| Summary: | Self-access centres (SACs) have been established in most of the eight public universities in Hong Kong since the mid-1990s and have evolved in the services they offer, which include; institutional support, language advisery service, workshops, language learning activities and online resources. To date, top management is narrowly defining the success of these programmes by using incomplete data that focuses on frequency of visits as a measure of the
efficient use of resources (human resources and facilities). However, they seldom evaluate effectiveness as enhancement of learning nor is consideration given to what the end user (students) and service provider (human and non-human support) deem as effective. Morrison (2011) provides two reasons for developing a framework for evaluation of SALL which is used in this research. Firstly, it is central to the development of SALL as much literature mentions SACs and
their future development. Secondly, to demonstrable accountability from a more summative perspective that funding bodies often require. This paper presents a case study that examines the effectiveness and efficiency of a self-access centre within a university in Hong Kong. This study addresses the problem by collecting data from learners, tutors and management in order to have a holistic view of the effectiveness of the support services. The outcome of the study showed that a wider
perspective for senior managers and insights for evaluation of the support services is vital to making key decisions in context.
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