Evaluation of Intensive In-service English Teacher Training Programs
The present evaluation research was conducted to provide program decision makers with judgements about the intensive in-service teacher training (INSET) program"s worth or merits in relation to important criteria. It also purports to provide program staffs with useful information in improving their INSET programs. Setting boundaries and analyzing the context were followed by the procedure of identifying and selecting the evaluation questions and criteria. The overview of recent developments in English language teacher training provided the underlying principle for setting the criteria for evaluation. The criteria were used to describe the characteristics of a successful language teacher training program or implementation. They included features such as goals, curriculum, personnel, and support. Using the specified checklist, evaluation was carried out on the current intensive English language teacher training courses. Information on each area of the checklist was collected from available sources, analyzed and interpreted qualitatively as well as quantitatively. From the findings of the present evaluation study, some implications are drawn for making policies on INSET, for improving the teacher training programs under investigation, and for establishing and operating similar INSET programs.