Đánh giá của sinh viên khóa QH2008 hệ tiếng anh phiên dịch, khoa tiếng anh sư phạm đại học ngoại ngữ đại học quốc gia hà nội về chương trình tiếng anh chuyên ngành

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION
*******************

GRADUATION PAPER

AN EVALUATION OF ESP PROGRAMS AT FELTE,
ULIS, VNU BY QH2008 ENGLISH TRANSLATION
AND INTERPRETATION STUDENTS

Supervisor: M.A. Nguyen Ninh Bac
Student: Bui Thi Bich Thao
Course: QH2008.F.1.E

HANOI – 2012


ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ
KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH
*******************

KHOÁ LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÓA QH2008 HỆ
TIẾNG ANH PHIÊN DỊCH, KHOA TIẾNG ANH SƯ
PHẠM, ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ, ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA
HÀ NỘI VỀ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN
NGÀNH

Giáo viên hướng dẫn: ThS. Nguyễn Ninh Bắc
Sinh viên: Bùi Thị Bích Thảo
Khố: QH2008.F.1.E

HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2012


i

DECLARATION

I clarify that this study is the result of my own research and all the related
materials of the paper have not, partly or wholly, been submitted to any ot her
university or institution.

Hanoi, May 2012.
Signature

Bùi Thị Bích Thảo


ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my
supervisor, Mr. Nguyễn Ninh Bắc MA., lecturer of Division of ESP, FELTE,
ULIS, VNU for the invaluable support, guidance, and timely encouragement he
gave me while I was doing this research. I am truly grateful to him for his
advice and suggestions right from the beginning when this study was only in

its formative stage.
I am grateful to my friends and roommates for their support in doing this
graduation paper.
I also want to send the most sincere thanks to QH2008.F.1.E English
Translation and Interpretation at FELTE, ULIS, VNU for their assistance in the
survey. The study could not have been successful without their help.
Last but not least, I would like to send my special thanks to my family for
their constant help and encouragement so that I could concentrate on doing the
graduation paper.


iii

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out with an attempt to have an insight into Translation
and Interpretation students‟ evaluation of the ESP Programs at FELTE, ULIS, VNU.
The study is composed of three main parts: Introduction, Development, and
Conclusion.
Firstly, the introduction discusses the rationale, aims and significance,
research questions, method of the study, scope of the study, and design of the study.
Secondly, the development includes three chapters. Chapter I, “Literature
Review”, focuses on theoretical background of the study. Chapter II, “An Overview
of English for Economics and English for Finance and Banking at FELTE, ULIS,
VNU”, presents background information about English for Economics and English
for Finance and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU. And chapter III, “The Study”,
describes the methodology employed to collect data for the study, reports on the
learners‟ evaluation of the ESP programs at FELTE, ULIS, VNU and their needs,
shows the major findings and provides some suggestions to improve the current ESP
program for Economics and ESP program for Finance and Banking at FELTE,

ULIS, VNU.
Finally, the study ends with the conclusion which refers to what have been
found out from the study and the limitations and suggestions for further study.


iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ...……………….....…………………………….…………..
ACKNOWLEDGEM ENTS
ABSTRACT

i

………………..………………………..…………………………. ii

……………………………………………………………………………….... iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………………....

iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS………………………………………………………………….

vii

LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS ……………………………………………………………

viii

PART I:

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1

1. Rationale ............................................................................................................................. 1
2. Aims and significance of the study .................................................................................... 1
3. Research questions ............................................................................................................. 2
4. Method of the study ............................................................................................................ 3
5. Scope of the study .............................................................................................................. 3
6. Design of the study ............................................................................................................. 3
PART II:

DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................ 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................... 5

1.1. AN OVERVIEW OF ESP..........................................................................................................................................5
1.1.1. Definition of ESP ......................................................................................................... 5
1.1.2. Classification of ESP .................................................................................................... 6
1.1.3. The development of ESP .............................................................................................. 8
1.2. EVA LUATION ........................................................................................................................................................ 10
1.2.1. Definition.................................................................................................................... 10
1.2.2. Types of programme evaluation ................................................................................. 11
1.2.3. Purposes for evaluation .............................................................................................. 14
1.2.4. Central questions in programme evaluation design.................................................... 16
CHAPTER 2: AN OVERVIEW OF ENGLISH FOR ECONOMICS AND ENGLISH FOR FINANCE
AND B ANKING AT FELT E, ULIS, VNU................................................................................... 17

2.1. The teaching and learning situation of English for Economics and English for Finance
and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU ................................................................................... 17

v
2.2. A description of current ESP program for Economics and ESP program for Finance
and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU ................................................................................... 17
2.3. The learners ................................................................................................................... 20
CHAPTER 3: THE S TUDY ...................................................................................................... 21

3.1 METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................................................................... 21
3.1.1 Participants .................................................................................................................. 21
3.1.2. Data collection instrument.......................................................................................... 21
3.1.3. Procedure .................................................................................................................... 22
3.2. DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................ 22
3.2.1. Learners‟ evaluation of the ESP program for Economics and ESP program for
Finance and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU...................................................................... 22
3.2.1.1. Learners‟ evaluation on the time allocation for ESP courses .................................. 22
3.2.1.2. Learners‟ evaluation on the ESP reading texts ........................................................ 23
3.2.1.3. Learners‟ evaluation on exercises ........................................................................... 25
3.2.1.4. Learners‟ general evaluation ................................................................................... 28
3.2.2. Learners‟ needs........................................................................................................... 30
3.2.2.1. Learners‟ need for organization............................................................................... 30
3.2.2.2. Learners‟ need for extra materials and exercises .................................................... 32
3.2.2.3. Learners‟ need for the teacher‟s use of language in teaching ESP .......................... 34
3.2.3. Major findings ............................................................................................................ 35
3.2.3.1. The suitability of the ESP program for Economics and ESP program for Finance
and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU to the audience .......................................................... 36
3.2.3.2. The suitability of the ESP programme for Economics and ESP program for Finance
and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU to the aims ................................................................. 36
3.2.3.3. The suitability and unsuitability of the ESP program for Economics and ESP
program for Finance and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU to the time allocation in the

courses .................................................................................................................................. 36
3.2.3.4. The suitability and unsuitability of the ESP program for Economics and ESP
program for Finance and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU to the contents ......................... 37
3.2.3.5. The suitability of the ESP program for Economics and ESP program for Finance
and Banking to the methodology.......................................................................................... 38
3.3. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENTS OF THE ESP PROGRAM FOR ECONOMICS AND
ESP PROGRAM FOR FINA NCE AND BANKING AT FELTE, ULIS, VNU ........................................ 39


vi
3.3.1. Providing more up-to-date economic materials related to the contents of the
courses… .............................................................................................................................. 39
3.3.2. Modifying of the time allocation for ESP program for Finance and Banking ........... 39
3.3.3. Modifying the amount of economic vocabulary contained in each ESP reading text of
the ESP program for Finance and Banking .......................................................................... 40
3.3.4. Developing translation tasks....................................................................................... 40
3.3.5. Reorganizing the time of the ESP program for Economics and ESP program for
Finance and Banking ............................................................................................................ 41
PATR III: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 42
REFERENCES: ........................................................................................................................ 44
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................... 48
APPENDIX 1: THE QUESTIONNAIRE ........................................................................................ 48


vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

-

CIPP

: Context, Input, Process and Product

-

EAP

: English for Academic Purposes

-

EBE

: English for Business and Economics

-

EBP

: English for Business Purposes

-

e.g

: exempli gratia

-

ELP

: English for Legal Purposes

-

ELT

: English Language Teaching

-

EMP

: English for Medical Purposes

-

EOP

: English for Occupational Purposes

-

ESP

: English for Specific Purposes

-

ESS

: English for the Social Sciences

-

EST

: English for Science and Technology

-

etc.

: et cetera

-

FELTE

-

i.e.

: id est

-

TEFL/TESL

: the Teaching of English as Foreign or Second Language

-

ULIS

: University of Languages and International Studies

-

VNU

: Vietnam National University

: Faculty of English Language Teacher Education


viii

LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS
Figures:
Figure 1: ESP classification by experience (by Robinson, 1991)…………………………..7
Figure 2: Macro- and micro-evaluation in language teaching (by Tomlinson, 1998)……..14

Tables:
Table 1: The CIPP model for programme evaluation (by Stufflebeam, 1971)……………12
Table 2: The description of the contents of the ESP program for Economics and ESP
program for Finance and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU……………………………….19
Charts:
Chart 1: Learners‟ evaluation on the time allocation for ESP in the courses……………...23

Chart 2: Learners‟ evaluation on the usefulness of the topics of the ESP reading texts in the
courses……………………………………………………………………………………..24
Chart 3: Learners‟ evaluation on the amount of economicl vocabulary contained in each
ESP reading text in the courses…………………………………………………………….25
Chart 4: Learners‟ evaluation on the usefulness of exercises in the courses………………26
Chart 5: Learners‟ evaluation on the most difficult types of exercises…………………….27
Chart 6: Learners‟ satisfaction towards practice through exercises in the courses……...…28
Chart 7: Learners‟ achievements after finishing the ESP program for Economics and ESP
program for Finance and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU…………………………….…29
Chart 8: Learners‟ satisfaction towards their needs after finishing the ESP program for
Economics and ESP program for Finance and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU………...30
Chart 9: Learners‟ attitude towards the necessity of replacing the topics in the textbook by
more up-to-date economic topics…………………………………………………………31
Chart 10: Learners‟ need of the time allocation only for ESP course……………………..31
Chart 11: Learners‟ need for providing extra materials……………………………………32
Chart 12: Learners‟ preference to the topics of extra materials……………………………33
Chart 13: Learners‟ preference to the types of exercises…………………………………..34
Chart 14: Learners‟ preference to the teacher‟ use of languages in teaching ESP………...35


PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. RATIONALE
The strong development of the socio-economic life has made English more
and more popular among the world‟s population. Therefore, in universities of those
countries using English as a foreign or second language, English for Specific
Purposes (ESP) has also been taught and has become one of the most important
areas of the Teaching of English as Foreign or Second Language (TEFL/TESL)
besides the General English courses.
Many ESP programs have been designed to meet the demands of the learners
and together with the worldwide trend to learn ESP, the teaching staff of Faculty of

English Language Teacher Education (FELTE), ULIS, VNU had collected
documents and designed some ESP programs for some specific fields, including the
English for Economics and English for Finance and Banking which have been
taught for students since 1999.
These programs have been taught and improved for a long time, and many
students as well as lecturers or researchers in ULIS also took a close look at them.
However, in recent years, there was no evaluation of these programs in the new
context of the world – the wide and deep integration of many countries, of different
cultures in the globalization process. Therefore, it is necessary to implement an
evaluation to see whether the courses really meet the demands of the students or
not. Furthermore, the fact is that of the QH2008.F.1.E, FELTE, ULIS, VNU only
students of the English Translation and Interpretation Major have had the chance to
learn all these two courses: English for Economics and English for Finance and
Banking, so it is their evaluation of the courses which helps to improve the ESP
programs to satisfy the learners‟ needs and demands.
2. AIMS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study is aimed at researching English Translation and Interpretation
students‟ evaluation on the ESP programs at FELTE, ULIS, VNU in terms of
audience, aims, time allocation, contents and methodology in order to determine

1


whether the ESP program for Economics and ESP program for Finance and
Banking are suitable to the learners‟ abilities and needs.
And the process of this ESP program evaluation can be seen as a way of
developing our understanding of the ways in which it works and making a large
contribution on the teaching and learning practices. Hence, the teachers would find
ways to do interesting things in their teaching ESP in order to make the students
understand thoroughly the knowledge embedded in the subject.

It is hoped that the findings of this study and some suggestions would
contribute in improving the ESP program for Economics and ESP program for
Finance and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU to make it more suitable for the
learners‟ needs and abilities in the coming years.
3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The study aims to find out the answers to the following questions:
1) What are the learners‟ evaluative comments on the ESP program for
Economics and ESP program for Finance and Banking at FELTE, ULIS,
VNU?
2) What are the learners‟ needs for learning ESP at FELTE, ULIS, VNU?
3) How should the ESP program for Economics and ESP program for
Finance and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU be improved to make it more
suitable to the learners‟ abilities and needs?
4. METHOD OF THE STUDY
As this study is carried out to evaluate the ESP programs at FELTE, ULIS,
VNU, the quantitative method and the qualitative method are applied. For the
quantitative method, a number of books concerning ESP and evaluation will be
consulted to give the researcher a better understanding of the background
knowledge.

And

then,

the

qualitative

approach,

which

involves

survey

questionnaires and document analysis, is employed and combined with the
quantitative one which data analysis will be processed by the level of agreement
marked through the multiple choice questions.

2


The subjects of the study are samples of 60 students in K42 studying English
Translation and Interpretation at FELTE, ULIS, VNU.
- The survey questionnaire is the first stage of the study.
- The second stage is collecting and analyzing the data.
5. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Within its scope, this research mainly focuses on the learners‟ evaluation of
the ESP programs at FELTE, ULIS, VNU such as: the time allocation, the topics of
the ESP reading texts, the amount of economic vocabulary contained in each ESP
reading text, the usefulness of exercises, the most difficult type of exercises, the
satisfaction towards practice through exercises, the achievements after finishing the
program, and the satisfaction towards needs after finishing the program.
Basing on the findings and the learners‟ needs, it provides some suggestions
to improve the ESP program for Economics and ESP program for Finance and
Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU.
Its major object is QH2008 English Translation and Interpretation students of
FELTE, ULIS, VNU.
6. DESIGN OF THE STUDY

This thesis is composed of three main parts: introduction, development and
conclusion.
The introduction presents the rationale, aims and significance, research
questions, method of the study, scope of the study, as well as design of the study.
The development consists of three chapters:
- Chapter I, “Literature Review”, provides the relevant theories: an overview
of ESP (definition of ESP, classification of ESP and the development of ESP),
evaluation (terminology definition, types of program evaluation, purposes for
evaluation and central questions in program evaluation design).
- Chapter II, “An Overview of English for Economics and English for
Finance and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU”, presents background information
about English for Economics and English for Finance and Banking at FELTE,
ULIS, VNU, including in the teaching and learning situation, a description of

3


current ESP program for Economics and ESP program for Finance and Banking and
the learners at FELTE, ULIS, VNU.
- Chapter III, “The Study”, describes the methodology employed to collect
data for this thesis at first (participants, data collection instrument and procedure).
Then it reports on the learners‟ evaluation of the ESP program for Economics and
ESP program for Finance and Banking at FELTE, ULIS, VNU and their needs, and
shows the major findings. Finally, it provides some suggestions to improve the ESP
programs at FELTE, ULIS, VNU.
The conclusion presents what have been found out from the study and the
limitations and suggestions for further studies.

4

PART II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter which aims to provide a theoretical base to develop an
operational framework for ESP program evaluation consults a lot from Nguyen, T.
X. T. (2008) and Lam, T. L. H. (2005) including two main parts. The first part
presents an overview of ESP with regards to definition, the classification and the
development of the ESP. The second part discusses about evaluation, concerning in
definition, types of program evaluation, purposes for evaluation and central
questions in program evaluation design.

1.1. AN OVERVIEW OF ESP
1.1.1. Definition of ESP
As stated in these two above thesis, there are many different views on
defining ESP. While in the literature review of Nguyen, T. X. T. (2008), we can see
that she has given a lot of definitions based on the time of appearance. For example:
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 19), ESP must be seen as an
approach, not as a product. In their opinion, ESP is not a particular kind of
language or methodology, nor does it consist of a particular type of teaching
material.
(Source: Nguyen, T. X. T. (2008: 4)
Meanwhile, in Lam, T. L. H. (2005), she decided to define ESP based on
elements that characterizes ESP such as the time factor, the age of learners and
learners‟ needs.
However, in both these two thesis, they both shared the definition given by
Strevens (1988) by making a distinction between four absolute characteristics and
two variable characteristics:

5

- The absolute characteristics are that ESP consists of ELT (English
Language Teaching) which is:
 designed to meet specified needs of the learners;
 related in content (that is in its themes and topics) to particular
disciplines, occupations and activities;
 centered on language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis,
discourse, semantics and so on, and analysis of the discourse;
 in contrast with „General English‟.
- The variable characteristics are that ESP
 may be restricted as to the learning skills to be learned (for example
reading only);
 may not be taught according to any pre-ordained methodology.
(Source: Strevens, 1988; Nguyen, T. X. T. (2008: 4)
From those definitions, there are two factors we should bear in mind which
are the broad meaning of the term “purpose” and the syllabus basing on the
learners‟ needs to design the content, the methods and materials of learning and
teaching. However, those definitions haven‟t shown the differences in the
methodology of teaching used in General English and English for Specific Purposes
despite showing ESP belongs to English Language Teaching (ELT) and plays an
important part in providing vocabulary for the occupational roles for an individual
or a group of learners.
1.1.2. Classification of ESP
Although there are many types of ESP, the three main types are English for
Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP), and EST
(English for Science and Technology).
According to Munby (1978: 55), ESP could be divided into two broad areas:
English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) „where the participant needs English to
perform all or part of his occupational duties‟ and English for Educational Purposes

(English for Academic Purposes or EAP) „where the participant needs English to
pursue part of his studies‟. EOP, therefore, can include both pre-experience and
6


post-experience ESP. However, Hutchinson and Waters (1987) claimed that there is
no clear-cut distinction between EOP and EAP as people can work and study
simultaneously and in many cases the language learnt for immediate use in a study
environment will be used later when the students take up, or return to a job.
Apart from the occupational/educational dichotomy which can be found in
most classifications of ESP, Strevens (1977 cited in Munby, 1978) defined that
those learners whose purposes are concerned with science and technology are
usually referred to EST. It differs from other courses in that it possesses a set of
features that characterizes

„scientific English‟ including the linguistic rules for

creating scientific text, the terminology of the particular scientific purposes
appropriate to an EST course and the purposes of science. Courses that do not
possess these features are called „other ESP‟.
In fact, Strevens distinguishes the learner who learns English before he/she
studies his/her discipline from the learner who learns English while he/she is
studying or after he/she has studied the discipline. This distinction is very important
because learners‟ experience has a great influence on his/her progress in study as
well as the materials and method used in a course.
For an easier understanding of the types of ESP, Robinson (1991) classified
various types of ESP in the following figure:

Pre-experience
EOP

Simultaneous / In-service
Post-experience

ESP

Pre-study
For study in a

In study

specific discipline

Post-study

EEP/EAP

Independent
As a school subject
Integrated

Figure 1: ESP classification by experience (Robinson, 1991: 3 -4) (cited in Nguyen,
T. X. T. (2008: 5)

7


1.1.3. The development of ESP
Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 9-14) refer to five stages of the development
of ESP from the early beginnings in the 1960s. They point out that ESP is not a

monolithic universal phenomenon and develops at different speeds in different
countries.
The first stage, which took place mainly in the 1960s and early 1970s, is
characterized by the register analysis or the concept of ESP as a special language.
The basic principle of this concept is that the English of Electrical Engineering
constitutes a specific register different from that of Biology or General English and
the aim of the analysis is to identify the grammatical and lexical features of these
registers. Teaching materials then take these linguistic features as their syllabus.
English for different purposes has different registers, and the aim of the analysis is
to identify the grammatical and lexical features of these registers. A good example
of a syllabus is “A Course in Basic Scientific English” by Ewer and Latorre (1969)
and their aim is to produce a syllabus which gives high priority to the language
forms students meet in their Science studies and low priority to forms students do
not meet.
Whereas in the first stage of its development, ESP focuses on language at the
sentence level, the second stage of development shifts attention to the level above
the sentence with the emerging field of discourse or rhetorical analysis. Attention
shifts to understanding how sentences are combined in discourse to produce
meaning. Therefore, the concern of research is to identify the organizational
patterns in texts and to specify the linguistic means by which these patterns are
signaled. These patterns will then form the syllabus of the ESP course.
The third stage is characterized by the target situation analysis. The most
thorough explanation of the target situation analysis is the system set out by John
Munby in “Communicative Syllabus Design” (1978). The Munby model produces a
detailed profile of the learners‟ needs in term of communication purposes,
communicative setting, the means of communication, language skills, functions,
structures, etc. And the target situation analysis stage marks a certain „coming of

8

age‟ for ESP. What it aims to do is to take the existing knowledge and set it on a
more scientific basis, by establishing procedures for relating language analysis more
closely to learners‟ reasons for learning. This stage also marks a significant change
is that the purpose of an ESP course is to enable learners to function adequately in a
target situation in which the learners will use the language they are learning.
Unlike the above three stages of the development of ESP, mainly looking the
analysis of the learners‟ need

at the surface linguistic features of the target

situation, the fourth stage of ESP attempts to look below the surface and to consider
not the language itself but the thinking processes that underlie language use. This
stage is characterized by skills and strategies. Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 13)
point out a great influence of researchers works (Franỗoise Grellet (1981)s,
Christine Nuttall (1982)‟s and Charles Alderson and Sandy Urquhart (1984)‟s) on
developing strategies for reading skills for the teaching of ESP. The principal idea
behind the skills-centered approach is that underlying all language use there are
common reasoning and interpreting processes, which, regardless of the surface
forms, enable us to extract meaning from discourse. There is, therefore, no need to
focus closely on the surface forms of the language. The focus should rather be on
the underlying interpretive strategies, which enable the learner to cope with the
surface form, for example guessing the meaning of words from context, using visual
layout to determine the type of the text, exploiting cognates (i.e. words which are
similar in the mother tongue and the target language) etc.
The fifth stage of ESP development is characterized by the learning-centered
approach which is concerned with “language learning”. The learning-centered
approach is based on the assumption that describes and exemplifies what people do
with language will enable someone to learn it. This is an importance of ESP like
Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 14) say: “A truly valid approach to ESP must be

based on an understanding of the processes of language learning”.
In summary, ESP undergoes five stages of the development with various
characteristics for each stage. The examples of all approaches which were described
above can be found operating somewhere in the world at the present time.

9


1.2. EVALUATION
1.2.1. Definition
There are many definitions of evaluation. Fundamentally, evaluation is
asking questions and acting on the responses.
Rea-Dickins and Germaine (1992: 3- 4) believe that evaluation is an intrinsic
part of teaching and learning. It is important for the teacher because it can provide a
wealth of information to use for the future direction of classroom practic e, for the
planning of courses, and for the management of learning tasks and students.
Evaluation is also considered as a „natural activity‟; something that is very much
part of our daily existence and it can be very formal or informal. It is also something
that may not always be made explicit but may actually be undertaken
unconsciously.
Dudley-Evans and St John (1998: 128) define that “Evaluation is a whole
process which begins with determining what information to gather and ends with
bringing about change in current activities or influencing future ones”. They believe
that evaluation must be more than collecting and analyzing data. They describe
evaluation as formative or summative. Evaluation which takes place during the
lifetime of an activity/a course and the findings help to shape the course during its
life-time is called formative evaluation. Summative evaluation takes place at (or
after) the end of an activity and so does not influence that version of the activity. Its
purpose is to assess impact and to provide information that can be fed into repeat
versions or related activities. Therefore, summative evaluation is valuable for

durable courses.
Hedge (2000: 351) refers to the term “evaluation” as “the assessment of
students at the end of a course, but in recent years its meaning has widened to
include all aspects of a program”. Evaluation can relate to courses and learners in a
number of ways: (1) It can try to judge the course as it is planned; (2) It can try to
observe, describe, and assess what actually happening in classroom as a course
progresses; (3) It can test what learners have learned from a course.

10


In summary, evaluation relates to courses and learners. It has been widened
to include the aspects of a program and it should be carried out at the end of the
courses. The aspect of the program which is chosen to evaluate depends on the
purpose of the evaluation.
1.2.2. Types of program evaluation
According to Stufflebeam (1971), there are four types of program evaluation
which are identified as: context evaluation, input evaluation, process evaluation and
product evaluation
The table below is the CIPP model for program evaluation by Stufflebeam
(1971).

11


Table 1: The CIPP model for program evaluation
Context evaluation
To define the institutional context, to
identify the target population and
assess their needs, to identify

opportunities for addressing the
needs, to diagnose problems and to
judge if proposed objectives are
sufficiently responsive to assessed
needs.
By using such methods as system
analysis, survey, document review,
hearing, interviews, diagnostic tests
and the Delphib technique.

Input evaluation
Process evaluation
Objective
To identify and assess To identified and predict, in
system
capabilities, process,
defects
in the
alternative
program procedural design or its
strategies, procedural design implementation; to provide
for
implementing
the information
for
strategies,
budges
and preprogrammed decision, and
schedules.
to record and judge procedural

events and activities.
Method
By
inventorying
and By monitoring the activity‟s
analyzing available human potential procedural barriers
and
material
resources, and
remaining
alert
to
solution
strategies
and unanticipated
ones,
by
procedural designs for
obtaining specific

12

Product evaluation
To collect descriptions and
judgments of outcomes,
and to relate them to
objectives and context,
input,
and
process

information to interpret
their worth and merit.

By defining operationally
and measuring outcome
criteria,
by
collecting
judgments of outcomes
from stakeholders,


relevance, feasibility, and information for programmed
economy. And by using such decisions, by describing the
methods as literature search, actual
process
and
by
visits to exemplary program, continually interacting with
advocate teams, and pilot and observing the activities of
trials.
project staff.
Relation to decision marking in the change process
For deciding on the setting to be For selecting sources of For implementing and refining
served, the goals associated with support, solution strategies, the program design and
meeting needs or using opportunities, and procedural design, i.e., procedure, i.e., for effecting
and the objectives associated with for
structuring
change process control. And to
solving problems, i.e., for planning activities. And to provide a provide a log of the actual

needed changes. And to provided a basis
for
judging process for later use in
basis for judging outcome.
implementation.
interpreting outcomes.

and by performing both
qualitative and quantitative
analyses.

For deciding to continue,
terminate,
modify,
or
refocus a change activity.
And to present a clear
record of
effects
(intended
and
unintended, positive and
negative).
b
A procedure in which a set of questions or tasks is sent out to experts in the field. The collective responses are then
collated and analysed.
(Source: Stufflebeam, 1971; cited in Nunan, 1992: 194-195)

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Tomlinson (1998) divides program evaluation into macro- and microevaluation as follows:
Program /
project
evaluation

Administrative
matters

Macroevaluation

Microevaluation
evaluation of

Curricular
matters

Materials
evaluation

timetable
evaluation,
etc.

Teacher
evaluation

task
evaluation,
etc.

Learners
evaluation

evaluation of

levels of

sequencing

partipa-

practice, etc.

-tion
etc.

Figure 2: Macro- and micro-evaluation in language teaching (Tomlinson, 1998:
219) (cited in Nguyen, T. X. T. (2008: 12)
I agree with Nguyen Nguyen, T. X. T. (2008) that the valuator should study
the types of program evaluation because it can help him or her decide what type of
evaluation he or she would like to conduct in specific situations and for purposes of
evaluation.
1.2.3. Purposes for evaluation
Evaluation plays a very important role in the improvement of a language
program. There is no language program which can be completely useful to all
teaching situations.

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Evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular
purpose, and then it is concerned with relative merit. Hutchinson and Waters (1987:
96) emphasizes that “There is no absolute good or bad – only degrees of fitness for
the required purpose”. In any kind of evaluation, the decision finally made is likely
to be the better for being based on a systematic check of all the important variables.
Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 97) also believe that a careful evaluation can save a
lot of expense and frustration.
Rea-Dickins and Germaine (1992) identify a number of different purposes
for evaluation. They divide evaluation into two broad categories: general purposes;
and specific, topic-related purposes.
- For general purposes of evaluation, Rea-Dickins and Germaine (1992) refer
to three principal reasons for which evaluation may be undertaken as
follows:
1. accountability
2. curriculum development and betterment
3. self-development:

teachers

and other

language

teaching

professionals.
(Rea-Dickins and Germaine, 1992: 23)
In their discussion about the general purposes of evaluation, they
emphasize that evaluation for purposes of accountability is mainly concerned

with determining whether there has been value for money; Evaluation for
purposes of curriculum development will involve information from teachers
and other relevant ELT professionals; Evaluation for purposes of teacher
self-development involves in describing and better understanding the
teachers‟ own contexts with a view to improving the teaching.
- For specific, topic-related purposes of evaluation, Rea-Dickins and
Germaine (1992) consider evaluation as the means by which we can gain a
better understanding of what is effective, what is less effective, and what
appears to be of no use at all.

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