An Integrative Review on Evaluation of University-Level Language Programs in Turkish Context

Year 2018, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 78 - 90, 28.06.2018

Serhat Güzel

Abstract

Program evaluation in language programs, just as with other programs, is
regarded as a vital process to make sure a language teaching course or a
specified supplementary program function in the desired nature. Especially,
language programs in Turkish context are in need of constant check since
countries similar to Turkey are required to follow language standards dictated
by the western world to be able to compete with their education levels; in
that, the Common European Framework for Reference sets a guideline for language
programs. However, it is evident that Turkish language teaching programs lack a
standard within their regional context and often fail to meet the expectations
of language teaching frameworks set by CEFR in terms of language proficiency.
In relation, several evaluation studies have been conducted to determine the
effectiveness of language programs run in Turkish universities. Therefore, this
study aims to investigate program evaluation studies conducted on preparatory
language programs offered by Turkish universities which use English Medium
Instruction (EMI) and it attempts to analyze their methodologies in the evaluation
of the programs. To gather data, this paper investigates five example articles
to acquire an insight on the methodological issues revealed in the studies, and
it attempts to examine the studies in a matrix by classifying them in
categories as follows: authors, year of the study, research context,
participants, methodology, and findings of the evaluative process. In
conclusion, the data gathered from the studies will be interpreted in terms of
their differences and similarities of models imposed by program evaluation theory,
and the findings will be valuable for the understanding of how program
evaluation is useful for the efficiency of running programs.

Keywords

integrative research, language program evaluation, preparatory language program

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