A SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH PROGRAM: A GROUNDED THEORY APPROACH

Inspired by the researchersʹ own experiences involving and teaching in junior high school English program in Iran, this study aims at evaluating the program. To fulfill the objectives, the study benefits from SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis to present an overall picture of the program. Twenty experienced teachers and members of educational groups involved in the program were selected based on purposive sampling who were supposed to be representative of the accessible population. They were interviewed and their views about the program were meticulously recorded. Using Grounded Theory approach, the data were codified in three phases of open, axial and selective coding. The codified data were the SWOT of the program that was presented in a number of Tables. The interpreted results were presented in some Graphs and Tables, too. The researchers concluded that the program more suffers from weaknesses and is threatened by several threats than it enjoys the strengths or takes advantage of the opportunities. To improve the program, the stakeholders and users of the program should take advantage of the strengths, compensate for weaknesses, avoid threats and tap on the opportunities. For this to be fulfilled, several strategies and solutions are available, a sample of which is presented at the end of the study.