A Guide To Useful Evaluation Of Language Programs

Departments and language programs often are asked to evaluate the efficacy of their own programs and make curricular decisions on the basis of evidence. This guide, designed to help language educators meet the needs of program evaluation and assessment often requested by their institutions, provides step-by-step advice to help language educators conduct evaluation and assessment and to show how it can lead to meaningful programmatic decisions and change. With discussions about evaluation planning, advice for selecting data-collection tools, explanations for data analysis, examples based on actual evaluations, and more, this book provides everything you need to complete a successful language program evaluation that will give educators useful data on which to base curricular decisions. This short book is practical and timely and will find an audience in instructors of all languages and all levels.

This innovative text presents an introduction to different facets of building and leading language education programs at the university level to meet the needs of students who are minority speakers of a heritage language (HL) – also known as community or home languages. Providing a unique synthesis of theory and empirical research, Sara Beaudrie and Sergio Loza authoritatively illustrate and guide the reader through the main issues that program directors face from the early stage of program conceptualization and creation through later stages of program management and evaluation. The book keys in on the diverse considerations and skills involved in this leadership work – including advocacy and fund-raising, placement, curriculum development and assessment, teacher preparation and student advocacy – and offers an array of practical advice and pedagogical features. This is an invaluable resource for advanced students and scholars of applied linguistics and education, as well as future and current language program administrators in institutions of higher education, for understanding the benefits of specialized HL courses, for blazing a trail in future research in this domain, and for forging a path to solidified institutional recognition and support for HL education.

Advocating an argument-based approach, Blended Language Program Evaluation presents a framework for planning, conducting, and appraising evaluation of blended language learning across three institutional levels, and demonstrates its utility and application in four case studies carried out in diverse international contexts.

Offers a wide-ranging overview of the issues and research approaches in the diverse field of applied linguistics Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field that identifies, examines, and seeks solutions to real-life language-related issues. Such issues often occur in situations of language contact and technological innovation, where language problems can range from explaining misunderstandings in face-to-face oral conversation to designing automated speech recognition systems for business. The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics includes entries on the fundamentals of the discipline, introducing readers to the concepts, research, and methods used by applied linguists working in the field. This succinct, reader-friendly volume offers a collection of entries on a range of language problems and the analytic approaches used to address them. This abridged reference work has been compiled from the most-accessed entries from The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (www.encyclopediaofappliedlinguistics.com), the more extensive volume which is available in print and digital format in 1000 libraries spanning 50 countries worldwide. Alphabetically-organized and updated entries help readers gain an understanding of the essentials of the field with entries on topics such as multilingualism, language policy and planning, language assessment and testing, translation and interpreting, and many others. Accessible for readers who are new to applied linguistics, The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics: Includes entries written by experts in a broad range of areas within applied linguistics Explains the theory and research approaches used in the field for analysis of language, language use, and contexts of language use Demonstrates the connections among theory, research, and practice in the study of language issues Provides a perfect starting point for pursuing essential topics in applied linguistics Designed to offer readers an introduction to the range of topics and approaches within the field, The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics is ideal for new students of applied linguistics and for researchers in the field.

This volume reports on innovative, useful evaluation work conducted within U.S. college foreign language programs. Each case is reported by program-internal educators, who walk readers through critical steps, from identifying evaluation uses, users, and questions, to designing methods, interpreting findings, and taking actions.

The perception of a permanent enrollment crisis in US postsecondary foreign language education has shaped our profession’s image for an entire generation of educators. Over the past 30 years, this crisis rarely invited self-examination or inspired creativity. Instead, it was routinely attributed to external factors: shrinking budgets, unsympathetic administrators, disengaged students. This volume is refreshingly optimistic: After providing a nuanced picture of the complex enrollment situation and focusing on perceptions of language education among undergraduate students, the volume features an inspiring panorama of successful models that revitalized language programs at a wide range of institutions. The diversity of approaches to post-secondary language education in the United States featured in this volume highlights that there are no simple “one size fits all” solutions. To be transformational, initiatives need to be intimately calibrated to the evolving needs and desires of our institutions’ most important stakeholder: the student. Per Urlaub, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA, USA

This volume is designed as a practical handbook that provides guidelines for teams of evaluators investigating a department or language program or individual teachers or language program directors seeking to better understand the content and context of their programs or courses. Although the volume focuses on postsecondary foreign language programs, readers who teach at the secondary levels will be able to easily adapt the guidelines and procedures to their own contexts. The book is divided into three parts: (1) Framing the Evaluation; (2) Asking the Right Questions; and (3) Reporting for Change.

This volume brings together original papers from language education scholars from around the world to explore, exemplify, and discuss the multiplicity of boundary crossing in language education. It emphasizes the potential of boundary crossing for expansive learning, and aims to generate new insights, through boundary crossing, into the complexity of language education and approaches to innovative practices. This volume also underscores the important role of expert boundary crossers. In particular, it aims to honor G. Richard Tucker, Paul Mellon University Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University, celebrating his distinguished scholarship on language education and paying tribute to the inspiration and mentorship he has given to the contributors of this volume to cross boundaries academically and professionally. This volume is organized into four sections, namely, language learning and development; teachers and instructional processes; program innovation, implementation, and evaluation; and language-in-education policy and planning. These sections or themes, which are necessarily cross-cutting, also represent the major areas of scholarship where Prof. Tucker has made distinguished contributions for over half a century.