Evaluating the English for General Purposes (EGP) program at a Taiwanese University: A CIPP (context, input, process, and product) model study

English has been the only compulsory foreign language taught in colleges in Taiwan since 2005. It was referred to as 'English for General Purposes (EGP)' and was taught not only for students' further major-related studies, but also for future job competitiveness. With the implementation of 'The Program on Bilingual Education for Students in College (BEST)' in the second half of 2021, the importance of English has been further strengthened, which has intensified the missions carried by EGP. Consequently, the subject needed to be examined for potential ingrained problems and ways to improve it. The present study collected and analyzed the perspectives of 470 non-English major students at a university in Taiwan on the EGP curriculum, using four factors (context, input, process, and product, or CIPP) as well as gender, grade level, and language proficiency as variables. The results showed that students generally reacted positively to the current EGP curriculum, especially with respect to the process factor. Gender had a significant effect on perceptions, but there were no differences in perceptions based on students' English proficiency levels and grade levels. It is suggested that EGP curriculum designers should consider these differences in their future development of EGP courses.