Abstract:
This study was an attempt to evaluate the undergraduate TEFL program at
Farhangian University. The university specializes in educating prospective
teachers and the program is important since it is expected to equip the student
teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary for qualified teachers.
Hence, in this study, measures were taken to investigate the merits and
demerits of the implemented TEFL program and explore the domains in
which the program needs to be improved. The study assessed the program
from the perspectives of 220 student teachers, 32 teacher educators, and 12
heads of departments and experts including the university deans, deputies, and
research and teaching staff, through using three instruments, i.e.
questionnaires, interviews, and observations in a mixed methods design .The
findings indicated that the TEFL program did not address some educational
and administrative needs as the participants believed that they were not
enriched with the necessary skills, the practice of the learned theories,
problem solving, critical thinking, flexibility, and innovation. Furthermore,
this study demonstrated several theory- practice gaps in the curriculum.
Machine summary:
"Table 3 Participants’ perceptions of their needs Needs Frequency Practice and enhance teaching skills 63 Have courses to improve students‟ reflection and critical thinking 76 Improve language proficiency 48 Relate courses to their field 37 Develop materials 38 Learn target language culture and intercultural communication 52 skills Train teachers 88 Promote flexibility in using different teaching approaches for 71 different students Develop criteria for teacher selection and student admission 64 Scholars who conducted evaluation studies (e.
Heads of Department, as mentioned by different scholars, should be able to recognize when the group requires direction (Murphy, 1992), to interact with the group effectively and to guide them to the accomplishment of the task (Green, 1996), to identify factors that are associated with student learning outcomes (Angus, 1993), and as Hammond (2000) mentioned, to use departmental meetings as opportunities for professional development, and use their meetings and publications to selectively introduce new ideas about the subject and the way it is taught, to monitor the quality of classroom provision through observation, to sample students‟ work with feedback to staff, and to manage workload and deploy resources effectively."