A Comparative Study of the Language Learning Curriculum in Elementary Schools of Iran and Finland

The present study aimed to explore different aspects of the Finnish national core curriculum of basic education regarding language learning and to compare it with Iranian national curriculum of basic education. To collect the data, the authors analyzed the documents of the national curriculum of the both countries. The semi-structured interviews were also used to collect the data related to the challenges of the implications of the Finnish curriculum lessons in the education system of Iran. In the comparative section, the research followed the procedure proposed by Brody to analyze the documents. In the phenomenology section, the data collected from interviews with 20 teachers and stakeholders, were analyzed inductively. The obtained results showed that the main objectives of the Finnish curriculum in developing the reading skills were emphasizing on learning to learn .The main suggestions for Iranian curriculum include considering the communicational approach in selecting the teaching content, game-based learning activities, using different types of media and tools in education, considering the different elements beyond the language learning such as harmony, and taking advantage from music in the learning process of language. Different challenges in implementing Finnish lessons in Iran’s education system were recognized including: learning activities, teaching and learning strategies