US embassy cable - 05ANKARA2899

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002899 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR ECA/A/L (JENSON, WALTERS); EUR/PPD (CTEAL) 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, OEXC, SCUL, TU 
SUBJECT: ENGLISH LANGUAGE SPECIALIST HELPS WRITE TURKEY'S 
TEXTBOOKS 
 
 
1. SUMMARY: From April 25 to May 20, 2005, English Language 
Specialist William Smalzer worked in Izmir, Turkey, with the 
Ministry of Education textbook writers assigned to write the 
English books for grades 9-11 and for the prep year (before 
grade 9) for high schools that require entrance 
examinations.  More than six hundred thousand students will 
be affected annually on a daily basis as a result of the 
Ministry producing its own English textbooks rather than 
importing them, saving Turkey USD100 million in foreign 
exchange. Smalzer reviewed chapters, made substantial 
revisions, or asked the textbook teams to completely rewrite 
chapters as necessary. This project has opened up other 
areas of cooperation between the Embassy and the Ministry of 
Education, including a nationwide pilot teacher training 
program to begin in September 2005, and has paved the way 
for Ministry approval of post's ACCESS program. END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  Objectives: 
 
a. One of the priorities of the Ministry of Education (MOE) 
for the past two years was to rewrite the English textbooks 
for high schools that accept students on the basis of 
examinations ("Anatolian" high schools, "Super" high 
schools, high schools emphasizing foreign languages, and 
private schools). Graduates of these high schools form the 
educational elite in Turkey. Post worked with the Ministry 
to develop textbooks that encourage critical thinking, 
tolerance for other points of view, and knowledge of other 
cultures, while developing speaking, listening, reading, and 
writing skills instead of focusing exclusively on grammar 
instruction. Because students study English full time, 
Turkey had to import almost USD40 million worth of textbooks 
for the prep year alone. According to the Deputy Director of 
Secondary Education, by producing rather than purchasing 
textbooks, this project will save Turkey almost USD100 
million a year in foreign exchange. 
 
b. Over the past year English Language Officer Tom Miller 
made four trips to Izmir and ELO assistant Aycan Yaman two 
to work with the textbook teams, while English Language 
Specialist William Smalzer worked with the teams for two 
weeks in March and four weeks in April-May. Smalzer and the 
ELO trained the textbook teams to become materials 
developers, providing substantial feedback and explaining 
how to make tasks pedagogically sound.  The Ministry 
postponed the deadline for the textbooks in order to avail 
itself of Smalzer's expertise and to provide time for the 
substantial changes in the textbooks both he and ELO Miller 
recommended. As a result of Smalzer and the ELO's intensive 
work with the teams, the writers not only corrected mistakes 
in their English but completely changed the types of texts 
and exercises they composed.  Smalzer and the ELO also 
consistently emphasized the need to obtain copyright 
permissions for texts and artwork taken from other sources. 
 
c. The project has attracted high-level MOE attention, as 
the Assistant Undersecretary of Education and the Director 
and Deputy Director of Secondary Education flew to Izmir in 
March to meet with the ELO and Mr. Smalzer and talk to the 
textbook writers. The ELO has been in regular contact with 
the Board of Education, which sets national policy in all 
subjects regarding curricular implications related to this 
project.  The MOE has also requested that the Embassy find 
Americans to provide voices for recording listening 
exercises, a task which the British Council performed in the 
past. 
 
3. Results: According to the Deputy Director of Secondary 
Education, at least 620,000 students will be affected 
annually on a daily basis by this project. In addition to 
improving their English, students will be exposed to 
exercises emphasizing critical thinking, tolerance of other 
cultures, and will learn about the U.S. as well as other 
countries.  In order to train the teachers to move to 
communicative language teaching, the Ministry has asked the 
Embassy to launch pilot year-long teacher training programs 
in ten provinces next year and if successful to expand to 25 
in 2006.  The contacts made through this project have helped 
post set up a nation-wide ACCESS program with the Ministry 
of Education. On numerous occasions the Ministry has 
expressed its gratitude for the Embassy's contribution to 
this project. 
 
4. MPP Umbrella Theme: Democratic System and Practices 
 
5. Washington support: Julia Walters and Agnes Ashton of 
ECA/A/L worked closely with Mr. Smalzer and with the ELO to 
ensure a smooth program. 
 
6. Description of specialist: The author of numerous best- 
selling textbooks, William Smalzer was the perfect choice to 
train textbook writers and provide useful feedback. Working 
long hours on detailed analyses of texts produced by non- 
native speakers of English, Mr. Smalzer was both demanding 
and diplomatic, resulting in a much improved series of 
textbooks. 
EDELMAN