The aim of this study is to investigate the levels of fifth-grade students in speaking who first started to learn English in 2012-2013 school year and graduated from 5 th grade in 2016-2017 school year. To achieve the objectives of the study, individual interviews were held with 9 teachers and 34 students from four different public schools; in addition, the students undertook a picture-based English-speaking activity. The study is a mixed method qualitative dominant study, taking into account

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... th the learning and the teaching processes. In the qualitative part of the study, teachers and students were interviewed and the data were analyzed with NVivo 11 program. The English speaking activity, which was evaluated using a rubric, conducted with students and constituted the quantitative part. The results indicated that some teachers had restricted curriculum literacy and used only limited in-class activities for improving English speaking skills. It was also noted that hours dedicated to English lessons varied from school to school, and that teachers mostly communicated in Turkish. Speaking activity analysis indicated that the English speaking activity score averages of three schools was very close but the fourth school's average was slightly lower. In the research, it is suggested that it would be meaningful to increase the English course hours, introducing curriculum related courses into English teacher education programs to provide experiences on the curriculum, in-service training so as to be informed and gain skills about the activities regarding the instructional programs and in-class activities on speaking skills that they can apply during the courses. Keywords: English-speaking skills, English curriculum, language acquisition at early age, mixed design study, foreign language, learning and teaching process.