港大中文學院

School of Chinese Scholar Workshop

Which Design?

An Interactive Workshop on Language Program Evaluation

Abstract:

Language programs are constantly changing, and a well-crafted evaluation can help ensure they remain effective, resilient and worthwhile. In this interactive workshop, we explore four major designs of program evaluation and discuss which may be the most suitable to your own situation. Is your language program beholden to a set of established standards, for example, or is it intended to serve the needs of a particular ethnic community? What is the role of technology? How much should aspects of social justice be taken into account? After we weave through questions, our focus turns to practical considerations of data collection, results interpretation, and the uptake of recommendation. The workshop concludes with suggestions for further research. 

About the Speaker:

Paul GRUBA is Associate Professor (Honorary) of the School of Languages and Linguistics, the University of Melbourne, Australia. Initially trained as a journalist, he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali (1983-85) before working as an English teacher in rural Japan for several years. He earned a MA(TESOL) from the University of California, Los Angeles with a focus on language assessment. After graduation, he developed language tests at Kanda University of International Studies, Japan. While at the University of Melbourne, Paul had a range of academic interests including language assessment, second language listening, educational technology, and language program evaluation. He is author on How to Write a Better Thesis (Springer, 2014, co-author with David Evans & Justin Zobel), Sustainability of Blended Language Learning Programs: Technology Integration in English for Academic Purposes (Routledge, 2022, co-author with Cynthia Nicholas Palikat) and Designs for Language Program Evaluation (Springer, 2024).