Helen Strong

MSc English Language Teaching Management

Language Teaching Methodology

The question

Self-evaluation in language schools is a process which aims to identify and implement change and it might focus on a number of key areas such as the quality of teaching, the school resources or the student performance. Describe how you would design, implement and evaluate a self-evaluation project.

The extract

The English word 'evaluation' has its roots in the similar French word which means 'to find the value of'.* The word 'value' can be defined as 'the desirability of a thing in respect of its usefulness: worth, merit or importance'.** In order to be able to sell its products or services, a business aims to create a perceived value, in the eyes of the customer, of the product or service it wishes to sell. In order to maintain this level of 'worth, merit or importance', a business constantly needs to evaluate its products and processes, and make changes where necessary, or, as MacDonald (1993:31) puts it: "to be a quality organisation we need a business strategy based on continuous improvement."

In the context of a language school, evaluation has been described as "an intrinsic part of teaching and learning" (Rea-Dickins and Germaine, 1992:3), as "the systematic attempt to gather information in order to make judgments or decisions" (Lynch, 1996:2), and as "crucial and part of good management practice" (White et al, 1991:176). It is closely related to developing new products, and has the characteristic of being able to "modify the shape of things during the process of development" (White et al, ibid:176).

This paper will describe a current project of how a modification to the syllabus, which is being introduced in a language institution in Germany, will be evaluated. After a brief introduction to the organisation and the context, the evaluation project will be described in terms of its aims and rationale, the way it is being designed, and how it will be implemented. Suggestions will be made as to how the evaluation project itself can be evaluated, and what conclusions may be drawn as to the effectiveness of both the modified product, and the way it was evaluated.

*Source: Encarta World English Dictionary (1999:646) **Source: Collins English Dictionary (1998:1682)

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