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The following is a list of needs assessment procedures that will be used to design a curriculum for the Universal English School in Oudong, Cambodia. This is an "in-development" list that is expected to include more on-site assessment methods.
Online Teacher Self-Assessments (TSA)
Participants
A sample of Udong English School (UES) native Khmer-speaking English language instructors from UES Campus-1 and UES Campus-2 will be chosen to participate. Though a range of experience (years of teaching and education, L2 proficiency) is preferred (or expected) when representing this sample, pre-pilot observation research conducted in January 2017 suggests that such parameters are not salient given the social and environmental context of the learning environments.
Materials
Approximately forty-questions will be administered online through the survey engine Qualtrics® and developed within the academic aegis of Michigan State University's MA TESOL program. The majority of questions are based on a five- and six-point Likert scale. Three short-response prompts will conclude the TSA. All questions and prompts will be presented in Khmer. Respondents are expected to have access to either a computer or smart device in order to participate.
Procedure
Response data will be collected and analyzed with particular attention given to instructor needs, professional expectations, and opinions relative to curricular direction. Student volunteers—native Cambodians and current MSU undergraduates—will assist in the English-to-Khmer (pre-administration) and Khmer-to-English (post-administration) translation process.
Student Self-Assessments (SSA)
Participants
A yet-to-be determined sample size of students from Campus-1 and Campus-2 will be administered the study’s materials. The age-range of the interview subjects will average those that fall within the upper-secondary school levels; otherwise, factors such as L2 proficiency, gender, and ethnicity (non-ethnic Khmer) will be identified but account as random attributes. A non-school affiliated adult interlocutor/assistant will be present during the pilot study research procedures or alternatively conduct them.
Materials
Interview instruments for students used in this study are: (a) a semi-structured interview, and (b) a needs analysis questionnaire. The interview questions are adapted from Shawer (2009) (providing a means to corroborate instructor efforts) and Nation & Macalister (2010) (in order to assess needs related to text familiarity and L2 skills); the needs analysis questionnaire is adapted from Gravatt, Richards, and Lewis (1997) (to identify language needs in the areas of speaking/listening and reading/writing). Additionally, all questionnaires will be produced with a Khmer translation.
Procedure
Interview data will be recorded with an audio recording device. Students will be interviewed individually. Subsequently, transcriptions of the interviews (all or a sampling—dependent upon the quality and intelligibility of the L2 responses) will be made. The needs analysis questionnaire data will be administered following the student interviews and collected upon completion. Estimated completion time for each task = 30 minutes.
View project progress
The following is a list of needs assessment procedures that will be used to design a curriculum for the Universal English School in Oudong, Cambodia. This is an "in-development" list that is expected to include more on-site assessment methods.
January–May, 2017
Online Teacher Self-Assessments (TSA)
Participants
A sample of Udong English School (UES) native Khmer-speaking English language instructors from UES Campus-1 and UES Campus-2 will be chosen to participate. Though a range of experience (years of teaching and education, L2 proficiency) is preferred (or expected) when representing this sample, pre-pilot observation research conducted in January 2017 suggests that such parameters are not salient given the social and environmental context of the learning environments.
Materials
Approximately forty-questions will be administered online through the survey engine Qualtrics® and developed within the academic aegis of Michigan State University's MA TESOL program. The majority of questions are based on a five- and six-point Likert scale. Three short-response prompts will conclude the TSA. All questions and prompts will be presented in Khmer. Respondents are expected to have access to either a computer or smart device in order to participate.
Procedure
Response data will be collected and analyzed with particular attention given to instructor needs, professional expectations, and opinions relative to curricular direction. Student volunteers—native Cambodians and current MSU undergraduates—will assist in the English-to-Khmer (pre-administration) and Khmer-to-English (post-administration) translation process.
May–June, 2017
Student Self-Assessments (SSA)
Participants
A yet-to-be determined sample size of students from Campus-1 and Campus-2 will be administered the study’s materials. The age-range of the interview subjects will average those that fall within the upper-secondary school levels; otherwise, factors such as L2 proficiency, gender, and ethnicity (non-ethnic Khmer) will be identified but account as random attributes. A non-school affiliated adult interlocutor/assistant will be present during the pilot study research procedures or alternatively conduct them.
Materials
Interview instruments for students used in this study are: (a) a semi-structured interview, and (b) a needs analysis questionnaire. The interview questions are adapted from Shawer (2009) (providing a means to corroborate instructor efforts) and Nation & Macalister (2010) (in order to assess needs related to text familiarity and L2 skills); the needs analysis questionnaire is adapted from Gravatt, Richards, and Lewis (1997) (to identify language needs in the areas of speaking/listening and reading/writing). Additionally, all questionnaires will be produced with a Khmer translation.
Procedure
Interview data will be recorded with an audio recording device. Students will be interviewed individually. Subsequently, transcriptions of the interviews (all or a sampling—dependent upon the quality and intelligibility of the L2 responses) will be made. The needs analysis questionnaire data will be administered following the student interviews and collected upon completion. Estimated completion time for each task = 30 minutes.
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