ELT teacher views on the appropriateness for teacher development of end of semester student evaluation of teaching in a Japanese context

While the use of student performed evaluation of teaching is a topic of considerable debate, little has been written in a Japanese context. Sixteen English language teachers who work either part time, under a limited term contract, or have tenure in Japanese universities commented on a summary of common questions which had been collected from 50 different forms used in end of semester evaluation of teaching surveys (SETs) to see if communicative language teaching approaches are represented through the explicit assumptions of a teaching method in the evaluation tool. Findings suggest that even if the evaluation is intended for formative development, many teachers do not gain any new knowledge as they question both the value of the information received and the overall content validity of evaluations as they are cross-curricular and used in all courses. Evaluation should draw distinction between prescriptive, acontextual, summative evaluation and collaborative approaches that show the richness and diversity of teaching while giving learners as well as ELT teachers more voice.