Approaches to evaluation

• This overall and interlinked system of

elements (i.e., needs, goals, teachers,
learners, syllabuses, materials, and teaching)
is known as the second language curriculum.
 Evaluation may focus on many different aspects of a
language program, such as:

• curriculum design
• the syllabus and program content
• classroom processes
• materials of instruction:
• the teachers
• teacher training:
• the students
• monitoring of pupil progress:
• learner motivation:
• the institution:
• learning environment:
• staff development:
• decision making
• Since the 1960s, curriculum evaluation has become
of increasing interest to educators and curriculum
planners. Funding for national curriculum projects in
many parts of the world was often linked to a
requirement to provide evaluation reports that
demonstrated accountability, that helped guide im-
provement of ongoing projects, and that
documented what happened in curriculumprojects.
 Purposes of evaluation

• Weir and Roberts (1994) distinguish between two major

purposes for language program evaluation, program
accountability, and program development, Accountability
refers to the extent to which those involved in a program are
answerable for the quality of their work.. Development-
oriented evaluation, by contrast, is designed to improve the
quality of a program as it is being implemented. The different
purposes for evaluation are referred to us formative,
illuminative, and summative evaluation.
 Formative evaluation

• Evaluation may be carried out as part of the process

of program development in- order to find out what is
working well, and what is not, and what problems
need to be addressed.
 Illuminative evaluation

• This refers to evaluation

that seeks to find out The teachers collected
how different aspects of information on two
the program work or learners over a term,
are being implemented. using classroom
It seeks to provide a observation, learner
deeper understanding journals, and interviews.
of the processes of
teaching and learning
that occur in the
program,.
 Summative evaluation

Summative evaluation is concerned with determining the

effectiveness of a program, its efficiency, and to some extent
with its acceptability. It takes place after a program has been
implemented and seeks to answer questions such as these:

• How effective was the course? Did it achieve its aims?

• What did the students learn?
• How well was the course received by students and
teachers?
• Did the materials work well?
• How appropriate were the teaching methods?
• What problems were encountered during the course?
In order to decide if a course is
effective, criteria for
effectiveness need to be
identified. There are many
different measures of a
course's effectiveness and
each measure can be used for
different purposes. For
example:
• Mastery of objectives
• Performance on tests
Weir (1995) argues for the
need for better measures of
sumraative evaluation and for
the development of progress-
sensitive performance tests for
use during courses.
• Meansures of acceptability
• Retention rate or
reenrollment rate
• Efficiency of the course
 Issues in program evaluation

Weir and Roberts (1994,42) propose abroad view of evaluation that is char-
acterized by:

• a need for both insider and outsider commitment and involvement to en-
sure adequate evaluation
• a central interest .in improvement, as well as the demonstration of the
"product value" of a program or project or their components
• an associated commitment to a deeper professional understanding of the
processes of educational change, as well as the results of that change
• systematic documentation for evaluation purposes both during imple-
mentation and at the beginning and end of a program or project's life
• a willingness to embrace both qualitative and quantitative methodology
appropriate to the purpose of the evaluation and the context under
review