ADFL Bulletin
25, no. 3 (Spring 1994): 57-64
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A Checklist for Self-Study for Departments of Foreign Languages and Literatures

Jeffrey K. Riegel

THIS checklist is a revision of an earlier version published in the ADFL Bulletin, volume 16, number 3, April 1985. That work in turn was based on a document developed for English departments by the ADE. I have retained many of the features and questions that pertain to departmental governance and resources, but I have significantly reorganized and rearranged the material to communicate a different set of priorities and concerns. In particular, I felt that the earlier checklist, having been adapted from one intended for English departments, gives too much weight to the teaching of literature at the expense of foreign language teaching. The earlier document is dated in that it makes no reference to proficiency standards and other methodologies that are now extremely influential in foreign language teaching and curricular design. I have therefore attempted to introduce changes reflecting more recent thinking on language pedagogy. In doing so I have greatly benefited from the ACTFL “Foreign Language Program Assessment Guide,” compiled by Vicki B. Galloway and Frank W. Medley, Jr., with a grant from the International Research and Studies Program of the United States Department of Education. I have included a number of their questions throughout this guide (I am especially indebted to them for the materials I include in the section on language proficiency). I recommend that department chairs consult the ACTFL guide and its bibliography (available through ERIC Clearinghouse); those wishing to evaluate in detail the design and effectiveness of their language programs should look especially closely at section 5, “Instruction.”

In revising the earlier checklist, I have attempted to retain its breadth and flexibility. Thus, what I have developed is intended for the evaluation of not only language programs but all the activities of foreign language departments. I have tried to produce a document that will be useful to departments with divergent structures and needs. Therefore, as in the previous checklist, there are necessarily whole sections many departments cannot use. And, like its predecessor, the present work is not intended as a substitute for the self-study reports some state colleges and universities require. It should, however, yield useful preparatory data on which to base such reports. I hope that, by promoting the accumulation of verifiable evidence on departments' effectiveness, this list will help departments prepare budget requests.

All checklists of this sort are limited in some way. Moreover, the structure of many foreign language departments, as well as their relation to other departments and to their institutions, may soon undergo drastic change, and the field of language pedagogy is developing rapidly and evolving new methodologies and standards for evaluation. For these reasons, I know that this list will itself require improvement and updating. My colleagues at the ADFL and I will be grateful for all comments and suggestions from users.

Checklist for Self-Study for Departments of Foreign Languages and Literatures

  1. Data on the community and institution
    1. The community
      1. What languages are spoken in your community? What is your community's attitude toward the study of foreign languages? Are there features of your community that influence its attitude toward the study of the languages your department teaches?
      2. Are there multinational corporations in your community? What is the extent and nature of the department's interaction with local business and cultural institutions? with local and state government agencies?
      3. Does the department offer courses or programs to meet needs expressed by local industries or agencies?
      4. Is there regular communication and contact with state high school programs? How much does your faculty know about the foreign language programs in local schools? Does the department sponsor or participate in programs or activities with local schools, colleges, and universities? with institutions in the surrounding region or abroad?
      5. Does the department sponsor conferences or other activities outside the traditional curriculum?
    2. The institution
      1. What is the primary mission of the institution? How do the aims of the department relate to the mission of the institution as a whole? to the role of the department in the college? to the needs and interests of the students?
      2. What are the attitudes of other departments toward foreign language departments? How do the aims of the department compare with the recognized (i.e., traditional) aims of language and literature departments? with the aims and activities of related departments in your institution and in competing institutions?
      3. How do the department's courses fit into the institution's general education requirements? Are there explicit foreign language requirements for entrance or for the bachelor's degree? Describe them.
      4. Does the department participate in joint programs of any sort? Are there joint appointments with other departments? Does the department encourage teaching courses jointly with members of other departments? Does it teach any courses for other departments? Are there mechanisms for establishing interdisciplinary courses or content-based language courses? How are these programs and courses evaluated?
      5. Does the department try to exert leadership in the college in general education, interdepartmental and interdisciplinary studies, or international programs and studies?
  2. Goals and priorities
    1. Goals
      1. What are the department's major short- and long-term aims? What does the department want to be recognized for in the next five years?
      2. Have the goals, nature, or functions of the department changed substantially in the last five years? If so, how and why? Does the department anticipate that they will change in the next five years? If so, how and why?
      3. Where are the aims of the department stated? How are they communicated to faculty members (especially new ones) and to students? How are they used in planning or decision making?
    2. Priorities
      1. In setting priorities, how does the department distinguish between undergraduate and graduate education; general and specialized education; conventional and continuing education? What role does the department give to service education?
      2. In setting goals for the undergraduate program, what priority does the department give to
        1. student ability to function in the language in actual communicative situations?
        2. student ability to behave appropriately in the cultures in which the language is used?
        3. individual students' needs and interests?
        4. student understanding of literature?
        5. student development of all four language skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading?
      3. At the graduate level, what priority does the department give to the above concerns as well as humanistic education, professional training, linguistic theory and language-learning theory, literary theory and the study of literature, language study for special purposes and in interdisciplinary contexts, and preparation for careers other than teaching?
    3. Overall departmental image
      1. How are published documents about the department prepared and funded?
      2. Are the documents consistent with one another?
      3. What assumptions about the aims of the department and institution do they express or project?
      4. Are students and faculty members asked to review the material periodically to ascertain its congruence with actual practice?

  3. Curriculum

    (Statistical information: list of programs offered, along with dates of inception and most recent revision; list of courses by topic and linguistic difficulty; graduate and undergraduate enrollments over the last ten years, with breakdown by specific levels and programs.)

    1. Planning
      1. How was the curriculum of the department developed? What are the principles underlying the undergraduate curriculum? the graduate curriculum?
      2. To what extent and how frequently are courses and course groupings reviewed ? How and on what basis are decisions made to add, drop, and modify courses? What institutional control exists over curricular changes?
      3. What courses or programs has the department introduced in the last five to seven years? Have they been successful?
      4. How has the department kept informed about national curricular trends? How has it responded to them?
      5. Is the structure of each program explicit in regard to the way courses combine to fulfill the department's aims and requirements on the undergraduate and graduate levels? What written materials do students receive to guide them?
      6. Who is responsible for reviewing each curriculum and for recommending changes? What campus mechanisms exist for reviewing and approving recommended departmental changes?
      7. Is there a regular review, internal or external, of each degree program? What have been the results of the most recent reviews?
      8. Has the curriculum changed substantially in recent years? How and why?
      9. Does the department use standardized tests to design and staff courses? How valid and reliable are they? Are the data thereby produced used to improve curricula or courses?
      10. Is a departmental alumni survey questionnaire used periodically to determine the effectiveness of courses and programs? How often? If so, summarize the results.
      11. What short- and long-range anecdotal evidence (e.g., conversations with students, exit interviews) does the department currently use?
      12. Do all courses offered generate sufficient enrollment to take place?
      13. Are students able to pursue areas of study other than literature within the language?
      14. How many times a week do elementary and intermediate classes meet? How many credit hours for each semester or quarter? Are there any laboratory hours? How many? Are they required or not?
    2. Course syllabi and outlines
      1. How are course syllabi prepared and to what extent are they followed in single-section courses? in multisection courses?
      2. What measures does the department take to establish uniform standards in multisection courses? Do sections share a syllabus?
      3. How are uniform standards met and improved content and teaching achieved in single-section courses?
      4. Are specific and measurable student performance objectives stated in syllabi?
      5. Are syllabi organized around concepts readily identifiable to students (e.g., grammar, period, genre)?
      6. How is the amount of work required of students determined?
      7. To what extent and how frequently are course outlines reviewed? By whom? How do instructors receive feedback?
    3. Articulation
      1. What is the rationale for the numbering of courses? for course sequencing? for requirements and prerequisites? Is it clear that courses are planned and offered as components of a larger program of study?
      2. How is the problem of overlapping course content handled?
      3. Do you state the levels of language proficiency expected of students at various course levels?
      4. Are courses offered to help students make the transition from the study of language to the study of the literature in the language?
      5. Is input from relevant faculty members and students solicited before and during the planning process?
    4. Placement
      1. Does the department use standardized tests to place or advise students? How valid and reliable are these measures? At what levels are they given? Did the department participate in their design or selection? Do they reflect the objectives of departmental course offerings?
      2. Do the placement exams measure performance in listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing?
      3. If advanced placement occurs, how is it handled? Placement into advanced courses? Courses waived? Credits given? Grades awarded for courses waived?
      4. Does the language department or the institution regularly communicate with high schools regarding placement criteria?
      5. What options does the department offer ill-prepared students? How are the instructors or tutors chosen? What is the difference between these courses and the regular sections?
      6. How is tutorial assistance provided? How is it funded?
    5. Enrollment
      1. What do enrollment rates and attrition indicate about the effectiveness of the department's programs and personnel at the lower-division, upper-division, and graduate levels? Do they suggest that there is appropriate articulation between language courses and other courses in the department?
      2. What are the attrition rates in various kinds of courses? How do they compare with the institutional attrition rate? What are the attrition rates among majors and graduate students? Do these rates seem a reasonable reflection of admission standards? Do they indicate problems with advising? What is their effect on the several missions of the department?
      3. To what extent are the department's funding and course offerings dependent on enrollments or other factors partially within the control of the department?
    6. Nondegree and other programs
      1. Does the department offer
        1. noncredit courses?
        2. interdisciplinary concentrations?
        3. weekend or evening classes?
        4. evening degree programs?
        5. continuing education courses?
        6. community-based courses or programs?
        7. radio and TV courses?
        8. correspondence or home study courses?
        9. teacher certification workshops or institutes?
      2. What are the rationales for these programs?
      3. What were their enrollments for the last three years?
      4. What sequences of courses are offered in these programs?
      5. What institutional or external financial support is received for them?
      6. What faculty resources are allocated to them? Are these courses assigned as a part of the normal faculty workload? If not, how are they counted and provided for?
  4. The faculty

    1. Characteristics
      (Statistical information: distribution of the faculty by age, rank, tenure status, sex, ethnic origin, native language, final degree, source of degrees, and specializations; number of part-time faculty [as well as number of students they teach and FTE's they generate]. Short curricula vitae are helpful.)

      1. What are the competencies of the instructional staff —their specialties, interests in other subjects, expertise in other areas, and so forth?
      2. How are faculty members distributed by fields of specialization? How well does this distribution meet departmental needs? What needs are unmet?
      3. What proportion of the faculty are outstanding teachers? highly productive or distinguished scholars? active participants in the profession nationally? Are faculty members sufficiently trained and experienced to teach the courses they are expected to teach?
      4. What is the most visible contribution of each faculty member?
      5. What is the nature and significance of each faculty member's publications? participation in professional associations and activities?
      6. Do research and professional service influence the department's courses and programs? If so, how?
      7. How many faculty members have been trained in either ACTFL-ETS or FSI oral proficiency testing techniques? How many regularly conduct linguistic or pedagogical research?
      8. What are the department's and the administration's policies concerning the use of temporary and part-time teachers? Does the department have other options?
      9. What do data reveal about affirmative action guidelines? What are the department's intentions regarding affirmative action and equal opportunity goals? What are the prospects for meeting these goals?
      10. Does the department anticipate large numbers of retirements at one time?
      11. What is the effect of the distribution by age and rank on leadership within the department and institution? How does this distribution affect departmental behavior and attitudes of the institution toward the department?

    2. Allocation of effort
      (Statistical information: teaching workloads, class sizes, advising and administrative assignments, and direction of independent study and theses.)

      1. On what basis are faculty members assigned courses, committee work, and administrative tasks? What departmental policies determine the assignment of “overload” and summer teaching? To what extent are teaching loads reduced for administrative assignments, research projects, or other purposes? What criteria are used in doing so?
      2. Are courses in beginning and intermediate language study coordinated or supervised by faculty members who have academic training related to second-language teaching and learning?
      3. How many department members sit on institutional committees ? Which committees? How are committee members selected? Are certain members of the department chosen too frequently for these duties?
      4. Is the overall load reasonable? Is there balance in assignments? If not, what steps are being taken to correct the situation (e.g., for those who teach elementary courses or for those who primarily teach graduate courses)?
      5. What do individual faculty members think about the workload and the way work is allocated?
      6. Do department members post and keep regular and sufficient office hours?
      7. Are assignments of hours and classes consistent with faculty members' requests as far as possible?
      8. How does the allocation of effort relate to the aims and functions of the department? What adjustments are needed?
    3. Recognition of faculty achievement
      1. What is the role of the department in determining promotion and tenure? What are the roles and responsibilities of the department chair? the dean? institutional committees? the central administration?
      2. What are the department's policies on promotion and tenure? What are the department's and institution's promotion and tenuring procedures? Where are the standards and procedures stated? Explain any changes in the department's policies, standards, and procedures made in recent years.
      3. What is the relative importance of teaching, scholarship, institutional service, and other factors in promotion and tenure decisions?
      4. What written or unwritten guidelines exist concerning the kinds of scholarly activity that will lead to promotion and tenure?
      5. What forms of reward and recognition are available other than salary, promotion, and tenure? Has the chair attempted to seek and obtain such rewards for members of the faculty?
      6. How does recognition of faculty achievement fit with the department's aims and functions?
    4. Faculty recruitment
      1. How are positions defined? Are long-range plans for new courses or programs reflected in the department's hiring practices?
      2. How are new faculty members recruited? Is the department autonomous in its procedures? To what extent do those procedures match departmental and institutional goals?
      3. Does the department recruit candidates trained in foreign universities? Why or why not?
      4. Is the department trying to be equally strong in all fields or outstanding in a few and adequate in others? Does the department attempt to replace departing faculty members with people from the same field, or are departmental needs reviewed in conjunction with each vacancy?
      5. How is the search process, including affirmative action efforts, conducted?
    5. Faculty development
      1. How is professional activity encouraged? What role does the chair play in encouraging it? Does the chair discuss plans for research and other professional service with faculty members? When resources are limited, how is support for professional travel and research distributed?
      2. Is there an institutionalized leave or sabbatical system? How have faculty members used their leaves or released time in the past five years? Are all faculty members encouraged to apply for leaves?
      3. How does the department encourage faculty members to retrain or to develop additional specialties?
      4. Is there a “mentoring” system to encourage junior faculty members to work with senior faculty members in the same field?
      5. How does the department or institution handle personal problems and crises that affect professional behavior or performance?
    6. Faculty salaries and incentives
      1. What has been the average annual rate of increase in faculty salaries for the last ten years? How do department salaries compare with those in other departments in the institution? with those of language departments at comparable institutions? Does the department award merit raises? Are any raises mandated?
      2. Do faculty members participate in departmental budgetary decisions concerning salaries and other items? If so, how? Who decides among competing demands for limited funds? Are faculty members free to consult the chair about their salaries? If they are not satisfied with the chair's decision, are they free to go to the dean?
      3. What support does the department receive for leaves, research, travel to professional meetings, faculty development, and substitute teachers? Is it adequate? Has the level of support changed in recent years? How have cuts been absorbed? How have increases been distributed? If support for these activities were increased or decreased substantially, what changes in allocation of funds would follow?
  5. Teaching
    1. Language proficiency
      1. Do faculty members use the target language in the classroom at Superior level, as measured by the ACTFL-ETS scale (“able to speak the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations on practical, social, and professional topics”)?
      2. Are faculty members willing to use the language with students outside the classroom?
      3. Are faculty members able to bring their understanding of cultural connotations of language to their instruction?
      4. Are graduate student teaching assistants employed in your language courses? How are they selected? How are they trained and supervised? Do you have a language practicum or other teaching methods course?
    2. Methods and approaches
      1. What teaching methods are used in the department? To what extent do they reflect departmental planning? Are there periodic evaluations by peers, department chairs, deans, and so forth?
      2. What support is offered (e.g., equipment, faculty development, on-campus workshops) to help faculty members strengthen their teaching and implement the design of their courses?
      3. Are opportunities for independent study available to students? If so, how is independent study supervised? How are faculty members assigned? What credit are supervisors given? How is the independent study program overseen?
      4. To what extent has the department become involved in computer-assisted instruction? Are the available hardware and software adequate?
    3. Quality of teaching
      1. What institutional data (e.g., statistical data on majors and minors, registration in electives, degrees conferred) does the department currently rely on to determine the effectiveness of its courses and programs?
      2. What ongoing self-evaluation procedures are in place?
      3. What formal procedures are used by students to evaluate courses and teachers?
      4. How are student complaints about instruction handled? Are there ways to remedy problems if the complaints are deemed valid?
      5. Does the department make regular attempts, through peer observation or other means, to assess teaching at all levels and ranks and to make the results available to the teachers in question?
      6. How is assessment information evaluated and by whom? Is it included in the instructor's file?
      7. To what extent do administrators and faculty members who teach multiple-section courses make available to teachers of other sections scholarly publications, research reports, and other information that might improve the content and teaching of courses?
      8. What do librarians, college advisers, admissions and recruiting staff, and faculty members and administrators from other departments say about the quality and effectiveness of the department?

  6. Students
    (Statistical information: areas of interest and degree of specialization and commitment as indicated by enrollments, broken down into lower-division, upper-division, and graduate categories, in language, linguistics, literature, and culture courses, in service and nontraditional courses, and in courses that do not count toward the major; retention rates within all courses and between courses; percentage of full-time, part-time, and nontraditional students. Profile of majors: SAT, achievement test, ACT, and GRE scores; GPA in major courses and in all courses [compare with GPA of nonmajors and of all students in the institution]; careers after graduation. Profile of graduate students: GRE, language test scores [if any], undergraduate history; number of teaching assistants and how supported; number of native and nonnative speakers; teaching experience as graduate students; opportunities for foreign travel and study; length of time to achieve MA and PhD; number who receive secondary school certification; placement of MAs and PhDs over past ten years.)

    1. Enrollments, recruitment, and retention
      1. What trends do these data reveal in overall enrollments in specific categories of courses, in majors, and in graduate programs? What do these data indicate about students' continuing or changing interests?
      2. How does the department recruit students for its programs and courses? How effective are its methods?
      3. Does the department control any financial aid? If so, how is such aid distributed? How does the department seek to increase such aid?
      4. Are teaching assistantships or research assistantships available for graduate students?
    2. Evaluation
      1. How are grading standards determined and maintained? How does the department attempt to keep grading uniform? If there is a problem with an individual instructor's grading, how is it handled?
      2. Is the grading system explained clearly and completely to the students?
      3. Is student oral proficiency evaluated?
      4. How broad and deep are comprehensive examinations for the major and for graduate degrees?
      5. How much emphasis is placed on the project, thesis, or dissertation? How is academic quality controlled?
    3. Participation in the life of the department
      1. What specific steps are taken to make students feel welcome in the department?
      2. Are students invited to business-related or social departmental meetings? Do students serve on department committees? Are students invited to help plan and participate in colloquia, institutes, and so forth?
      3. What student advice is sought when the curriculum is reviewed? when schedules are planned? when candidates for faculty positions are discussed?
      4. Are students used in recruitment efforts?
    4. Extracurricular activities
      1. What special programs, colloquia, clubs, and informal get-togethers fostering the use of the foreign language does the department sponsor or publicize? Who participates in these activities? What do students and alumni think of them?
      2. How does the department recognize students' accomplishments, especially in writing and research outside the classroom?
      3. To what degree do faculty members and students use target languages informally?
    5. Advising and support
      1. What aspects of advising are handled by the department? by the institution? What is the adviser-to-student ratio?
      2. How are advisers rewarded?
      3. If faculty members serve as advisers, how are they trained for the role and how is their work evaluated?
      4. Do experienced students participate in advising new students? How is this involvement handled, tracked, and evaluated?
      5. What kind of career counseling is offered?
      6. What special funds are there for prizes and other awards for outstanding students?
      7. Does the department maintain a fund for incidental expenses?
      8. Does the department seek endowments or other external financial support? How is this done? Is the process satisfactory? How are such funds used?
      9. Does the department receive adequate financial support to carry out its aims and functions? In what ways does it obtain support for innovative programs, recruiting, and social and educational functions?
    6. Extracurricular opportunities and education abroad
      1. Are opportunities available for internships or off-campus work-study programs? Under what conditions? At what locations? How are they publicized? What are the enrollments?
      2. Are there student exchanges or linkup programs with other United States institutions? Under what conditions? At what locations? How are they publicized? What are the enrollments?
      3. Are there opportunities for study abroad, including exchanges? Under what conditions? At what locations? How are they publicized? What are the enrollments? How are these programs administered or affiliated with your institution? How are the courses evaluated? What credit do students receive for participating in them? Is participation required?
  7. Operational activities
    1. Governance
      1. Does the department have a set of bylaws or guidelines for its organization and operation? If not, how is the department organized for the purposes of governance? If there are guidelines, are they regularly reviewed?
      2. How is the department chair chosen and what are his or her powers and responsibilities? Is this method satisfactory to a majority of the department? Is the chair evaluated periodically by the faculty? What procedures provide for a change in leadership?
      3. How are other departmental administrators (e.g., major advisers and directors of elementary language programs and graduate studies) chosen? Are these administrators evaluated periodically by the faculty? What procedures provide for a change in leadership?
      4. Which tasks and responsibilities does the chair ordinarily delegate to other administrators or to committees? To what extent is the chair regularly available to department members?
      5. In what ways do faculty members participate in decision making in the department? Does this level of involvement seem satisfactory to a majority of the department?
      6. How often are departmental meetings held? What are they used for (e.g., to disseminate information, present committee reports, explore issues, make major policy decisions)? Are these meetings considered successful by the department chair, the faculty, and the college administration? Does the faculty have sufficient opportunity to make its voice heard at meetings?
      7. What is the committee structure of the department? How is committee membership determined? What authority do committees have? Do committees have specific charges? To whom do they report? Is there any provision for rotating membership on committees?
    2. Collective bargaining
      1. If a collective bargaining agreement exists, how does it determine salaries and influence such activities as hiring and the evaluation of faculty members, workload, and administration? Who participates in the bargaining process?
      2. To what extent does collective bargaining contribute to the aims and functions of the department? To what extent does it pose difficulties?
  8. Resources
    1. Support services
      1. Are services and access to equipment and facilities distributed fairly and appropriately among the department's faculty members and programs?
      2. Is support provided for research and public service activities?
      3. Is security adequate?
      4. Is secretarial or clerical assistance adequate? Are office systems satisfactory (e.g., mail distribution, scheduling, record keeping)?
      5. Is the library adequate for the department's courses and programs? Does the library staff assist students and faculty members satisfactorily?
      6. Are language laboratory facilities (traditional, computer, or video) adequate for the department's courses and programs? How are they supervised? Does the department have an adequate voice in the administration of these facilities?
      7. Is there appropriate institutional or private bookstore support for the department's faculty members and students?
      8. Are support services available for weekend, summer, and evening activities?
      9. Are academic, career, and psychological counseling services provided by staff outside the department? Are they satisfactory? What kind of liaison is there between the department and these counselors?
    2. Equipment
      1. Do faculty members have access to word processors? computers? fax machines? duplicating machines? audiovisual equipment? typewriters? Do they have and make use of electronic mail?
      2. Do undergraduate and graduate students have access to any of the above-mentioned equipment and facilities?
      3. Are telephones allocated satisfactorily? What is the policy on long-distance calls?
      4. Is special language-teaching equipment available? Does the department have access to video equipment, computers for teaching, satellites, and the like, whether or not they belong exclusively to the department?
      5. Are sufficient funds available to keep library holdings, software, and other instructional materials current? Is growth in these areas possible?
    3. Physical facilities
      1. Is office space adequate and distributed fairly? Is the design (or arrangement) of the space satisfactory?
      2. Is classroom space adequate? Is the design (or arrangement) of the space satisfactory?
      3. Is sufficient access to physical facilities for institutional programs available during weekends, summers, and evenings?
      4. Do the physical facilities encourage students, faculty members, and staff to take pride in their environment and in the institution?

Work Cited

Galloway, Vicki B., and Frank W. Medley, Jr. “Foreign Language Program Assessment Guide.” Unpublished ms.

© 1994 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.

ADFL Bulletin 25, no. 3 (Spring 1994): 57-64

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