Research Analysis on Issues and Suggestions for Improving 2015 National English Curriculum

This study aims to analyze the two main changes made by 2015 national English curriculum, the introduction of core competences and content matrix, by collecting and analyzing academic articles. The analysis included what factors were critically reviewed and what suggestions were provided for improving the current national English curriculum. The data were collected through online journals with key-words search, and the studies on the general changes in the 2015 national curriculum were briefly stated ahead of main result. The classification of previous studies showed that twelve articles were focused on the core competences, while four articles were on the content matrix. As a result of this study, five issues and suggestions were raised regarding the core competences such as the rationale of introducing the competences in specific subjects and for whom the competences were introduced, the ambiguous status of the competences, the ways of presenting competences, and the need for designing a guiding model. Two issues and suggestions were also made with regard to the content matrix. The implications were discussed based on the findings of this study for both of the competences and content matrix. The implications include the coherence of the characteristic of the specific subjects with the competences and matrix, modification of the competences, clarity and readability, and interconnectedness and consistency of the competences and matrix in curriculum organization.