Needs assessment of the organization and operations of the English as a foreign language department at Atatürk University

Abstract

CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The topic of this study was the needs assessment of the organization and operations of the English as a Foreign Language Department at Atatürk University. This study includes five chapters. The first chapter presented the statement of topic, purpose of the studv, methodology, limitations and plan of organization. In the second chapter professional literature was reviewed to provide background information for this study. In the third chapter the methodology of needs assessment was explained. Presentation and analysis of the data was offered in the fourth chapter. In conclusion, most of the students knew the benefits of learning English for their future and most of them thought they needed English to be successful in their vocations. However, it should be noted that there is an inconsistency between the goals of the department and the goals of the learners. Students want to use language for oral communication but the data shows data they are not aware of the close relationship between the skills. They rated speaking as the most, listening as the least important skill. They do not think learning grammar and translation will be sufficient for their future. Apart from the inconsistency between the goals, there are some other organizational and operational factors that form obstacles before the attainment of goals. 68 ':First, inadequate consideration has been given to organizational concerns. There is no systematic evaluation process to evaluate both personnel and instructional materials. Most of the classrooms are not liked by the students. There were not materials such as tape-recorders or video to increase student motivation. In addition, the facilities, equipment and materials of the department are very limited. Seventy-seven percent of the classrooms had fixed chairs. Ten students said that the students were very interested in group works but it is impossible to do group activities with fixed chairs. Another important resource is the textbook. Textbooks should be supported by some extra matrials that have been selected according to the interests of the learners. For fourth year students, a textbook and authentic materials related to their subject-areas can be used, but these materials should be selected and organized before the beginning of the academic year. As for the communication process, based on the analysis of data, it can be said that there is not any cooperative working relationships between the administrators and the teachers. Face to face communication can help to close the distance between the teachers and the administrators. Obviously the percentage of teachers who said that they had regular conferences with administrators was rather low. If the activities of the operations were in parallel with the goals, the students would be more motivated. Students of the EFL Department said they wanted to speak but 69they learned grammar and translation. So, it can be said that there is a gap between the goals of the students and the day- to-day functioning of the program. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Sufficient personnel should be available for all important tasks. The personnel should be properly prepared. 2. The organization should support staff development activities. 3. The instructional materials and equipment should be properly prepared. 4. The physical facilities should be adequate to achieve the goals of the organization. 5. Both vertical and horizontal communication patterns should be encouraged. 6. Instructional goals should be consistent with the course goals. 70