Use of Focus Groups to Improve a Professional Development Needs Assessment Survey for EFL Instructors
Fatoş Uğur Eskiçırak
Fatoş Uğur Eskiçırak, Ph.D, School of Foreign Languages, Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Manuscript received on February 28, 2017. | Revised Manuscript received on April 04, 2017. | Manuscript published on April 15, 2017. | PP: 16-20 | Volume-2 Issue-10, April 2017. | Retrieval Number: J01520421017
Open Access | Ethics and Policies | Cite
© The Authors. Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: This paper focuses on the process followed to further improve a needs assessment survey used for large-scale research which aimed to identify the perceived professional development needs, interests and preferences of EFL instructors working at the preparatory schools of universities. Focus group interviews were mainly used to collect qualitative data to generate new items and refine existing ones in the research instrument. The process of holding focus groups will be described in detail to inform other researchers considering using focus group interviews for the same purposes.
Keywords: Focus group, needs assessment survey, English as a Foreign Language instructors, survey development.