Designing and evaluating a faculty development program on english language needs: a mixed methods approach

Faculty development in higher education is a promising area of research, which requires further study in terms of present-day academics’ needs. Considering the necessity of English in academia, this study aimed to determine the academics’ language needs and to test the effectiveness of an academic development training designed based on the identified needs. Then, a multiphase mixed methods design was adopted to answer the aims. Accordingly, a needs analysis survey regarding the English language requirements of university faculties was conducted across 105 faculty members in Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, a Turkish state university. In addition, 35 out of the members completed an intensive three-week English conversation and academic writing program designed in accordance with the language needs of the academics. The changes between the pre-test and post-test scores for the academics were investigated, with a focus on the willingness to communicate in English, and perceived self-efficacies in English speaking and writing. Further, the academics’ opinions on the training program were collected with open-ended interview questions at the conclusion of the course. The needs analysis survey results indicated that the majority of academics believe their English is either at a beginner or elementary level, and that they require English to fulfil several academic purposes. The findings relating to the effectiveness of the training program showed significant differences in the academics’ pretest and post-test scores, in favor of the post-test scores, regarding willingness to communicate, and perceived self-efficacies in speaking and writing. The findings from the open-ended questions about the program confirmed the effectiveness of the course and highlighted the necessity to improve foreign language proficiency levels in university faculties through similar language training programs. In light of the findings, implications for the internalization of the higher education institutions are discussed at the end of the paper.