High School English
The purpose of the Grades 9-12 English program is to take students from three different streams at the Grade 9 level and help them to continue the development and enhancement of their English language skills through a graduated program of study in English language and literature.
Our program, which is built around the four main skill areas of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, involves students in language learning through engagement with a variety of literary and non-literary texts and aims to help them to develop and refine their skills in visual or media literacy and in critical thinking.
Familiarity with national and/or state programmes which share the above ideals would be useful. In particular, experience of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme/ ‘A’ Level and/or I/GCSE courses would be relevant and helpful for Years (Grades) 11 and 12. Our aim is for our students to attain a high level of proficiency as users of the English language and as critical thinkers as indicated below:
Curriculum details 9-12
The 9-12 English Department is a lively, collaborative and collegial team. Within the framework of the Turkish Ministry of Education, students sit three common exams per semester. Therefore, meeting the unit objectives for each Year (Grade) level is crucial. While this requirement may seem restrictive at first glance, teachers are able to reach objectives, employing their own teaching styles. Classrooms and offices are shared by the teachers, averaging five teachers per office. Each Year (Grade) level has a level leader who helps teachers to implement the unit objectives as well as to conduct weekly grade level meetings.
9th Year (Grade) -7 periods of 40 minute a week
In the 9th Year (Grade) programme we teach a body of students who have come together from our own elementary school, having passed an entrance exam, as well as students recruited from outside who are very bright but undertook an intensive one-year English study program. Therefore, while the curriculum is literature-centered, it is still considered, to an extent, to be an EFL environment. The units studied in this year are The Giver, Stand By Me (film study), An Inspector Calls and poetry. Additionally, we have an independent reading program where students are given one class period a week to read a book of their choice.
10th Year (Grade) - 8 periods a week.
During this year the students are prepared for the rigorous and demanding IB curriculum. Students are taken through the units Romeo and Juliet, The Catcher in the Rye, as well as units on poetry and media. The 10th Year (Grade) classes also follow the independent reading program.
11th Year (Grade) - 5 periods a week
This is the first year of the IB programme. Even though all students will not be enrolled in the IB course, they will follow the same curriculum. The units studied are Death of a Salesman, 1984, short stories and poetry, as well as a unit on media studies.
12th Year (Grade) - 5 periods a week
In the second year of the IB program, students will study Macbeth, Things Fall Apart, Global Issues, and The Mission (film study).