EVALUATION

Group 9
Ismi Oktalia Syaputri
Nurhalisa Naser
Nursafiti H. Ahmad
What is Evaluation in ESP?
Evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose.
Evaluation is, then, concerned with relative merit. 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. The results of an evaluation will probably lead to a large investment of money in a
published course or a large investment of time in home produced or adapted materials. A
careful evaluation, then, can save a lot of expense and frustation. On the positive side, it can
also help in justifying request in sponsors or other members of an ESP team for money to buy
materials or time to write them.
There are many definitions of evaluation; fundamentally evaluation is asking
questions and acting on the responses. We accept the following: 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. Evaluation must be more than
collecting and analyzing data: to have value the evaluation process must include action.
Evaluation is usually described as formative or summative. Formative evaluation
which takes place during the lifetime of an activity and the findings help to shape the course
during its life-time. Formative evaluation is typically undertaken at intervals and will consist
of a series of “mini-evaluations”. Summative evaluation takes place at 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. Summative
evaluation is valuable for durable courses.
Evaluation can be both qualitative and quantitative. Tests and objective-question
questionnaires provide numbers and percentages for individual items. They provide answers
to what questions but cannot easily address the how or why. More qualitative methods such
as discussions and interviews cover a wider picture, but may be less comparable.
Evaluation can be very threatening; it suggests change and change is often resisted. At
the same time evaluation is very constructive and powerful activity and a very stimulating
one. There is the chance to focus on what has been going well and to ask what have been the
most significant contributing factors so that less successful aspects can be modified.
Evaluation can also show weaknesses or features that were just not suitable for the particular
group of learners. Evaluation should not be used only negatively to comment on problems. A
good evaluation emphasizes the success and discusses less successful aspects. It also
addresses the crucial how and why issues. Knowing how well something has worked is not
significant on its own. Understanding why will enable us to repeat success and avoid the less
successful. Evaluation in ESP situations is concerned with the effectiveness and efficiency of
learning; with achieving the objectives. To be an integral part of a course, evaluation has to
be built in as a part of the course design. To evaluate everything is impossible; priorities can
be set, the type and timing of data collection can be planned together with the resulting
actions. At different times evaluation might focus on the materials used, the classroom
activities, the out-of-class support, the course design, methodologies, and the role of
assessment, that is any aspect of the teaching-learning situation.
More precisely, evaluation Is perceived as an essential tool for assessing the
effectiveness and value of a foreign language Course (i.e., an ESP course) with the aim of
“enabling educators to understand, improve, and Ensure the quality” of its delivery and
outcomes (Watanabe et al., 2009, pp. 5–6).
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) divide the evaluation process into four stages including
defining criteria, subjective analysis, objective analysis, and matching.

Why evaluattion in ESP?

 ESP has developed in response to certain pressures.
 Developments in the theoretical bases of language teaching indicated a need to pay
more attention to the individual learner.
 The world of commerce and technology were producing host of people with specific
language learning needs at that time.
 A demand was generated as a result for courses which would equip particular learners
necessary skills to carry out particular tasks in English.

ESP is accountable teaching?

 Like any other language teaching course, ESP has requirements which are brought
sharply into focus by the fact that ESP has specified objectives.
 ESP learners and sponsors are investors in ESP course and they want to see a return
on their investment of time or money.
  The managers of the ESP course are accountable to these investors.
 This accountability has produced a demand for more and better evaluation procedures.

How do you evaluate materials?

Evaluation is basically a matching process: matc with hing needs to available
solutions. We can divide the evaluation process into four major steps (see figure 26) :
1. Defining criteria
2. Subjective analysis
3. Objective analysis
4. Matching

Levels of Evaluation
Two levels of evaluation have thus been brought into prominence:
A. Learner Assessment.
In any language course, there is a need to assess students’ performance at any strategic
point. i.e. at start or at end. Learner Assessment has great importance in ESP because
it deals with the ability to perform particular communicative tasks. The result of this
kind of evaluation enables sponsors, learners and teachers to decide whether and how
much tuition is required.
B. Course Evaluation Levels of Evaluation.
Evaluating ESP course helps to establish whether it is meeting its aims or not. Course
evaluation also plays a useful social role, by showing the various parties involved
(teachers, learners, sponsors etc.) that their views are important.
There are four aspects of ESP course evaluation to be considered:
 What should be evaluated?
 How can ESP courses be evaluated?
 Who should be involved in the evaluation?
 When (and how often) should evaluation take place?
These two forms of evaluation are not always distinct. Evaluation learner reflects not
just learners’ performance but to some extent the effectiveness otherwise of the course too.
Evaluation of the learners is unlikely to indicate exactly where a fault lies, but it will at least
indicate the existence of a fault somewhere. More price diagnostic evaluation can then be
used to trace the fault.
 In this sense, then, both course and learner evaluations have a similar function in
providing feedback on the ESP course. However, each type of evaluations also has other
purposes and procedures. Thus, while bearing in mind the similarity of role a feedback, we
shall consider those two kinds of evaluation separately.

Placement Tests

The aim of placement tests is to determine the learners’ state of knowledge before the
ESP begins. Placement tests are used to place the learners in the ESP course most suited to
student needs. If a learner is already proficient in the skills required, no further tuition is
required. The placement tests is diagnostic indicating how far and in what ways the learner
falls short of the proficiency level. A good placement test should reveal positive factors. It
should show not just what the learner lacks but also what potential for learning can be
exploited in ESP course.

Achievement tests
Achievement test is the least problematic, because it is usually internal to the course
and does not have to conform to external influences. It is should reflect the nature and content
of the course itself (Alderson and Hughes, 1981). This kind of test, usually ESP teacher is
most likely to have to construct. In constructing a good ESP achievement test you should
follow the basic principles as you would for constructing any test. For example:
a. Test what you can assume the learners have learn, but not necessarily the same as
what you have taught.
b. The test should test what you actually want to test.
c. Avoid bias in the test.