saturs - rpiva

embarrassment to students who are unused to this system (Lewis & Reinders, 2008), but if the
activities are explained at the beginning of the school year or semester, students are more likely
to participate willingly. Research also suggests that instructors who provide an example by
modeling critical thinking skills through verbal expression, as well as designing group learning
projects that permit students to relate the material they are learning to real-life situations
(Catalano & Catalano, n. d.), are apt to succeed at bringing active learning to their classrooms.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the overwhelming evidence in the literature, there is no question that EFL
education in Turkey would benefit greatly from a shift in paradigm from teacher-centered to
student-centered learning. However, implementing the systemic changes necessary to “teach
students to fish” rather than “giving them a fish” requires more than simply substituting the new
teaching method for the old. Transforming Turkey’s EFL classrooms from a teacher-fronted to a
student-fronted methodology depends not only on the knowledge and dedication of individual
classroom teachers, but on fundamental change within the national educational system. In order
to produce graduates who have the fundamental skills they need to allow Turkey to compete
effectively in the international arena – in science, technology, business, education, and social
progress – change must become reality, rather than rhetoric. The entire educational system – from
the policy-makers to the teacher educators, from the teachers to the students themselves – must
learn to reformulate their assumptions about how learning ought to take place in order to
successfully create equilibrium between traditional teacher-fronted instruction and the more
effective student-fronted approach. The question that Turkish citizens must ask themselves is
whether they, as a nation, are willing to strive for positive transformation, in spite of its inherent
risks and difficulties.
REFERENCES
1. Brown, K. (2003). From Teacher-Centered to Learner-Centered Curriculum: Improving Learning in
Diverse Classrooms. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3673/is_1_124/ai_n29032690/tag=content;col1
(Retrieved 17.07.2010.)
2. Catalano, G. D., & Catalano, K. C. (n. d.). Transformation: From Teacher-Centered to Student-Centered
Engineering Education. http://soa.asee.org/paper/jee/paper-view.cfmpdf=595.pdf (Retrieved 28.09.2010.)
3. Çelik, S. (2011). Turkish Higher Education at the Crossroads: Critical Issues of Systemic and Institutional
Structures. Higher Education Review, Vol. 43, No 2, p. 18-41.
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(Retrieved 18.07.2010.)
5. Huba, M. E., & Freed, J. E. (2000). Learner-centered Assessment on College Campuses: Shifting the Focus
from Teaching to Learning. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
6. Lao Tzu Quotes. (n. d.). Altius Directory. http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Society/lao-tzu-quotes.php
(Retrieved 17.07.2011.)
7. Lewis, M. & Reinders, H. (2008). Using Student-Centered Methods with Teacher-Centered Students.
Ontario: Pippin Publishing.
8. Liang, T. (July, 2002). Implementing Cooperative Learning in EFL Teaching-Process and Effects.
http://www.asian-efl journal.com/Thesis_Liang_Tsailing.pdf (Retrieved 29.09.2010.)
9. O'Bannon, B. (19 February, 2008). Planning for Instruction: Instructional Methods.
http://edtech.tennessee.edu/%7Ebobannon/in_strategies.html (Retrieved 16.07.2010.)
10. Thattai, D. (2001). A History of Public Education in the United States. http://www.servintfree.net/~aidmnejournal/publications/2001
1/PublicEducationInTheUnitedStates.html (Retrieved 17.07.2010.)
11. Yilmaz, K. (2009). Democracy through Learner-Centered Education: A Turkish Perspective. International
Review of Education, Vol. 55, No 1, p. 21–37.
Ph.D. Servet Çelik
Karadeniz Technical University
Department of Foreign Language Education,
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