The Turkish Ministry of National Education (MEB), through its Directorate General for Lifelong Learning, has developed the Turkish Teaching Program for Foreigners (YTÖP) aimed at enabling foreign students to use Turkish correctly, fluently and functionally. This program has been officially approved by the Board of Education and Discipline.
According to a statement from MEB, YTÖP was prepared as part of the PIKTES Project, which aims to ensure that foreign students living in Türkiye learn Turkish effectively, support their social integration, and contribute positively to their educational lives.
The program, submitted to and approved by the Board of Education and Discipline, was designed based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the Türkiye Century Maarif Model (TYMM) Common Teaching Program Text.
YTÖP represents a holistic approach that prioritizes both cognitive and sociocultural dimensions. Its development took into account the TYMM’s goal of cultivating competent and virtuous individuals, following the “virtue-value-action” framework.
While including the action-oriented approach adopted in CEFR, YTÖP also integrates cultural context elements from the Türkiye Century Maarif Model and focuses on the comprehensive development of individuals mentally, socially, emotionally, physically, and morally. Furthermore, the program aligns its teaching objectives and content with national and international standards.
Based on a communicative approach to language teaching, YTÖP serves as a guide for foreign students in primary, secondary, and high school levels to learn Turkish at pre-A1, A1, A2, A2+ and B1 proficiency levels.
Additionally, descriptors for young learners aged 7-10 and 11-15, prepared within the CEFR framework, are included in YTÖP to comprehensively meet the Turkish language learning needs of the target groups.
The program provides a comprehensive and standards-compliant teaching framework to help foreign students use Turkish accurately, fluently, and functionally.
YTÖP goes beyond being just a language teaching program; it represents an educational vision that supports students from diverse cultures to unite around a common language in the country and actively participate in the social integration process.
