An evaluation of M.A. programs in English language education from students' and graduates' perspectives: Turkish context

The aim of this descriptive study, which employed a convergent parallel design and a mixed-methods approach, was three-fold: First of all, it aimed (1) to evaluate the perspectives of students and graduates on the Master of Art (M.A.) programs in English Language Education in the Turkish context. Program evaluation was investigated with respect to the program description, departmental support, the atmosphere in the department, program instruction-evaluation methods, classroom management-cooperation skills, program resources, program content, and overall evaluation. The second aim was (2) to investigate the students' and graduates' purposes and motivations for pursuing an M.A. degree and their overall satisfaction with the program they are enrolled in or graduated from. The third aim was (3) to investigate whether master's students and graduates' M.A. program evaluations vary according to their gender, years of teaching experience, and undergraduate academic achievement. To this end, sixty-nine participants (thirty-eight current students and thirty-one graduates of M.A. programs in Turkey) from 23 different M.A. programs participated in this study. Quantitative data came from an adapted Likert-scale questionnaire whereas qualitative data came from open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study illustrated that the participants pursue their graduate studies mostly to become a researcher in an academic setting in terms of professional career choice. The study also revealed that according to participants, personal intellectual enrichment was the most important influential determinant to starting an M.A. study. More specifically, although findings did not yield any statistically significant difference across gender, years of teaching experience, or undergraduate academic achievement, the study revealed that female participants, experienced teachers, and mid-achievers had higher evaluation mean scores in terms of evaluating the M.A. programs. For the improvement of the M.A. programs, the participants overall suggested increasing the number of elective courses, avoiding repetition of B.A. courses, and providing adequate feedback. The results of this study are considered to be a guide for program developers, M.A. faculty members, and M.A. candidates. Keywords: English language education, Program evaluation, Master's program evaluation, Satisfaction