Design and evaluation of a language preparatory program at an English medium university in an EFL setting: A case study

The purpose of this study is to design and evaluate a Language Preparatory Program at an English medium university. A sample of eighty-eight student teachers and ten course instructors from Yeditepe University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language Teaching (ELT) participated in this study. The study consisted of two parts: a) program design and b) program evaluation. For the first part of the study, the quantitative data were obtained through a pre-needs analysis questionnaire, and the qualitative data were collected from a semi-structured interview related to the perceptions of the student teachers? language needs. As for the second part of the study, the quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from a needs analysis questionnaire about the student teachers? assumed learning needs, a post-needs analysis questionnaire on the student teachers? perceived language needs, semi-structured interviews, the pre- and post-proficiency exam scores of the preparatory student teachers, and the gain scores of the preparatory student teachers and the ones who directly started the undergraduate program. The findings of the study revealed significant implications with respect to the design and evaluation of a Language Preparatory Program.