Preliminary language policy

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LANGUAGE POLICY

Mart 2013

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This language policy was compiled in March 2013 by the following members of the

school community.

Name Position

1 Heather ERGUVANLI

Foreign Languages Coordinator

2 Jenny CHAVUSH

IB Coordinator

3 Sibel SAGNER

Education consultant

4 Canan OKATAN

Primary School foreign Languages Head of Department

5 Çiğdem KEKLİK

Primary School Turkish Language Head of Department

6 Hande KOÇ

Primary School English teacher

7 Talar GÜNBİLİR

Primary School French Teacher

8 Nihal ÖKTEM

High School Head Assistant

9 Mazal DOZBAHAR

High School Foreign Languages Head of Department

10 Nilhan KARATAŞ ATAY

High School German teacher

11 Leyla TARAKÇI

High School Turkish Literature teacher

12 Nelly ALTUNTAŞ

Kindergarten English teacher

13 Nurçin DOĞAN

Kindergarten homeroom teacher

14 Tijen GENEL

Social Sciences Head of Department

15 Yalçın YALÇINKAYA

Librarian

16 Rabiya DEMİRCAN

School doctor

17 Gülin TARIM

Parent

18 Sena HAZAL ÖKMEN

Student

19 Utkan GÜDER

Student

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CONTENTS

1. Introduction

1.1. School

1.2. Mission

1.3. Language Profile

2. The Aim of The School Language Policy

2.1. Preparing the Language Policy

2.2. School Language Policy

2.3. The place of the school Language Policy in education

2.4. Language Policy and IB

3. Language teachers

4. Language support / Differentiated instruction

5. Additional mother tongues and other languages

6. Library

7. Associating the Language Policy with the other policies of the school

APPENDICES:

Appendix :1 – Guidelines for school self-reflection on its language policy

Appendix: 2 - Implementation (Methodolgy/ Resources / Evaluation – Kindergarten,

Primary School, High School)

Appendix: 3 – Language Policy data gathering questions

Appendix: 4– KG Portage Development Measure

Appendix: 5 – Spelling and Punctuation rules in Turkish language

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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. School

Özel Ayazağa Işık Schools K-12 campus was founded in 1985 as the second of

Feyziye Mektepleri Vakfı schools. FMV Işık High School is an institution committed to

excellence with a belief in continuous education through the cooperation of the students,

teachers and parents. Its academic aim is to prepare students intellectually for higher

education; its guiding principle being ‘Raising Good Citizens’, well-rounded individuals

with a sense of responsibility to their environment and society.

The two main characteristics that attract prospective students to our school are the

commitments to ensuring and embracing the Principles and Reforms of Atatürk, the

founder of the Turkish Republic, together with upholding our vision to ‘raise good

citizens’. Other qualities could be stated as the following: high quality education,

academic achievements, highly qualified academic staff, a high level of foreign language

education, physical and social facilities and being a clean and secure school.

Furthermore, the institution provides education from kindergarten through to university.

Being a member of CIS (Council Of International Schools), the school provides a

globally competitive education. The school continuously improves itself according to the

requirements of the modern age, where teachers and students are able to use the latest

technology. Methodology and teaching techniques are developed through ongoing in-

service training.

Besides its academic strength, FMV Ayazağa Işık Schools aim for its students to

be successful in social, artistic, cultural and sports arenas with the use of extensive

facilities, including an indoor swimming pool, outdoor football, basketball, tennis courts,

an indoor sports hall, synthetic football pitches, a gym, pool tables, conference and

exhibition halls, art, music and dance studios. In addition to these, 26 types of elective

clubs are offered.

One of the primary goals of the institution is to enable students and teachers to

gain experience in international and multi-cultural activities. In order to achieve this,

related tasks and topics are included in the school curriculum. The school takes part in

MUN conferences, Comenius projects, international Maths/Science projects, International

Public Speaking Competitions, and conducts projects in collaboration with AFS.

In our school, we raise enthusiastic, productive and responsible students who

are sensitive towards the environment and world events, possess analytical thinking

skills, know about scientific research methodology and are interested in art and sports.

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FMV Ayazağa Işık School students are individuals with strong values who practice

compassion and respect. In this sense, our students’ academic and behavioural

development is continuously observed and communicated.

1.2. Mission

FMV Ayazaga Işık School is an institution committed to excellence with a belief in

continuous education through the cooperation of students, teachers and parents. Its

academic aim is to prepare students intellectually for higher education; its guiding

principle is to first and foremost, “Raise Good Citizens” who are life- long learners with

ethical values, a good command of their mother-tongue and analytical skills, who are

efficient in at least one other language, tolerant towards different cultures, historically

aware, competent at Maths and Science, appreciative of Literature, arts and sports, and

sensitive to nature.

1.3. Language Profile

The vast majority of FMV Ayazağa Işık School students are Turkish citizens. Yet,

the school may accept students from every country, nation and culture as long as it

aligns with the school principles. Turkish is the main language of instruction. English is

taught as a second language beginning from Kindergarten. Approximately 50% of our

students will have learnt English for 9 years on average by the time they complete

Secondary School. Students who start high school with a lower level of English complete

an English preparatory year before they start grade 9. During the high school years,

World Literature and TOEFL are the main focus areas. Students also learn German or

French as a second foreign language beginning from Primary school. The ratio of

students who learn German is 60% and French 40%.

2. THE AIM OF THE LANGUAGE POLICY

A language policy is an action statement. It’s concerned less with where the students in a

school are going, and more with how they are going to get there.

Language Policy in Schools, David Corson (1999)

FMV Ayazağa Işık School Language Policy aims to increase the importance given

to students’ mother tongue, to develop their skills in English as a second language, and

provide students with the opportunity to acquire a third language (French – German).

Being able to understand individuals and societies that use different languages and

valuing their cultures in order to develop a love for languages constitutes the basis of our

language policy.

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It is the responsibility of the foundation, school principals, IB coordinator, heads of

Turkish and foreign languages departments, all course teachers, students and parents to

communicate the school language policy to all units to practise and to support it.

It is the responsibility of the school principals, IB coordinator, the whole teaching

staff, with the Turkish and foreign languages departments being primarily responsible for

revising and updating the language policy on a regular basis. At the end of each

academic year, the language committee plans for the coming year, material preparation

is completed by August, and the process is evaluated. In addition, criteria is formed in

order to assess whether the Language Policy is a working document or not, and after it

has been shared with the school community, necessary changes are made depending on

the feedback.

2.1. Preparing the Language Policy

The development, implementation and revision of the school language policy is a

process that involves all members of the school community. This process requires

collaboration amongst the administration, the DP coordinator, teachers, librarians,

students, parents and the other members of the school community.

A steering committee, that represents all stakeholders, was formed before the

FMV Ayazağa Işık Language Policy was developed. The school language policy was

developed by the members of the committee after they agreed on beliefs and values

related to education. The steering committee communicates effectively and regularly with

those it represents.

Considering that a language policy needs to be dynamic and flexible to meet the

ongoing needs of the school community, the ideas and views of the entire community

were taken into account. The school language philosophy was revised one more time in

order to find out whether it aligned with the school philosophy and education. This

process will be revised and reflected every five years.

FMV Ayazağa Işık School Language Policy is a written document which includes

mother tongue support, foreign language and second foreign language education,

provides the needs of the students and reflects the principles of the programme. The

policy acts as a catalyst and lead the school to a common understanding in terms of

school goals and aims. A language policy is a continuously evolving document rather

than being set, and it develops the school’s language requirements.

FMV Ayazağa Işık School Language Policy reflects the trans-disciplinary nature of

language learning. Language is used as a tool to experience trans-disiciplinary learning

and to find out how language functions. Different phases of communication, listening,

speaking, reading, writing, presenting and observing, show that they are interrelated with

one another through the applied curriculum.

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a. FMV Özel Ayazağa Işık School Language Policy

FMV Ayazağa Işık School language policy is to help our students as global

citizens, to gain the language skills that are necessary to follow ever-changing

developments in science and technology at the required level that will allow them to

communicate in one or more languages, to be able to use their mother tongue

accurately, and, to be able to express themselves verbally and in writing, with enough

sensitivity to preserve their own culture.

b. The Place of the School Language Policy in Education

In our school, language education is carried out taking the school language aims

and language philosophy into account. Students are required to use the language

actively, and learn it through hands on activities in language courses and other

disciplines, and the education programme has been developed accordingly. However, as

a school that applies the Ministry of Education curriculum, education related to language

rules and the formation of these rules are also given in the lessons. Also, in accordance

with the school language policy, it is our aim to get the students to use one or more

foreign language efficiently.

2.4. Language Philosophy and IB

The school language policy directly supports the IB international- mindedness

philosophy. In Kindergarten as part of ‘Intercultural Performances,’ detailed work from

continents to the city where we live, is carried out throughout the year. Native teachers

share their own cultures by giving presentations. Within the frame of April 23rd Children’s

Festival, culture week activities take place in the kindergarten. Classes develop projects

after students take on roles presenting a particular country’s music, dances, traditional

clothes and food. There is a following exhibition and presentation day, where the findings

are shared with the entire school community. Parents of foreign nationalities present the

characteristics of their own culture by coming to school or hosting students.

‘The celebrity of the month’ (artist, musician, scientist, etc.) is another activity that is done

in order to raise students’ awareness. Pursuant to the work of ‘living values’, ‘national

peace’, ‘world peace’ and global citizenship’ concepts are emphasized. Through the

game of ’Democracy’, students perceive the concept of democracy, electing and being

elected, and learn how to be democratic.

At the Primary and High School levels, the language policy aims to accommodate

students with language skills that will help them become learners who search and

question about various cultures. Practising critical thinking skills, research, presentations,

debates, and student exchange programmes all support this aim. IB philosophy aims to

raise individuals who can self-criticize and who are ready for life -long learning. Language

is an indicator of thoughts. Our education programme, which puts an emphasis on raising

individuals who think, search and question, supports IB philosophy.

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3. LANGUAGE TEACHERS

FMV Ayazağa Işık School’s teaching staff consists of teachers who use the

language accurately, follow the latest methodology, master the terminology involved in

that discipline, and have the power to articulate his/her knowledge to other parties. Our

teachers join a variety of any kind of in-service training and seminars relating to regarding

professional development. The school follows a multi-staged procedure while employing

new staff. Foreign language skills teachers are especially preferred to be native

speakers.

At FMV Ayazağa Işık Schools, every teacher is a language teacher. Practises in

courses take into consideration the mutual decision of all the teachers and points of view

of all the students. The shared feedback is the completing piece of the whole process,

and it intends to improve the quality of language conditions and answer the language

needs of the students.

At FMV Ayazağa Schools, all teachers are extremely careful to use the language

accurately. While delivering a lesson, preparing questions, marking exam papers, writing

on the board, every course teacher shows utmost care to obey the language rules and

set an example. Maths and Science courses are instructed in English, which provides

another opportunity for students to use their foreign language skills. Literature, Social

Sciences and Art classes are taught in Turkish, which is necessary for the continuous

develoment of the students’ mother tongue.

4. LANGUAGE SUPPORT / DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

Teachers at Işık Ayazağa Campus perceive Differentiated Instruction as a way to

cope with the diversity of students in all terms. As it surely is the case in most other

educational institutions, we have students with different readiness levels, interests,

language proficiency, learning styles and needs. It is not always an easy task to be able

to cater for the needs of all students while at the same time trying to keep the motivation

at high levels.

Based on years of experience, we have observed that students respond better

when tasks are prepared at their level. This does not only give them the opportunity to

use their skills more effectively, but they can also follow their own pace.If we want the

students to be autonomous, we have to be autonomous as teachers as well and

differentiated instruction is a way of achieving that.

There are two principles that help us as teachers. The first thing that we do is to

determine the readiness level of the students and the following task is to identify how we

can link the content of the curriculum, not only according to their needs but also to their

level as well. This is done in two ways: through the worksheets prepared for the students

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as well as the in-class materials. At this point, what we bear in mind is to keep the aim of

the lesson the same but to level it in a way that would make it more achievable for the

students.

Our teachers take part in in-service training sessions where they are presented

different ways and methods of differentiating materials. Thus, they are also given the

opportunity to share their in- class experiences with each other.

As of 2012-2013 Academic Year, we have tried to implement the basics of

differentiation in all classes and give both the teachers and the students a clear

understanding of what it is. We believe that once we are successful in doing that, we will

be able to start applying more methods of differentiation in the coming years.

5. OTHER MOTHER TONGUES

The official language of instruction at FMV Ayazağa Işık schools is Turkish. All of

the students who make up the school population are Turkish. Therefore, there are not

any additional mother tongues in the school. We are not an International school.

Therefore, we do not have any foreign students, other than exchange students and a few

other possible exceptions.

Ministry of Education procedure for foreign language instruction:

Item 50 – (1): In private educational institutions, the language of instruction is Turkish.

(Prior to the date when this law went into effect, schools that were permitted to instruct in

any other language will continue their education as before within their own status.)Yet,

international schools that are attended by foreign students are exempt from this

application.

6. LIBRARY

FMV Özel Ayazağa Işık School has two libraries: one in the Primary school and

one in the High School. The libraries have a vast collection of printed, audio-visual, and

electronic resources in Turkish, English, German and French for the use of students and

teachers. The libraries form their collection with purchased and donated books in Turkish

and other languages, DVDs, VCDs, CDs and other resources in a way that will support

the language development of students and other members of the library. The “Language

and Linguistics’’ collection in the library serves as a great tool for language development.

In other words, the resources found in this section (dictionaries, spelling dictionaries, any

written document about linguistics) are offered to the readers who are interested in

language epistemology and anthropology. In order to improve the library collection and

purchase more publications, the librarians, department heads and administration decide

together in line with the requirements of students and teachers. In this sense, the

administration allocates an annual budget to reinforce the school library and add variety

to the collection. In accordance with the annual budget allocated for the library, resources

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are increased by 10% every year.

Qualitatively and quantitatively, all library resources serve the language

development of primarily teachers and students and all other members of the library

(student, teacher, parent, and other employees).

In primary school, announcements are made in Turkish and English in the morning

assembly. During Library Week, there are various language activities. Some of the

activities are visits to libraries, story hours with drama teachers and author talks, all of

which are designed to support the correct and effective use of Turkish language. During

Skype sessions, students get the opportunity to meet the authors of the English books

they have read, which contributes a great deal to foreign language development. In the

library, apart from the librarian, an English teacher is also present. The library holds

reading sessions in both Turkish and English once a week in an alternating fashion.

Reading centred language activities are applied with the use of creative drama

techniques.

In high school, every other week, the library organizes a ‘Book talks’ activity, which

helps improve students’ use of language skills and self-expression skills. What is more,

authors and other intellectuals are invited to school periodically and on special days

and/or weeks to hold ‘Literature talk’ and ‘Intellectual talk’ sessions, when they sign their

autographs and help reflect the importance, power and use of language to the members

of the library. In addition, language development is also supported with scientific

periodicals as well as magazines in English, German and French .

FMV Özel Ayazağa Işık Schools libraries select materials in accordance with the

user need and demand. When selecting new titles, the information gathered in the

seminars teachers have attended, share-based experiences with teachers of other

schools, media follow-ups for new releases are discussed in general teacher meetings,

department meetings and monthly evaluation meetings, and a joint decision for the titles

that will be purchased is made. The selection process is carried out in collaboration with

students, teachers and the librarians.

In both libraries and different departments of the school, there are resources and

periodicals from every discipline and these are evaluated and updated every year.

The content of the resources found in theFMV Işık Schools libraries must align

with the constitution of the Turkish Republic, the procedures of the Turkish Ministry of

Education, FMV Işık Schools philosophy and IB philosophy.

The criteria for supplying resources for the library are as follows:

The language and content of the resources must be pertinent with FMV Işık

schools programmes.

Education at FMV Işık Schools must have the desired level and quality to support

all discipline areas.

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When selecting material, preserving the balance between the collection as a

whole and the size of the school must be taken into consideration, while the

information provided must be competent and up-to-date.

The collection must contain a variety of subject areas, languages and genres in a

way to satisfy the needs of the library user.

The library must hold a collection of literature and culture that is suitable to the

level of the readers and that will support their cultural development as well as help

them value their free time.

It must be a priority to purchase material that teachers and other staff recommend

for research in accordance with the unity of the collection and requirements.

The resources supplied must provide thematic integrity with the similar resources

that already exist in the library collection.

The selected audio-visual material must possess the quality to support all areas of

education, must be culture based, and must be suitable for the user’s level and

accumulation of knowledge. Award-winning films, and films that will support

foreign language education must be preferred.

As for book volumes,unless volume unity is provided, the librarian has the right to

return the magazines, encyclopedias, and so on.

The same rudiments are taken into account for the selection of electronic

resources.

7. ASSOCIATING LANGUAGE POLICY WITH THE OTHER POLICIES OF THE

SCHOOL

The other policies of FMV Ayazağa Işık Schools (Admissions Policy, SEN Policy,

Assessment Policy and Acdemic Honesty Policy) are directly related to and linked with

langauge education, and these policies are in constant interaction with the language

policy.

7.1. Admissions Policy

In accordance with the implementation of the school language policy, there is a

language profile for students who are admitted to school. The role of the language profile

is to provide teachers with useful information about each student’s level and needs within

the languages used in the school. The language profile transparently demonstrates how

school can support language development, and helps discuss, evaluate and record

students’ progress.

Ministry of Education procedures in Language Education in schools:

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Part 2

Transfer students:

Transfer to schools that teach a different foreign language:

ITEM 8 – (1) Students

a) are preferably transferred to schools that teach the same foreign language,

b) change their foreign language course with an alternative one in case the foreign

language that he has studied is not taught in the school he has been transferred

to. The student’s mid-termand end of term marks are determined by the related

procedures and regulations. However, in the event of the two term marks

belonging to two different foreign languages, the mid-term mark is determined by

taking the average of the two marks. In schools where there are special

procedures, the related regulations are applied.

c) School management takes the necessary precautions to prepare the transfer

students whose foreign language courses have changed.

ITEM 9 – (1) If the transfer student is responsible for a foreign language course from

previous years, his responsibility will be lifted up in case he is successful in the new

foreign language course.

ITEM 51 - (3) Turkish language and foreign language level of the students who are

enrolled to a preparatory class is determined by a commission committee formed

(organized) by the school administration(management). This committee prepares and

carries out( through) a written and oral( preliminary) exam that is held in the first week of

the new academic year

7.2. Special Educational Needs Policy (SEN)

The school bears in mind the needs of its new students who have been diagnosed

with special educational needs such as visual or audio impairment, dyslexia, or

dyspraxia. These students are given academic support by their course teachers during

and outside class. Their special circumstances are taken into consideration during

exams, and they are given special individual exams. For instance, the questions are read

one to one to a student with impaired hearing, so he can lip read; on the exam paper,

questions are typed with a bigger font for a visually impaired student, etc.

7.3. Assessment Policy

At FMV Ayazağa Işık schools various summative and formative performance

measures are applied both for mother tongue and foreign language instruction. The proof

of students’ language development is shared with the teachers, parents and students

themselves, as well as being shared with the teachers who will be teaching in the next

academic year. Apart from the official report cards given at the end of each semester,

exhibitions, work on the school bulletin boards, individual project work, portfolios,

presentations, diaries and performance tasks are examples of forms of evaluation.

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While linking the language policy with the assessment policy, the way local and

national regulations support the methods of language assessment was also taken into

account.

Ministry of Education procedure for foreign language education

Part 2

ITEM 5 – (1) The goal of foreign language education in educational institutions is to

enable the student to become skillful in the foreign language taught in the areas of

Listening-Comprehension, Reading-Comprehension, Speaking and Writing, and to be

able to communicate in this foreign language while they develop a positive attitude

towards foreign language education in compliance with the general aims and principles of

the Minisitry of Education, and taking into consideration the goals and levels of schools

and institutions

7.4. Academic Honesty Policy

It has been strongly emphasized in the school academic honesty policy that using

information produced by another party without permission or citing resources is (called)

plagiarism.

The students of FMV Ayazağa Işık Schools are expected to produce and present

authentic assignments and projects based on their own creativity, individual and original

ideas, and the way they express their own language.

“It is the student’s responsibility to hand in or submit authentic work with full and

accurate acknowledment. The subject teacher is also responsible for orienting, directing

and advising the students on how to prepare authentic work, and he or she is the best

person to able to judge whether the work submitted is authentic or not.

The style of the student ( too few errors, too academic, too much sophisticated

vocabulary, etc.) can be the best clue for the teacher in detecting plagiarism. Therefore,

teachers are expected to be familiar with the students’ style. The teachers should also be

familiar with the books that are used and referred to by the students and be alert to check

if any passage or line has been directly copied. It would be best to give students

ongoingsupport and guidance, and to have interviews with them on a regular basis on the

content of the work, which makes early detection possible.’’ (from FMV Ayazağa Işık High

School Academic Honesty Policy)

FMV Ayazağa Işık High School, both for scientific responsibility and academic

honesty, does not approve of students:

a) using the work of another student;

b) copying or summarizing the work or ideas of an author without citation;

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c) using information or interpretation from a text without indicating references, as if it

is his own research data.

With its academic honesty policy, the school aims for authenticity and creativity in

students’ work and wishes them to adopt the idea of intellectual property by encouraging

them to do scientific research. In all the activities performed to spread academic honesty

implementations, the school’s objective is to get the students to use information

accurately through ethical principles and research techniques.

FMV Ayazağa Işık High school teachers check whether the assignments sent by

students align with the academic honesty principals using the URKUND software

programme. Every piece of assignment prepared this way is checked via three different

resources: the Internet (approximately 10 billion web pages), academic resources, and

the URKUND archive (over 1,5 million documents). The results are reported following

required comparisons.

FMV Ayazağa Işık High school teachers and students use APA (American

Psychological Association) reference system in their academic work. APA is a citation

reference system that is widely used in the field of Social Sciences. In this system,

instead of footnotes citation, sources are shown in brackets in the text. In the bracket, the

surname of the author, the year of publication and, if necessary, page number is written.

FMV Ayazağa Işık High School Library holds an ‘Academic Honesty’ seminar at

the beginning of each academic year in order to enlighten students on scientific research

methods and citation rules. The school library supports students throughout their

education in order to get them to prepare homework, research and projects in a way that

aligns with the principles of academic honesty.

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Appendix :1 – Guidelines for school self-reflection on its language policy

(Items discussed and competed in the first Language Policy meeting held 29.11.2012)

Establishing and maintaining a language policy steering committee

Guiding questions

Answer: Yes What is the evidence?

Answer: No What actions are planned?

1. Do you have a language steering committee?

Yes. In language policy meetings the members of the steering commmittee get together and meeting minutes are recorded.

2. Does it include representatives for all the stakeholders?

Yes. Language policy steering committee consists of the members of the school community (administrators, Turkish and foreign language teachers, teachers of other courses, librarian, students, parents and other employees from kindergarten, primary school and secondary school).

3. Is the steering committee responsible for overseeing the procedures needed to develop the language philosophy and policy of the school?

Yes. In the meetings each member and representative contribute with their opinions and decisions are taken accordingly.

4. Is the steering committee responsible for gathering, presenting and collating the views of this community?

Yes. As the members of the steering committee represent different sections of the school, they serve as a medium to communicate and reflect the ideas and beliefs of the members of the whole school community.

5. Does the steering committee communicate effectively and regularly with those it represents?

Yes. The members of the committee discuss matters related to language philosophy and language policy and share ideas with those they represent in the school community. They also keep the school community up to date with

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any change or development.

Writing a school language philosophy

Guiding questions



1. Is the school language philosophy clearly expressed in the language policy?

No. In the following languaeg policy meetings results based on observations, surveys and discussions will be evaluated , and a school language philosophy will be written.

2. Is the school language philosophy incorporated into the language policy?

No. When the policy will be compiled as a written document, language philosophy will form the core of the school language policy.

3. Is the language philosophy informed through wide reading including the relevant documents published by the IB?

No. Language philosophy will be written with the contribution of not only language teachers but also the teachers of other courses and the members of the rest of the school community.

4. Does the school language philosophy reflect the interests of the whole school community?

In progress. It will. Language policy will be owned by the whole school community and each member will have the right to contribute with their opinions.

5. Is this data gathered (informal discussions, questionnaires, observations, interviews with the members of the school community)?

Yes. Informal discussions and interviews are ongoing acitons in gathering data. There are continuing observations which are reported on a regular basis. In order to dertermine the school language profile and form the school language philosophy, there will be surveys and questionnaires.

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Reviewing the current language situations and practices and compiling a school language profile

Guiding questions



1. Is the diversity of language needs for students following the IB programmes met?

Yes.

2. Are the languages of teaching and learning clearly identified?

Yes. For non IB students Maths and Sciences will be taught in English. IB students will be instructed only Group A in Turkish.

3. Are the languages of communication used in the school and outside of the classroom identified?

Yes. Students are encouraged to use foreign language with all foreign language teachers inside and outside the classroom.

4. Are mother tongues and other languages in the community identified and promoted?

Yes. Turkish is the only mother tongue used in the school.

5. Are there any legal requirements resulting from government legislation?

Yes. Implementations in mother tongue and foreign language instruction in addition to the weekly hours of instruction set by the MOE.

6. Are effective practices relating to language teaching and learning in place?

Yes.

7. Is there continual professional development for all staff on effective practices relating to language teaching and learning?

Yes. In service training for Turkish teachers who want to learn English or improve their English.

8. Are time and opportunities for planning language pathways in place?

Yes. Streaming in primary school (project groups), additional foreign language hours, a choice of TOEFL classes in high school.

9. Are referencing, bibliography and spelling protocols identified?

Yes. See appendix.

10. Are there rules and expectations about language use around the school?

Yes. All Turkish teachers are expected to use their mother tongue accurately in and outside the classroom.

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Foreign teachers are expected to communicate with the student only in the language they are teaching.

11. Are beliefs about language teaching and learning explained clearly?

Yes. It is in the school mission.

12. Are other policies that relate directly to language teaching and learning identified?

In progress. Academic honesty, Assessment and Admission policies will be closely linked to one another.

13. Do data gathering exercises involve activities such as informal discussions, questionnaires, observations and student interviews?

No. This will be completed when the policy is being compiled.

14. Are all members of the school community invited to reflect on and give input about their thoughts and practices regarding language in the school?

Yes. This is done in language policy meetings that are held on a regular basis.

15. Is the resulting language profile scrutinized for any ares of mismatch, contradicitions, and omissions in practice, ambiguities and other issues to be addressed with regards to the language policy?

No. Once the policy is written and begun to be implemented, this matter will be considered and any failure, if any, will be revised and recovered. ,

16. Have the previously identified matters been investigated and resolved?

In progress.

17. Has school-based inquiry related to language policy been identified as a need or been initiated?

Yes. This has been identified as a requirement. The inquiry will be done through a questionnnaire.

18. Are the library and media resources linked to teaching and learning with language as a focus?

Yes. The librarian is in close contact with all the teachers and takes into consideration any suggestion amde when providing new materail for the library.

19. Have alternative models for developing and maintaining mother tongues been considered?

No.Because Turkish is the only mother tongue used in our school.

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20. Have alternative models for addressing the needs of those learning in a language other than their mother tongue been considered?

No. The school has no students who is instructed in a mother tongue other than Turkish. Our school is not an international school. değildir. Students who come through AFS exchange programme join classes that are only instructed in English. They are exempt from other courses.

21. Is there a process for keeping a developmental language profile for each student?

Yes. Portfolio work.

22. Does the school review the process used to identify the language need of each student?

Yes. In level meetings and teacher-parent meetings , each student is evaluated individually. The students is called for a meeting with the ourse teacher, parent and guidence counselling department to solve any problem that arises.

23. Does the school monitor the effectiveness of differentiation strategies for students with specific language-learning needs?

Yes. Educational coordinator makes regular observations regarding the matter and evaluates the results.

.

24. Is there a language continuum scope and sequence based on IB documents?

Yes. There will be Language AB initio French and German available as an alternative for group 6 courses. It is our hope to offer Spanish AB inition in the near future.

Further considerations: DP

Guiding questions



1. Does the school offer well-resourced special request and school-supported self-taught options in group 1 to maintain mother-tongue development?

No. Turkish is the only language that will be offered in group 1. There will not be any self-taught languages unless there is a

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special request.

2. Does the school offer a range of languages at various levels?

Yes. English from A2 to C1. Toefl exams. In French and German from A1 to B1. FIT and DELF exams. It is targeted to offer Spanish Ab initio classes in the near future.

Review process

Guiding questions



1. Are details such as those relating to timing and responsibilities associated with a review process stipulated in the policy?

Yes. The committee will meet at the end of each academic year to review the policy and keep it up to date.

2. Are new practices being implemented as a result of the research findings of the language policy?

No. They will be once the policy is completed.

3. Does the review procedure include roles and responsibilities for the evaluation of the effectiveness of the langauge policy as a working document?

No. How often the review process will take place has been discussed. Roles and responsibilites will be added to the document.

Linking the language policy to other documents

Guiding questions



1. Is the language policy explicitly linked to other working documents such as those related to assessment, admissions and SEN?

No. School language policy is linked to Academic honesty and assessment policies for the time being. Admission and SEN policies haven’t been completed yet. However, in meetings, implementation, discussions, brain storming and and information sharing it is observed that langauge policy is closely related to the other four policies.

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olduğu When writing the remaining two polices, this will be kept in mind and the connections will be clearly identified.

2. Is the role of student language profiles considered in admissions?

Yes. Students who are accepted to the school for IB or non-IB programme will be required to use his mother tongue and English effectively. The matter will be addressed in the school admission policy.

3. Is the role of student language profiles considered in formative and summative assessment?

In progress. The langauge development of the students will be mentioned. In the assessment policy.

4. Is the role of student language profiles considered in reporting on language development, early intervention and differentiation strategies for SEN students?

Yes.There aren’t any students in our school who need specvial education except for two students who are hearing impaired. Differentiated instruction has been implemented for these two students, both in classess and exams. Details related to this matter will be aded to the language policy.

Communicating the policy

Guiding questions



1. Is the whole school community regularly informed of the policy process and how they might make contributions?

Yes. Information is shared regularly in the meetings and through e-mails, discussions and other forms of informal communication.

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Appendix:2 - IMPLEMENTATION (Methodolgy / Resources / Evaluation –

Kindergarten, Primary School, High School)

1. Kindergarten

1.1. Mother tongue Instruction

As FMV Ayazağa Işık Kindergarten, our mission in pre-school education is to

enable our students to speak Turkish accurately and well. Our main objective in effective

use of mother tongue is to increase students’ vocabulary knowledge and communication

skills, to enable them to express their ideas and emotions accurately and pronounce

correctly, and to adjust their tone of voice accordingly.

In mother tongue instruction, in order to support our students’ language and social

development, apart from reading, dramatization and illustration techniques, the gained

knowledge is transferred to a higher level and to other disciplines through activities such

as expressing opinions about a certain topic, solving problems and building mind maps.

In order to reach these objectives, the following work is conducted:

• Understanding information related to themselves and their families,

• Describing various characteristics of events and living things,

• Sequencing events,

• Relating reason-result,

• Problem solving,

• Knowing about Atatürk,

• Understanding the importance of Atatürk for the Turkish community,

• Traditional Turkish childrens’ games,

• Rhymes, finger plays, poems and stories,

• Chants, finger games

• Telling jokes,

• Story telling,

• Remembering five key points in a story that has been told,

• Sound drills,

• Audio – perception drills,

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• Audio reading drills,

• Reading readiness,

• Listening to, retelling and forming stories,

• Conversation and calendar work,

• Building mind maps,

• Expressing emotions “How do you feel today?”,

• Subject analysis within Gems education programme (What do we know?- What

do we want to learn? What have we learned?),

• Special days and weeks:

- World Animal Day

- World Children’s Book Week

- Republic Day

- Domestic Goods Week

- New Year

- Save Energy

- Forest Week

- World Theatre Day

- April 23rd National Sovereignty and Children’s Day

- Traffic and First Aid Week

- Mother’s Day

- May 19th Youth and Sports Day

- Father’s Day

• Other Special Day Practices:

- Toy Day

- Book Day

- Demonstrate &Talk about it

- News Day

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- Music and Instruments Day

1.2. English Classes:

FMV Ayazağa Işık Kindergarten English Programme aims at fostering the

emotions of empathy and curiosity in children for a second language, and providing them

with the suitable environment where students can use this language.

The objectives of FMV Ayazağa Işık Kindergarten English instruction:

• To introduce the students to a foreign language socially and culturally;

• To enable the students to express themselves in a foreign language and make this

a part of their daily lives;

• To form a positive and intriguing learning environment in order to provide student

motivation; and

• To develop students’ self confidence in order to get them to use English

spontaneously.

At FMV Ayazağa Işık Kindergarten, students are encouraged to join different

activities such as music, dance, drama, stories, handicraft, projects and practical life

according to their interests, skills and learning styles. Age 4 group has 6 hours, and age

5 and 6 groups have 10 hours of English instruction a week.

1.3. Evaluation

In kindergarten, class observation, achievement-evaluation, English evaluation

scale, and portfolio evaluation techniques are used. All the work is evaluated and

recorded using Portage Evaluation Scale and Achievement Evaluation Forms.

(Ref. Appendix: 3 - Portage Development Measurement, Appendix: 4 - Acquisition

Evaluation Form)

2. Primary School

2.1. Mother Tongue Instruction

Based on the fact that language is the main tool that provides communication

between individuals and has a role in all kinds of learning activities, FMV Ayazağa Işık

Primary School mission for mother tongue instruction is to enable all learners to use the

Turkish language effectively and grammatically. The main goal of learning languages in

Primary school is to enable the learners to express themselves through the language,

and to enrich their emotions, ideas and imagination by accessing various resources of

information.

Turkish being our priority,the main goals in all subject areas are for the students

to:

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use Turkish consciously, accurately and attentively by following writing and

speaking rules;

express their emotions, ideas and dreams orally and in writing in an effective and

comprehensible way;

improve their comprehension, sequencing, relating, classifying, questioning,

criticizing, estimating, analyzing, synthesizing, interpreting and evaluating skills;

make effective use of communication tools in accessing information;

select good quality work, and interpret what they have read with an intellectual and

critical point of view;

read the written material from daily life accurately and fluently, using the suitable

techniques;

make reading a habit;

sequence, classify, question, relate, criticise, and make inferences about what

they have listened to/watched;

express themselves correctly in a comfortable manner by appreciating the Turkish

language, and solve daily problems by talking, interpreting and evaluating;

talk about their emotions, ideas, dreams and experiences by making use of the

facilities of the language and following writing rules;

acquire writing as a habit in order to express themselves; and

to acquire knowledge that defines the construction and rules of the Turkish

language, and apply these rules in word, sentence and text level.

In order to get the students to learn languages in stages, teaching

techniquesaredetermined separately for each level starting from Grade 1. These

strategies are:

Starting from Grade 2, in addition to the curriculum, there are extra reading

activities. The reading lists are determined by the homeroom teacher and the

Turkish teachers.

Works are selected in a way to contribute to the students’ reading skills and are

internalized through various activities.

It is important that at least one of the works belong to a living writer, and once the

book has been read, the student is given the opportunity to meet the author.

From Grade 2 onwards, there are writing sessions in which students practice

expressing their emotions and ideas in writing through creative writing activities.

Works that will improve students’ reading culture are selected for the school

library. Following regular and frequent dialogues with the publishers, up-to-date

publications that will be appreciated by students are purchased,and these

publications are announced to the school community through school bulletins.

In 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grades, gifted students are given the

opportunity to exhibit their skills with the drama club.

With extra-curricular activities, cultural diversities in our country are pointed out,

and students’ educational experiences are enriched. Students from a different

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cultural background celebrate and share their own festivals within the school

community.

2.2. English Classes

The main objective of FMV Işık Primary School English classes is for the students

to:

acquire basic English listening-comprehension, oral and written expression, and

research skills, and study habits;

transfer and connect what they have learned to the following stages of learning;

be able to communicate effectively with foreigners orally and in writing at their own

level; and

enjoy the language they are learning, and get to know other cultures and lifestyles.

The main goals of FMV Işık Primary School Engish education are for students to:

be happy and independent individuals in their lives;

communicate with speakers of English in a natural setting

achieve the required knowledge and skills to study at national or foreign high

schools and universities; and

learn about and appreciate other cultures.

It is expected of our students who have completed primary school education to

understand the importance of learning a foreign language and find pleasure in

communicating in English.

English education in our school begins with listening to short stories, which

encourage students to learn the foreign language. In the first two years, students listen to

various short stories as an introduction to foreign language. In Grade 3, they begin to

learn the use of language and improve their English with interesting and entertaining

class activities that enable them to use the language.

Primary School, Grades 1&2:

The stories that are read to students are usually selected from the stories that they

are already familiar with in their mother tongue.

It is important that the material used helps reveal students’ imagination and

creativity.

Meaningful improvisation, pacing, rhythm, sound and revision techniques are

used in order to motivate students and catchtheir attention.

Primary School, Grades 3, 4,& 5:

Students begin to make sense of how language functions.

Functional and notional topic based approach is implemented.

In the third year listening to music, pair-work, using mimics and drawing methods

are used.

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Notions and text are made more meaningful for the students through cutting and

pasting, and listening and improvising activities.

Grammar is taught through various topics and stories that include new vocabulary.

Classroom activites are used to improve students’ reading-comprehension skills.

Towards the end of the academic year, students reach the level to complete a

story that is given to them, and talk about their experiences in a simple way.

Prior to Grades 4 & 5, visually supported texts that enable students to elicit

content are used.

Students listen to dialogues which include new vocabulary and grammar

structures.

Students are asked to guess the meaning of the new words or look them up in the

dictionary.

Drills are used to teach how to form new words by adding prefixes and suffixes.

Students are guided to tell and use the different usage of the new words they have

learned.

Poems, songs, tongue twisters, and visual aids such as pictures, flashcards and

posters are used to consolidate the new words and structures that are taught.

Short written expression techniques are taught for students to practice new

vocabulary and grammar structures

New grammar structures are presented in a cyclical approach.

Dialogues are dramatized by students.

Students are sometimes asked to rewrite the dialogues in their own words.

Cognitive and communicative reading-comprehension techniques, and oral

expression activities are used.

Each unit is supported by research, project presentation and improvisation.

At the end of each unit, a controlled (with the support of the teacher) written

expression activity is applied.

Primary School, Grades 6, 7 & 8

In Grades 6, 7 & 8, students work on authentic texts that are relevant to their age

groups, interests and previous experiences.

Each text is selected under the guidance of the teacher in a way that it will

contribute to students’ language skills with the choice of vocabulary and grammar

structure.

Students work on projects that will help promote the feeling of collaboration and

use their experiences and imagination.

Project work is conducted, individually or in collaboration, making use of

information technology and helps students to improve themselves.

There are in-class activities such as dramatization, class discussions and debates,

which contribute to students’ oral and written expression skills.

Short/long stories are read intensively, and students join reading sessions, each of

which is supported by various listening-comprehension and observation activities.

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Students demonstrate their literature skills with poems and stories they write, the

school newspaper they publish, projects they conduct and diaries they keep.

In order to make classes more attractive for students, a variety of language

instruction techniques are used.

Students are taught methods and techniques that will help them improve their

long-term memory or remember easily what they have learned.

Considering the fact that each student has a different learning style, all classroom

activities and techniques applied are student-centred.

Primary school language foreign development for each grade is as follows:

Grade 1: Students learn English by listening to stories, repeating, drawing,

colouring, cutting and pasting, and dramatizing. Being physically active throughout

the lesson helps them enjoy learning a foreign language.

Grade 2: Short stories are continued in English classes. Compared to grade 1,

there is a wider range of class activities for student motivation and participation.

Grade 3: Students continue learning the language with stories in a more extensive

way. They begin to grasp the structure of the language by reading,

comprehending and writing.

Grade 4: Students continue the learning process by recycling the knowledge and

skills they have acquired in the previous years while putting more on top of it. They

discover how to improve their language skills through different applications. They

begin to enjoy English more with various in- class activities.

Grade 5: This is the year when student motivation is high and students are more

conscious of the learning process. Students are helped to improve their listening-

comprehension, written expression and reading-comprehension skills.

Grade 6: Students work on cohesive texts that include more complex sentence

structures. At this level, students are presented with activities that will develop

their prediction and deduction skills, and they are encouraged to use a wider

range of vocabulary and complex grammar structures. They are expected to

transfer the acquired knowledge to higher levels.

Grade 7: Students’ awareness is raised so that they are ready to gain other

special skills. For instance, they discover what to do in unknown circumstances

and develop a way to communicate. This is the year when they present a product

project combining it with their academic skills.

Grade 8: At this level students gain the majority of basic rules for the language.

They begin to connect their academic skills with their text evaluation skills. They

join activities in which they can demonstrate their high level of English in a more

complex environment or situation. Their selecting, analysing and synthesizing

skills improve.

2.3. Second Foreign Language Classes

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Grade 4 has 1 hour, Grades 5, 6 & 7 have 2 hours, and Grade 8 has 1 hour of

German or French lessons a week. In Grade 5, commencing from the 2012-2013

academic year, students select the second foreign language class (French or German)

In second foreign language classes, language learning is supported by carefully selected

course books, national and international trips, and various competitions to motivate the

students. Films are used at every level as an aid to develop students’ listening skills.

Grade 8 students can have e-pals with foreign students whose mother languages are

French or German. In addition, they can join student exchange programmes.

2.4. Use of dictionaries

In Grades 1–8 mother tongue instruction, Turkish Language Association School

Dictionary, Turkish Language Association Spelling Dictionary, Proverbs and Idioms

Dictionary are used as additional resources and are often referred to. The content of

these resources vary for Grades 1-4 and 5-8, with the former using simpler versions.

After Grade 5, students use dictionaries that consist of a greater amount of vocabulary

and more detailed definitions

In Turkish lessons, figure of speech, metaphor and simile acquisition hold a place

in the vertical curriculum from Grade 3 onwards, besides the literal meaning of words.

Spelling and punctuation rule acquisition is in the mother tongue curriulum in the same

fashion commencing from Grade1.

2.5. Testing and Evaluation

FMV Ayazağa Işık Primary School testing and evaluation activities are planned in

unity. According to MOE, no written exams are given to Grades 1, 2 & 3. At these levels,

student performance is evaluated by teacher observation, performance tasks, portfolios,

project work, reading development folders and self-evaluation reports.

In Grades 4-8, in addition to the common exams given every semester, written

tests, multiple choice tests, portfolios, projects, observation forms and thematic task

forms are also used as formative assessment tools. The evaluation is planned in order to

test all skill areas. All the assessment tools used are accredited, objective and incentive

with forms and rubrics developed accordingly.

3. High School

3.1. Mother tongue instruction

At High School level students are expected to adhere to grammar rules, express

themselves orally and in writing in an authentic and creative way, write articles, essays

and critiques, and have a command of their mother tongue language to be able to

comment on written work of this kind.

FMV Ayazağa Işık High School Turkish Department proceeds from Grade 9 to 12

with the general objectives of the Ministry of Education and in accordance with the

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Turkish Language curriculum. For this purpose, in Turkish Language classes at all levels,

it is ensured that using a language depends more on skills than knowledge. With this

class it is aimed that upon completion of High School, students will develop into

intellectual individuals who can cater for the requirements of the age, they will express

themselves accurately and well at all levels orally and in writing, and they will understand

and interpret any kind of text in Turkish correctly with the skills they have gained.

The curriculum in mother tongue instruction is applied in a way to enable students

to feel that language and expression skills go together with cultural cumulation.

Therefore, it is the school’s goal to raise students who are conscious of their own identity

and, at the same time, open to universal values and developments. To get them to use

their mother tongue in an effective way, students are encouraged to join debates,

participate in composition, story and poetry competitions that are organised by MOE and

other schools, and book talks, as well as take an active part in publishing the school

newspaper. School debate and press and information clubs work actively to achieve

these goals.

In High School Turkish Language classes, the learning process is provided by

living and putting into practice. Students are asked to prepare panels, launch publicity

campaigns, do presentations, produce banners and posters on related topics.

Furthermore, they develop projects about the books they have read. Lexical dictionaries

and spellers, which are used widely in essay writing, are indispensable resources of

language classes. The Turkish Language Society (TDK) website is another resource that

is commonly referred to. In addition, library work is done on a regular basis in order to get

the students to think about language, develop language expression skills and resource

management skills.

In accordance with the main objectives determined by MOE, the content and

implementation of Turkish Language classes in our school in terms of different levels is

as follows:

• Prep classes: Turkish classes aim to develop the students’ language skills

gained in primary school and prepare them for the Turkish Language and

Literature classes in Grade 9. At this level, basic language skills are consolidated

and language logic is formed. The curriculum in Prep classes includes 4 units:

‘Language and Culture’, ‘The Universe of Turkish’, ‘Language and Literature’ and

Fine Arts’. In Prep year, there are four Turkish Language classes a week.

• Grade 9: There are 6 units: ‘Communication, Language and Culture’,

‘Classification of Languages and The Place of Turkish among World Languages’,

Phonetics and Pronunciation’, ‘Lexical Knowledge’, ‘Syntax’ and ‘Paragraph

Knowledge’. ’In Grade 9 there are two Turkish Language classes a week. During

the lessons, the knowledge students gained in Prep class is taken into

consideration, and the rules of the language and implementing these rules in

theory and practice is strongly emphasized. Also in Grade 9 there are story and

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poetry writing sessions in order to observe how well students can express

themselves in their mother tongue.

• Grade 10: At this level, Turkish-Maths and Science-Maths groups both have 2

periods of Turkish Language and there are 3 units: ‘Presentation, Discussion and

Panel’, ‘Expression and its Characteristics’ and ‘Types of Expression’.

• Grade 11: At this level there are intensive writing sessions and test preparation

for the university entrance exam. The titles of three units students cover are

‘Classification of Texts’, ‘Educational Texts’ and ‘Oral Expression’. Turkish-Maths

groups have 4 periods (2 periods elective), and Science-Maths groups have 2

periods of Turkish Language classes. In the lessons, student -centred work is

focused on and oral and written expression skills are reinforced.

• Grade 12: As students will be taking the university entrance exam at the end of

Grade 12, a summary of the grammar they have learned in the past four years is

focused on, and mock exams are given on these grammar topics to revise for

YGS and LYS exams. 12th grade Turkish-Maths students have 4 periods (2

periods elective), and Science-Maths students have 2 periods of Turkish

Language classes. There are 4 units: “The Distinguishing Elements of Texts

about Art’, Texts about Art’, ‘Oral Expression Forum, Questioning, Symposium,

Debate and Conference’ and ‘Scientific Articles’. It is expected that all students at

this level speak Turkish accurately and well, understand, interpret and evaluate all

text types, and express themselves and their opinions and emotions about any

topic.

3.2. English Classes

The aim of the English Department is to get students to communicate fluently, do

research and make presentations using all four skills. During their studies, students are

encouraged to become individuals who carry their own responsibility for learning,

possess critical thinking skills, and are ready to pursue college education. Students are

expected to reach B2 – C1 / TOEFL level in English and to be able to conduct basic daily

communication (A2-B1) in their second foreign language. However, the priority of the

department is to create a love for learning a second language.

In the Preparatory classes there are 22 periods of English classes a week (12

hours of language and 10 hours of skills). In Grade 9 there are 9 (language, literature and

writing), in Grade 10 there 6 (presentation techniques, research, reading and writing

skills), in Grades 11 and 12 there are 4 hours of English ( language / TOEFL) a week.

Prep year, grade 9 and 10 curriculums differ from year to year. This results from the

change in student profile, success rate in previous years, and resources used. However,

in Grades 11 and 12, as the aims and objectives are definite, the curriculum is more

static. The Foreign Languages Department uses the Turkish MOE curriculum with

additions and supplements. The curriculum development studies conducted every year

aim to observe how these changes and additions affect the expected results.

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The Foreign Languages Department strives to build upon previously acquired

knowledge. The vertical curriculum starting from kindergarten to the end of Grade12 that

shapes foreign language instruction is the tell-tale sign of this application. At every level,

courses are connected to one another thematically with topic based lessons plans.

Subjects that intersect in different disciplines are determined when writing the yearly

plans, and there is a close collaboration among the disciplines as the same theme is

dealt with throughout the week. Apart from this, the Foreign Languages Department uses

authentic non-ELT texts to improve students’ reading-comprehension and critical thinking

skills.

The Foreign Languages curriculum is revised every four years.

3.3. Second Foreign Language

FMV Ayazağa Işık High School French / German Departments aim at helping

students to form a base in a second foreign language. During their studies, students

learn to communicate in French / German and improve their cultural knowledge about the

countries where these languages are spoken. Students are expected to reach B1 level by

the time they have graduated.

High School Prep classes have 5 hours, Grade 9 has 2 hours, Grade 10 Science

groups have 2 and Maths groups have 4 hours, Grades 11 and 12 have 2 hours of

French / German a week. At the beginning of every academic year, students who come

from Grade 8 are given an achievement test to determine the level of their second foreign

language. In Grades 9 and 10, students whose marks are 70 and above attend an upper

level class. Although these students use the same course books as the lower group, the

conduct of the lessons and the way the students are assessed are different. In case a

student whose mark is below 70 wishes to attend an upper level class, he/she is given a

level test. Students whose 1st semester average is 70 and above have a right to join an

upper level group. Students who have skipped the prep exam and start Grade 9 directly

with no French / German are supported by remedial classes.

Students whose second foreign language is German sit B1 (ZDj) and Fit 2 exams

that are held by Goethe Institute every year. Students who are learning French sit the

DELF exam held by the French Council when they have completed Grade 11.

Second foreign language classes are supported by national and international trips. Apart from that, the German Chamisso reading competition is held annually in our school with the participation of other schools in the city. Students also take part in the German General Knowledge competition organized between the three Işık Schools, and the competition called Kunst des Redens. As for French, every year during Francophonie Week, there is a poetry reading competition called R.A.P.- Récital des Ados Poètes, where students read French poems accompanied by music.

3.4. Use of dictionaries

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Dictionaries and spelling dictionaries are supplementary resources that are widely

used in all language classes, particularly in essay writing. In Turkish language classes

the official Turkish Language Association web site is often referred to. In reading

sessions that are held in the library, especially preparatory classes search the meaning

of new words and idioms. Whilele preparing term projects, lexical knowlegde is also

approcahed by students in the same manner.

3.5. Testing and Evaluation

The assessment policy framework in Turkish and foreign languge classes is

formed by MOE. However, it is enriched in alignment with the curriculum by the school

and the departments considering the needs of students and teachers. At all levels the

evaluation system mainly consists of regular records of students’ achievement test

results and observation-oriented performance task results.

Written exams are prepared within the framework that are determined by MOE.

Exams are written and checked by the subject teachers of that level in collaboration.

Following the exams, students are handed out their exam papers and time is spared for

exam evaluation. There are revision classes after exams if it should prove necessary.

Students’ oral performance is evaluated according to the criteria given to them at the

beginning of each academic year. Oral evaluation also includes quizzes, homework and

worksheets. When giving oral marks, students’ class performance and his/her attention in

using the language is also taken into consideration.

In foreign languages , students take reading, writing and listening exams. In Prep

and 12th grade classes, speaking exams are also given. Upon completing Grade 8, the

school applies a Prep skip exam to determine the students’ level of English. The

department uses different criteria for various question types. In order to be able to assess

student performance individually, Bloom’s Taxonomy questions are used in every exam.

Alongside summative assessment, the student portfolio forms an important part of

formative assessment. Besides written and oral performance tasks, students may be

assigned term projects on a language related topic to be completed within a period of

time.

Student assignments and assessment varies according to levels and units.

Besides Ministry of Education curriculum and achievements, as a school, our main

starting point in activities, project work and assignments is our expectation from students

and our belief in their creativity. When assigning homework or encouraging them to think

about language, we prefer process-based work, rather than work that is result -based.

Our goal is to create space where students can use their mother tongue accurately

and produce authentic project work. Some of the work planned and assigned for this

purpose is as follows:

Preparing a billboard: ‘’Accurate Turkish’’;

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Essay writing and essay competitions;

Story writing and story competitions;

Preparing a handbook of idioms;

Examining newspapers and magazines in terms of the use of Turkish language;

Visually documenting language errors around us;

Preparing visuals for September 26th, Language Festival;

Exampling on informative texts

Practising accurate language use , elocution and public speaking with students for

ceremonies and activities; and

Organizing and joining debates with the debate club in and out of school.

As FMV Ayazağa Işık High School, we proceed according to the set goals for

mother tongue and foreign language instruction and improve these goals together with

our students. The programmes implemented are based on the development and

enrichment of mother tongue skills.

Exam results are sent to parents and students, and oral feedback is also provided.

In feedback sessions, the result of the student’s performance is shared with the student

and the missing points are emphasized. It is expected that students do self-assessment

and self-evaluation in order to find their own mistakes and find ways to correct them.

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Appendix: 3 – Language Policy data gathering questions

1. What is the school’s language philosophy?

2. Does the present language instruction align with the language philosophy? If not,

what should be done?

3. How can school language policy support IB philosophy?

4. What are the decision making methods used to determine the language need of

each student ?

5. What are the methods of differentiation that are used in classes?

6. What are the methods used in our school to determine the most suitable and

adequate resources for language learning?

7. What are the tools and methods used in order to evaluate and prove language

development throughout the school?

8. What kind of resources and opportunities does the school provide its students for

them to use their mother tongue actively?

9. How are the library, media centre and classroom resources that are related to the

languages spoken and taught in class kept updated?

10. Who is responsible for providing resources for the classrooms, the school library

and the media centre?

11. What are the school’s career development and staff recruitment conditions for the

best language learning applications?

12. What is the proficiency level that the students are expected to reach in mother

tongue, foreign langaueg and second foreign language?

13. How does the school encourage parents to contribute to their children’s language

skills at home?

14. How do you keep up-to-date about the recent research and the best

implementations regarding language learning?

15. Whose responsibility should it be to communicate, the language policy to the

school community?

16. What is the best way to evaluate and record the development in the

implementation?

17. Whose responsibility is the career development of the teachers who are involved

in language learning?

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18. What is the best way to give feedback to students on their language development?

19. Based upon the principal ‘Every teacher is a language teacher’, how do the

teachers other than language teachers in our school contribute to the concept of

language?

20. Who should be responsible for revising and updating the language policy? How

often does this need to be done?

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Appendix: 4 – Kindergarten Portage Development Measure Mother Tongue

Development

Age group

Item Achievement Starting behaviour

Date of achievement

3-4 52 I can say ‘That is not a .....’ by pointing at an object.

53 I can answer ‘Who?’ questions with a name.

54 I can use possessive pronouns. (My father’s)

55 I can make a gramatically correct sentence.

56 I can classify objects.

57 I can use modals and tenses to refer to wishes and future time.

58 I can identify objects as open or closed.

59 I can use suffixes to make questions.

60 I can join the story hour up to 5 minutes.

61 I can carry out two different orders independent from eachother.

62 I can say my name when asked.

63 I can answer ‘How?’ questions.

4-5 64 I can use the past tense of verbs correctly.

65 I can talk about my recent experience.

66 I can tell how daily objects are used.

67 I can talk about future plans using structures like ‘I will..’, ‘I am going to..’, ‘I need to..’, ‘I’d like to ..’.

68 I can talk about two sequencing events.

69 I can perform three consecutive tasks.

70 I can understand sentences in passive voice.

71 I can find a pair of objects or pictures when asked.

5-6 72 I can use expressions like ‘Would you like to ..?’, ‘Can you ...?’ in conversation.

73 I can form compound sentences.

74 I can find the top and the bottom of objects.

75 I can point out absurdities or mistakes in a picture.

76 I can use words like ‘sister,brother, grand-mother, grand-father.

77 I can tell the final word in comparisons of opposites.

78 I can retell a story I know without clues.

79 I can identify a picture that does not belong to a certian class.

80 I can tell whether two words rhyme or not.

81 I can form complex sentences.

82 I can differentiate between loud and low voice/sound.

83 I can show amounts like little, a few, a lot of objects.

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84 I can say my address.

86 I can say my home telephone number.

87 I can demonstrate amounts. ‘The most’, ‘The fewest’, ‘The least’

88 I can tell simple jokes.

89 I can talk about my daily experiences.

90 ‘I can use words like ‘through’, ‘towards’, ‘above’, ‘away from’ to define position and movement.

91 I can give explanatory answers to ‘Why?’ questions. “

92 I can put together a story of two or three parts and tell it.

93 I can define words.

94 I can answer the question ‘What is the opposite of ..’

95 I can answer conditional questions like ‘What happens if ...’?

96 I can use the words ‘yesterday’ and ‘tomorrow’ in a meaningful way.

97 I can ask the meaning of new words.

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Appendix: 5 - Spelling and Punctuation Rules in Turkish Language

Ref: tdk.gov.tr (21.02.2013) 1

Documents

Preliminary language policy