki devlet üniversitelerinin Çocuklara Yabancı Dil Öğretimi ve Erken Çocuklukta Dil Öğretimi derslerinin içeriği, ilgili içeriği sağlayan kitaplar, yayınlanmış makaleler ve çevrimiçi derslerin gözlemleri incelenmiş ve hedeflenen verilere ulaşmak için sıralı keşifsel karma yöntem tasarımı uygulanmıştır. Belge analizi MS Excel aracılığıyla yapılmıştır. İkinci olarak, toplanan nitel veriler kullanılarak, erken çocukluk döneminde İngilizce öğretimi konusunda deneyimli İngilizce öğretmenlerinin görüşlerini toplamak için bir anket hazırlanmıştır. Anketten elde edilen sonuçlar SPSS Statistics Version 27 kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Veriler, İngilizce öğretmenlerinin daha güncel konulara ve teoriyi gerçek sınıf ortamında uygulama fırsatlarına ihtiyaç duyduğunu göstermektedir. Çalışmanın sonunda, ders müfredatı, İngilizce öğretmenlerinin ihtiyaçlarına göre tasarlanmış ve sunulmuştur.

Keywords

Erken çocuklu eğitimi , ders içeriği , öğretmen eğitimi , küçük çocuklara İngilizce Öğretimi

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