SFL Curriculum Evaluation Studies

The first cycle of the SFL Curriculum Renewal project started in the year 2002, following the strategic planning in 2001; the first implementation took place during the 2003 – 2004 academic year at DBE. The DML’s first implementation took place in the 2004 – 2005 academic year and now the SFL curriculum is at the evaluation stage. At this stage, curriculum evaluation is needed in three areas: SFL, DBE and DML, which will take two years to finish. The following information is given to set a background for these studies and to make the parties involved become aware of the facts that brought this project as a need in the overall SFL curriculum.

The administration of the METU School of Foreign Languages (SFL) initiated a Curriculum Renewal Project in 2002 with the aim of evaluating the courses offered by the Department of Basic English (DBE) and the Department of Modern Languages (DML) and reviewing the curricula of both departments respectively in the light of the findings. The project was based on the principle that change is one of the most pertinent features of organizational life and any change in the environment needs to be reflected in the instruction being conducted in an educational institution. The many-faceted nature of the METU Curriculum Renewal Project has enabled:

• both DBE and DML to collaborate in their efforts to draw up specific course syllabi and the overall departmental curriculum,
• the SFL to identify its educational policy and define this policy in written form,
• the teachers in DBE and DML to share their expertise and experiences within the framework of the curriculum renewal cycle and thus bring forth innovation.