The present study evaluates the language improvement courses in the undergraduate curriculum of the Department of English Language Teaching (ELT) at Eastern Mediterranean University. The language improvement courses are: Oral Communication Skills I and II, Reading Skills I, II, and Advanced Reading Skills, Writing Skills I, II and Advanced Writing Skills, and English Grammar I and II. In this evaluation study, the adapted version of Bellon and Handler&rsquo / s (1982) curriculum evaluation model was employed. The participants of the study were six instructors teaching the language improvement courses and students enrolled in these courses. The data, both qualitative and quantitative, were collected through course evaluation questionnaires for students, interviews with students and teachers, classroom observations, and examination of relevant written documents such as course policy sheets, course materials, and assessment tools used in the courses. The results of the study show that generally the language improvement courses were effective in terms of five aspects specified in the evaluation model employed in the study, as perceived by the students and the instructors. However, the students and the instructors suggested making some changes to the existing language improvement courses to make them more effective and better adjusted to the students&rsquo / needs and expectations. Some important conclusions drawn and recommendations made were: Practice (i.e. practice and production) component in the language improvement courses should be enhanced, a wider variety of authentic materials should be used in the courses, various methods and activities should be utilized in teaching-learning process, and intra-subject and inter-subject relationships (i.e. continuity and coherence) between or among the courses need to be strengthened.

Foi estudada interdisciplinarmente a autoria coletiva, em ambiente informatizado na Web, de professores em formação (graduação e extensão) da língua inglesa como língua estrangeira. O estudo foi vinculado às linhas de pesquisa “Interfaces Digitais em Educação: Arte, Linguagem e Cognição”, do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Informática na Educação, da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, e ao grupo de estudos da interação dialógica e as tecnologias, do Laboratório de Estudos em Linguagem, Interação e Cognição, LELIC, com base em teorias da filosofia da linguagem de Mikhail Bakhtin. O EquiText, ferramenta de escrita colaborativa na Web e/ou ambiente virtual de aprendizagem, desenvolvido nesta universidade, proporcionou três experimentos: dois, na Instituição de Ensino Superior 1, IES 1, com estudantes voluntários da Licenciatura em Língua Inglesa; e um terceiro, na IES 2, com professores de inglês em serviço. Além do objetivo geral de verificar as possibilidades de autoria coletiva no EquiText, os objetivos específicos analisaram as relações dialógicas que os participantes da pesquisa estabeleceram: i) com o EquiText, em referência a manifestações procedurais-simbólicas; ii) entre si (com o outro), em referência a manifestações interacionais; e, iii) com o texto, em referência a manifestações na construção textual independente da proficiência na língua inglesa. Os pressupostos teóricos foram os conceitoschave: o enunciado, as relações dialógicas, o texto, conforme Bakhtin; e a presencialidade, conforme Axt. Os textos foram analisados em três planos: das ações nas relações dialógicas procedurais, interacionais e textuais. Os resultados apontam para as possibilidades de constituição de um autêntico espaço-tempo de produção de autoria coletiva, a partir da conjunção feliz de, pelo menos, duas condições: um espaço-tempo tecnológico de escrita colaborativa (o EquiText); um espaço-tempo pedagógico constituído pelos princípios da interação dialógica, simultanemente atualizável, nos três planos das manifestações procedurais, das interações entre os participantes, e das relações com o próprio texto colaborativo em construção. O plano da tese abarcou cinco seções: da apresentação (1); da língua inglesa, a língua inglesa escrita, e a língua inglesa e as tecnologias de informação e comunicação (2); da apresentação do autor principal, teoria de referência e conceitos básicos utilizados (3); da metodologia da pesquisa, procedimentos e análises (4); e das considerações finais (5). / On a web-based computerized environment collective authorship was interdisciplinarily researched on teachers who were studying (graduate or extension) English as a foreign language. This study was linked to research lines “Digital Interfaces in Education, Art, Language and Cognition” of Post Graduate Programme in Computer Science in Education of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, and to dialogical interaction and technologies group of studies at the Language, Interaction and Cognition Studies Laboratory, LELIC, based on Mikhail Bakhtin’s philosophy of language. EquiText, a tool for collaborative writing on the web and/or a virtual learning environment developed in this University, provided three experiments: two at the Institution of Higher Education 1, IES 1, with voluntary students from a Languages course – focus on the English language teaching; and a third one at IES 2 with English teachers. Besides the general objective to examine authorship using EquiText, specific objectives analysed dialogical relationships established by research participants: i) with EquiText, i.e., procedural-symbolic manifestations; ii) between themselves (with the other); and, iii) with the text, in textual construction independent from English language proficiency. The theoretical presuppositions were these key-concepts: statement, dialogical relationships, and text, as in Bakhtin (2000); and presentiality, as in Axt (2006). Texts were analysed in three dialogic action plans: procedural, interactional and textual. Results point out to possibilities of the establishment of a collective authorship space-time production due to a satisfying conjunction of at least two conditions: a collaborative writing technological spacetime (the EquiText); and a pedagogic space-time, reinforced by dialogic interaction principles, simultaneously refreshable by participants in relation to the collaborative text under construction, in three manifestation plans. They are: procedural, or the relations between the “I” and the technology; interactional, or the encounter of the “I” and the other; and textual, the “I” and the written text under collective production. The thesis plan comprises five chapters: the presentation (1); the English language, written, supported by technologies (2); the presentation of main author, key concepts used, and a construct to analyses (3); the methodology, procedures, and analyses (4); and, final considerations (5).

Since English has risen as the dominant language in the world, the demand for English language teachers has grown rapidly especially in the last three decades. Hence, English language teacher education has become an important concern in the Turkish national education system, which has forced the governments to implement a series of reforms. One of these was the Foreign Language Education (FLE) curriculum designed by the Higher Education Council (HEC), forwarded to all FLE departments in Turkish universities to be carried out starting from 1998-99. This curriculum was also used for pre-service English language teacher education in the Department of Foreign Language Education at Middle East Technical University (METU). However, a large scale evaluation study was not conducted on the effectiveness of the program or the competence of its graduates. This study primarily aimed at reaching the FLE graduates from 2002 to 2006 to investigate to what extent they perceive themselves competent as EFL teachers and to what extent they find the FLE program components successful in helping them gain these competencies. Besides, it also intended to reach the employers of FLE graduates to explore how competent these graduates are viewed and how successful METU FLE program is considered in serving its graduates gain teacher competencies. For this aim quantitative and qualitative data were collected through two graduate questionnaires, and graduate and elite employer interviews. The findings of the first graduate questionnaire revealed that the FLE graduates perceived themselves competent in most of HEC&rsquo / s competence areas, while the open-ended questionnaire items and interview data demonstrated a need for improvement for competencies of language knowledge, spoken use of English, classroom management, assessment and instruction. It was also seen in these two types of data that graduates&rsquo / perception of their strengths and weaknesses in HEC&rsquo / s foreign language teacher competencies and their need for developing other competencies depend on the level they teach, the type of school they work at and the length of experience they have. Similarly, some of the employers, according to the institution where they have elite positions, indicated a high level of satisfaction with the FLE graduates&rsquo / competence in language and subject knowledge, inclass and out-of class competencies, while some of them emphasized a need for improvement in competencies of language knowledge and use, and putting theory into practice. In addition, although the program was reported to have a strong and positive role on the development of professional competencies in the teacher candidates, it was also stated that the five components and some courses of the program need revisions in terms of their content, methodology of instruction and assessment. Moreover, the need for communication among the components of the program was also expressed, as the graduates mention unnecessary overlaps among some courses. In the light of these findings, some suggestions are made towards program improvement.

Foi estudada interdisciplinarmente a autoria coletiva, em ambiente informatizado na Web, de professores em formação (graduação e extensão) da língua inglesa como língua estrangeira. O estudo foi vinculado às linhas de pesquisa “Interfaces Digitais em Educação: Arte, Linguagem e Cognição”, do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Informática na Educação, da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, e ao grupo de estudos da interação dialógica e as tecnologias, do Laboratório de Estudos em Linguagem, Interação e Cognição, LELIC, com base em teorias da filosofia da linguagem de Mikhail Bakhtin. O EquiText, ferramenta de escrita colaborativa na Web e/ou ambiente virtual de aprendizagem, desenvolvido nesta universidade, proporcionou três experimentos: dois, na Instituição de Ensino Superior 1, IES 1, com estudantes voluntários da Licenciatura em Língua Inglesa; e um terceiro, na IES 2, com professores de inglês em serviço. Além do objetivo geral de verificar as possibilidades de autoria coletiva no EquiText, os objetivos específicos analisaram as relações dialógicas que os participantes da pesquisa estabeleceram: i) com o EquiText, em referência a manifestações procedurais-simbólicas; ii) entre si (com o outro), em referência a manifestações interacionais; e, iii) com o texto, em referência a manifestações na construção textual independente da proficiência na língua inglesa. Os pressupostos teóricos foram os conceitoschave: o enunciado, as relações dialógicas, o texto, conforme Bakhtin; e a presencialidade, conforme Axt. Os textos foram analisados em três planos: das ações nas relações dialógicas procedurais, interacionais e textuais. Os resultados apontam para as possibilidades de constituição de um autêntico espaço-tempo de produção de autoria coletiva, a partir da conjunção feliz de, pelo menos, duas condições: um espaço-tempo tecnológico de escrita colaborativa (o EquiText); um espaço-tempo pedagógico constituído pelos princípios da interação dialógica, simultanemente atualizável, nos três planos das manifestações procedurais, das interações entre os participantes, e das relações com o próprio texto colaborativo em construção. O plano da tese abarcou cinco seções: da apresentação (1); da língua inglesa, a língua inglesa escrita, e a língua inglesa e as tecnologias de informação e comunicação (2); da apresentação do autor principal, teoria de referência e conceitos básicos utilizados (3); da metodologia da pesquisa, procedimentos e análises (4); e das considerações finais (5). / On a web-based computerized environment collective authorship was interdisciplinarily researched on teachers who were studying (graduate or extension) English as a foreign language. This study was linked to research lines “Digital Interfaces in Education, Art, Language and Cognition” of Post Graduate Programme in Computer Science in Education of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, and to dialogical interaction and technologies group of studies at the Language, Interaction and Cognition Studies Laboratory, LELIC, based on Mikhail Bakhtin’s philosophy of language. EquiText, a tool for collaborative writing on the web and/or a virtual learning environment developed in this University, provided three experiments: two at the Institution of Higher Education 1, IES 1, with voluntary students from a Languages course – focus on the English language teaching; and a third one at IES 2 with English teachers. Besides the general objective to examine authorship using EquiText, specific objectives analysed dialogical relationships established by research participants: i) with EquiText, i.e., procedural-symbolic manifestations; ii) between themselves (with the other); and, iii) with the text, in textual construction independent from English language proficiency. The theoretical presuppositions were these key-concepts: statement, dialogical relationships, and text, as in Bakhtin (2000); and presentiality, as in Axt (2006). Texts were analysed in three dialogic action plans: procedural, interactional and textual. Results point out to possibilities of the establishment of a collective authorship space-time production due to a satisfying conjunction of at least two conditions: a collaborative writing technological spacetime (the EquiText); and a pedagogic space-time, reinforced by dialogic interaction principles, simultaneously refreshable by participants in relation to the collaborative text under construction, in three manifestation plans. They are: procedural, or the relations between the “I” and the technology; interactional, or the encounter of the “I” and the other; and textual, the “I” and the written text under collective production. The thesis plan comprises five chapters: the presentation (1); the English language, written, supported by technologies (2); the presentation of main author, key concepts used, and a construct to analyses (3); the methodology, procedures, and analyses (4); and, final considerations (5).

Foi estudada interdisciplinarmente a autoria coletiva, em ambiente informatizado na Web, de professores em formação (graduação e extensão) da língua inglesa como língua estrangeira. O estudo foi vinculado às linhas de pesquisa “Interfaces Digitais em Educação: Arte, Linguagem e Cognição”, do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Informática na Educação, da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, e ao grupo de estudos da interação dialógica e as tecnologias, do Laboratório de Estudos em Linguagem, Interação e Cognição, LELIC, com base em teorias da filosofia da linguagem de Mikhail Bakhtin. O EquiText, ferramenta de escrita colaborativa na Web e/ou ambiente virtual de aprendizagem, desenvolvido nesta universidade, proporcionou três experimentos: dois, na Instituição de Ensino Superior 1, IES 1, com estudantes voluntários da Licenciatura em Língua Inglesa; e um terceiro, na IES 2, com professores de inglês em serviço. Além do objetivo geral de verificar as possibilidades de autoria coletiva no EquiText, os objetivos específicos analisaram as relações dialógicas que os participantes da pesquisa estabeleceram: i) com o EquiText, em referência a manifestações procedurais-simbólicas; ii) entre si (com o outro), em referência a manifestações interacionais; e, iii) com o texto, em referência a manifestações na construção textual independente da proficiência na língua inglesa. Os pressupostos teóricos foram os conceitoschave: o enunciado, as relações dialógicas, o texto, conforme Bakhtin; e a presencialidade, conforme Axt. Os textos foram analisados em três planos: das ações nas relações dialógicas procedurais, interacionais e textuais. Os resultados apontam para as possibilidades de constituição de um autêntico espaço-tempo de produção de autoria coletiva, a partir da conjunção feliz de, pelo menos, duas condições: um espaço-tempo tecnológico de escrita colaborativa (o EquiText); um espaço-tempo pedagógico constituído pelos princípios da interação dialógica, simultanemente atualizável, nos três planos das manifestações procedurais, das interações entre os participantes, e das relações com o próprio texto colaborativo em construção. O plano da tese abarcou cinco seções: da apresentação (1); da língua inglesa, a língua inglesa escrita, e a língua inglesa e as tecnologias de informação e comunicação (2); da apresentação do autor principal, teoria de referência e conceitos básicos utilizados (3); da metodologia da pesquisa, procedimentos e análises (4); e das considerações finais (5). / On a web-based computerized environment collective authorship was interdisciplinarily researched on teachers who were studying (graduate or extension) English as a foreign language. This study was linked to research lines “Digital Interfaces in Education, Art, Language and Cognition” of Post Graduate Programme in Computer Science in Education of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, and to dialogical interaction and technologies group of studies at the Language, Interaction and Cognition Studies Laboratory, LELIC, based on Mikhail Bakhtin’s philosophy of language. EquiText, a tool for collaborative writing on the web and/or a virtual learning environment developed in this University, provided three experiments: two at the Institution of Higher Education 1, IES 1, with voluntary students from a Languages course – focus on the English language teaching; and a third one at IES 2 with English teachers. Besides the general objective to examine authorship using EquiText, specific objectives analysed dialogical relationships established by research participants: i) with EquiText, i.e., procedural-symbolic manifestations; ii) between themselves (with the other); and, iii) with the text, in textual construction independent from English language proficiency. The theoretical presuppositions were these key-concepts: statement, dialogical relationships, and text, as in Bakhtin (2000); and presentiality, as in Axt (2006). Texts were analysed in three dialogic action plans: procedural, interactional and textual. Results point out to possibilities of the establishment of a collective authorship space-time production due to a satisfying conjunction of at least two conditions: a collaborative writing technological spacetime (the EquiText); and a pedagogic space-time, reinforced by dialogic interaction principles, simultaneously refreshable by participants in relation to the collaborative text under construction, in three manifestation plans. They are: procedural, or the relations between the “I” and the technology; interactional, or the encounter of the “I” and the other; and textual, the “I” and the written text under collective production. The thesis plan comprises five chapters: the presentation (1); the English language, written, supported by technologies (2); the presentation of main author, key concepts used, and a construct to analyses (3); the methodology, procedures, and analyses (4); and, final considerations (5).