Evaluation of the English Language Teacher Education Program at the University of Sulaimani

This case study aimed at evaluating the undergraduate English language teacher education program at the University of Sulaimani. To this aim, the strong points and weaknesses of the program were identified as perceived by the students, alumni, and instructors. The participants’ suggestions were also obtained. Additionally, the study investigated whether the program meets the students’ needs or not. As a research design, Peacock’s (2009) model of program evaluation was used and through the student questionnaire, alumni questionnaire, instructor questionnaire, and instructor interviews the data were collected. Hundred and forty-six third and fourth year students, 50 alumni, 15 instructors responded to the questionnaires, and nine instructors participated in the interviews in the present study. The findings of the study showed that the undergraduate English language teacher education program at the University of Sulaimani had several strong points and weak points. The main strength of the program was that it prepared its students to become teachers by teaching them how to teach English and the skills of classroom management. However, the major weak points of the program were insufficient practical opportunities in the courses, unqualified instructors, and having some useless courses in the program. Moreover, the main suggestions that the participants proposed for the program’s improvement were to add more practical courses, to hire qualified teachers, to remove useless courses and to add more language improvement courses, specifically for the first year students before taking the academic courses. Overall, the results of the study showed that the program meets the students’ needs to some extent. The present study has some practical implications such as it may provide useful feedback to the English Department, and help them to make possible changes or revisions in the existing program. Also, some suggestions for further research can be made: to conduct interviews with students, alumni and the other stakeholders (program designers, decision makers, academicians in the field, and Council of Higher Education), and to add observation sessions. Keywords: Program evaluation, language teacher education, language teacher education programs, Peacock’s (2009) model of program evaluation.