HOLI I B R A H I M H O L I A L I ALI PhD, SFHEA

This study seeks to contribute to the incipient pool of research on graduate attributes (GAs) by reporting on a study of the GAs of Omani English language teacher (ELT) education programs and the role being played in this area by the Oman Authority for Academic Accreditation and Quality Assurance of Education (OAAAQA), formerly known as Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA). The study was qualitative and examined stakeholders’ perspectives and aspirations concerning the graduate attributes used in English language teacher education programs in Oman during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The data for the study was generated by (1) reviewing the pertinent literature, including OAAA’s documents and reports, and (2) interviewing online seven experts and practitioners from ELT programs in Oman. The findings reveal that the participants have diverse views of the GAs. Additionally, higher education institutions (or HEIs) encountered several common challenges with the mapping, actua...

This exploratory study is set to investigate Sudanese translation practitioners' perceptions about language-related challenges encountered when translating legal contracts. It attempts to explore those practitioners' perceptions and views about these difficulties in the Gulf context, specifically in Oman and the UAE, and compare them with related findings from empirical literature. The significance of the present study stems from the fact that the results may help legal translation practitioners to improve their practices. To achieve the study objectives a questionnaire was designed and distributed to thirty-three Sudanese translation practitioners to collect data. Additionally, relevant literature was reviewed to pinpoint the gaps in this area and support information stemming from the questionnaire. The findings show that translation practitioners' perceptions about legal contracts translation challenges are consistent with findings in the empirical literature. The study specifically shows that the most apparent challenges are: language-related challenges, followed by style-related challenges, culture-specific challenges, and culture-specific challenges, respectively. The study also concluded with some key relevant recommendations: First, legal contracts should be translated by well-trained and certified translators. Second, workshops and training on legal translation should be conducted periodically and training should be one of the requirements for practising and joining legal translation industry. Moreover, translators of legal contracts should be accredited individually and that should be conducted by experts and specialized bodies.

This paper examines English language and business faculty's awareness about plagiarism detection technology. The study strives to achieve the following objectives: To provide English language teachers and practitioners with a better understanding of the issues of plagiarism technology and to raise their awareness about plagiarism detection technology, and to inform current debates about its usefulness. Moreover, it attempts to find out how familiar English language teachers are with plagiarism detection software and to identify the type(s) of plagiarism software is commonly used by English and business teachers. Additionally, it tries to assess to what extent the plagiarism detection software used by the teachers curb plagiarism practices among students. Finally, it attempts to evaluate the teachers’ perceptions of the usefulness of the originality reports to their students. A questionnaire was given to 40 teachers to collect their responses about plagiarism technology. The findings revealed that the vast majority of teachers are aware of Turnitin and Safeassign. The great majority of teachers believed that plagiarism software has curbed plagiarism practices among their students. Additionally, they assumed that the originality report has been useful for their students and it has helped them understand plagiarism in a better way. The study findings, pedagogical implications and the offered recommendations were presented.

This is an exploratory descriptive study which is primarily intended to investigate Sudanese translation practitioners' perceptions and views about difficulties, problems and challenges that they encountered when translating legal contracts between English and Arabic. It attempts to investigate and explore those practitioners' perceptions and views about these difficulties in the Gulf context, more specifically in Oman and the UAE and compare them with related findings from empirical literature. To achieve the study objectives, quantitative methodology was used to collect data and interpret the outcomes. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to (33) Sudanese translation practitioners. Questionnaire's validity and reliability were tested and established via a pilot study. Additionally, relevant literature was reviewed to pinpoint the gaps in this area and support the main tool of data collection which is questionnaire. The findings showed that translation practitio...

This study explores how Omani engineering students utilised coping strategies whereby they negotiated the challenges inherent in studying through the medium of English (EMI) both the students and their teachers utilised several coping strategies to overcome EMI-related problems and difficulties. A qualitative research design with a semi-structured interview with twelve engineering students as the main method of data generation. The interview data were coded thematically and analysed inductively. Key theories were chosen to inform the study design and help in interpreting and understanding the study data. The study seeks to answer the following question: How did Omani engineering students respond to EMI challenges? The data analysis and interpretation are presented according to the emergent themes and a priori themes. The identification of themes offers insights into understanding Omani students’ learning experiences through the medium of English and presenting the participants’ stor...

Higher education institutions (HEIs), across the globe, have been increasingly applying staff performance appraisals (PA) to ensure good quality educational outcomes, and to meet the requirements of national and international quality assurance and academic accreditation organizations. Staff at the forefront of PA since they are affected either positively or negatively by the outcome of the process. PA models and the way the process is conducted have long been a controversial issue among both academics and administrators in HEIs. The core of the debate is that PA models and their implementations may not always be sufficiently comprehensive, transparent, and fair enough to accurately and realistically reflect staff performance. Focusing on English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in an Omani private university, the present study is aimed to investigate EFL teachers’ views and perceptions about PA and the implementation practices with a view of providing some recommendations that could help improve the process. Most previous relevant studies in the literature seem to have addressed PA from a theoretical perspective, and there seems to be a lack of empirical studies. In contrast, the present study attempted to explore the issue more empirically, and to this end, the study adopted an exploratory qualitative research methodology with semi-structured interviews being the main method of data collection.Ten EFL teachers took part in the investigation through face-to-face tape-recorded interviews. Results indicated dissatisfaction with the PA system and its implementation, suggesting a number of deficiencies. Participants also questioned the validity of the prime role given to students in the evaluation of teachers in the PA process as well as the lack of effective criteria and transparency in the choice of peer appraisers. Moreover, the lack of communication and training of both appraisers and appraisees were among the major issues reported by the participants. Implications for PA practices improvement and advancement were presented and discussed.

This qualitative evaluative study is based on semi-structured interviews with two Sudanese professor supervisors and three Ph.D. candidates who have recently completed their Ph.D. study in linguistics and English language-related studies at the Graduate College, University of Khartoum, Sudan. The study explored and evaluated the problems and challenges Ph.D. candidates encountered during their candidature from the perspectives of both supervisors and candidates themselves: How do these challenges impact on their study? How do they cope with these challenges? How can these challenges be overcome? The study provided new insights into doctoral education in Sudan, specifically in the University of Khartoum. The study adopted a qualitative methodology with semi-structured face-to-face interviews being the principal method of data collection along with the collection of some institutional documents, some of which are being used during interviews in a discourse-based format. Five tape-recorded interviews were conducted with both candidates and supervisors. Interview data were coded and analyzed inductively. Results of data analysis revealed that there were many problems and challenges doctoral students experienced throughout their Ph.D. candidature, such as supervision-related challenges, resources-related and organizational challenges. In addition, there were a number of strategies candidates reportedly used to deal with these challenges and both candidates and supervisors reportedly held varied perceptions about what makes a good quality Ph.D.. The study recommendations, implications along with its limitations and suggestions for further research were presented and discussed.

Using English to teach and learn academic subjects in higher education (HE) across the globe is increasing in popularity. The overarching aim of this study is to examine the impact of English-medium instruction (EMI) on Omani engineering students’ academic performance and their studies in an English-medium engineering programme in Oman. This paper reports on findings from a larger project that was intended to investigate Omani engineering students’ experience of learning through the medium of English in one of the Colleges of Technology in Oman. The study adopted a qualitative interpretative approach with a case study strategy and a purposive sampling technique to look into the impact of EMI on Omani engineering students’ academic performance and their studies. The sample included 12 Omani engineering and 8 engineering instructors who were interviewed along with five classroom observations. The data were collected and generated through semi-structured interviews and classroom observ...

This paper attempts to investigate English teachers’ perceptions about the importance of writing for publication in English, and the challenges that they encounter. The subjects were 30 teachers from 3 departments in a public college in Oman. The instrument was a 3-question survey on difficulties and challenges in writing for publication in English faced by the tutors. The respondents’ answers were analysed and classified. The results revealed two types of challenges identified initially: discursive (language-related) and non-discursive (non-language-related) challenges. A third challenge which has been termed others was discovered. The findings also highlighted the importance of the growing popularity of research activity by non-native English speakers in the non-English speaking countries. The study also suggested the key role higher education institutes should play in boosting research contributions by academic staff and curbing the problems of publishing in the English Language ...

This paper attempts to investigate and evaluate students' and faculty's experiences and understanding to the strengths and limitations of anti-plagiarism software, specifically, Turnitin and how it could best be used to promote academic integrity among their students. 50 engineering students and 20 professors were surveyed and interviewed. The paper argues that although Turnitin is widely used these days to tackle and minimize plagiarism practices, however cyber-plagiarism is increasing and the software might be inadequate in fighting such practice. The paper also questions the effectiveness and limitations of the software in relation to current practices. The findings revealed that most of the respondents perceive Turnitin positively; but the majority of the students believed that they found difficulty in understanding Turnitin originality report. Further, instructors asserted that the limitations of the software are not many and they reported that the software is effective...

This current study based on a PhD study conducted by the researcher in 2018. The findings reported in this study were obtained from the analysis of interviews. The suggestions of engineering students and their English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and engineering teachers to overcome the challenges presented by studying through the medium of English will be presented and analysed. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. The research methodology employed in this study is qualitative by using methods such as semi-structured interviews. Several issues and suggestions were identified from the data set, and several themes emerged from the analysis, namely: the need to reform the school system; the need to review and restructure foundation and post-foundation programmes; the need for more strongly emphasised oral communication courses; the importance of hiring engineering teachers with high language proficiency levels; and the need to establish cooperation mechanisms between language teachers and engineering tutors, as well as to embed critical-thinking skills in English language syllabi. Both teachers and students thought the EMI issues should be considered during the foundation and post-foundation stages where students were expected to be well prepared for their speciality in terms of language proficiency and other skills.

This paper considers the views and perceptions of Omani engineering students in relation to their lecture comprehension difficulties in an English-medium Engineering programme. It also investigates the students’ coping strategies utilised concerning these lecture comprehension challenges. A qualitative research design was employed to collect data through semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 engineering students. The interview data were coded thematically and analysed inductively. The study attempts to address the following key questions: what lecture comprehension difficulties did these Engineering students encounter in the context of engineering taught through the medium of English? What were the coping strategies used by them to handle those challenges? The results indicate that students, and their teachers, faced a range of challenges and difficulties and that numerous coping strategies were utilised to complete their Engineering studies.

The study is aimed to investigate and shed light on some of the challenges encountered by local interpreters and language assistants working for UN peacekeeping missions, operating in conflict zones, namely in Darfur region, western Sudan. The study addresses the following research questions: what are the linguistic, social-cultural, mistrust and communication-related barriers that are encountered by interpreters and language assistants in conflict zones, how do they cope with these challenges, and what could be done to train them to handle such challenges and difficulties. The study adopted a qualitative methodology with semi-structured interviews being the main method of data collection. Twenty participants agreed to voluntarily take part in the investigation by allowing face-to-face interviews. Interview data was transcribed, coded and analyzed thematically. The results of data analysis showed that participants faced a range of challenges that negatively affected their job. They reported difficulties understanding and dealing with some social and cultural issues specific to the region. They also reported some serious life-threatening incidents ranging from physical and verbal attacks. For example, interpreters encountered hostilities from their fellow citizens accusing them of siding with enemy parties involved in the conflicts. Additionally, communication barriers were reported by participants as being the most salient challenge they experienced even when they interpreted accurately, as they would still encounter communication breakdowns caused by the inherent differences in the indigenous languages and varieties in addition to some cultural barriers. The paper offers some insights and implications for the conflict zones' interpreters' training and professional development. 1. Introduction There is a paucity in studies addressing the issues of interpreting in conflict zones. Baker (2010) highlights the infancy of the research in this area calling for more research to be conducted. Indeed, interpreting in conflict zones is an under-researched area, and to the best of our knowledge, there have been no studies on this topic in the region in general and in Sudan in particular. Interpreting in the conflict zones is a complicated and multi-faceted task involving a range of risks, challenges and difficulties. Interpreters often encounter difficult situations where they need a range of skills and specific training to deal with such situations. For example, remaining impartial is the most difficult barrier that an interpreter operating in conflict zones would face. Locally recruited interpreters are the key figures in conflict zones as they also function as cultural informants through giving advice on how to behave in certain situations, especially when religion and other sensitive cultural issues are involved in the interpreting process. Interpreters and translators working in conflict and war zones and very sensitive areas usually experience a number of risks and serious life-threatening incidents while going about their job. For example, they encounter hostilities from their fellow citizens amounting to fatalities in some extreme cases due to the job they handle. Being an interpreter or translator requires many professional, ethical and communication skills. One of the main tasks of the interpreter is to create new spaces for interaction between the two parties, whose languages and cultures are totally different, arrange meetings and offer linguistic mediation and assistance. These skills, tasks and requirements seem particularly indispensable for interpreters operating in war and conflict zones. Focusing on the Sundanese Darfur region, the overarching aim of this study is to investigate the challenges and barriers encountered by interpreters and language assistants operating in the conflict and war zones. Given the scarcity of research in this area and the lack of and need for specific training for interpreters operating in conflict zones, the study attempts to provide insights and implications that could inform the design, development and delivery of training programmes for conflict zone interpreters and language mediators.

The history of English Language Teaching (ELT) has shown that this fast growing field is facing unprecedented challenges posed by the recent developments in the status of the English language as a world's leading language and the eventual change in the linguistic landscape. This paper provides an opportunity to examine the impact of the phenomenal spread of English in recent years and its eventual dominance in the international arena as seen in the practice of English Language Teaching (ELT) and learning, particularly in English as a Second Language (ESL)/English as Foreign Language (EFL) contexts. The paper reports the implications of the recent growth of English for crucial ELT practices and areas such as learner identity, code selection in classroom, teaching methods, syllabus design and material development. It draws on issues pertaining to English as a lingua franca theory in an attempt to address this debatable topic and consider the necessity of taking into consideration the emerging trends in ELT classrooms globally. 1. Introduction This paper draws on the implications of the rapid growth of English and its rise at the international arena from an ELT perspective. It attempts to examine the crucial changes brought by the phenomenal spread of English to the practice of teaching English all over the world, particularly in the ESL/EFL settings. It is understood that the rapid proliferation of English in the world in recent years has been accelerated by various factors, including the use of English in education and the eventual speedy growth of internationalization of English and education. Thus, it is imperative to examine the impact of the growth of English on its teaching and learning, and the necessity of revisiting some fundamental concepts, beliefs and practices in the ELT field. With the increasing demand for English by speakers of other languages, together with the strong connection between English and the Internet and its applications, there have emerged new realities that challenge the traditional teaching practices. For instance, learners of English today have become more innovative with diverse learning strategies, opportunities, resources, and objectives (Cook, 2003). Moreover, the proliferation of the accessible new media, including social media, has created better learning and language practice opportunities for individuals who use it in learning language activities, and engage in active communication nationally and internationally, and interact in English with speakers of diverse linguistic backgrounds and experiences around the world (Crystal, 2002). In addition, the situation has further been more complex with the emergence of the phenomenon of varieties of Englishes. Practically speaking, with the pressing issues pertaining to the dominance of English and the world's changing linguistic landscape and the limitations of the traditional definition of 'native speaker' to appeal to the current situation, it is difficult to hold the same traditional language teaching perceptions and practices. This requires reconsidering the views and practices held about ELT, especially what concerns the language learners and the type of language taught to them. Furthermore, another indication of the changing scene relates to the fact that when English is spoken almost everywhere in the world, there is an urgent need for revising our approach to the materials we use in our classes and the way we assess our students as well. Moreover, the English language learners' actual needs must be addressed and taken into consideration when it comes to what variety of English should our students learn today. Because developing an understanding about their actual needs and views about what kind of English they would want to learn will keep teachers more focused and to the point (Gross, 2016; Jenkins, 2014).

The history of English Language Teaching (ELT) has shown that this fast growing field is facing unprecedented challenges posed by the recent developments in the status of the English language as a world's leading language and the eventual change in the linguistic landscape. This paper provides an opportunity to examine the impact of the phenomenal spread of English in recent years and its eventual dominance in the international arena as seen in the practice of English Language Teaching (ELT) and learning, particularly in English as a Second Language (ESL)/English as Foreign Language (EFL) contexts. The paper reports the implications of the recent growth of English for crucial ELT practices and areas such as learner identity, code selection in classroom, teaching methods, syllabus design and material development. It draws on issues pertaining to English as a lingua franca theory in an attempt to address this debatable topic and consider the necessity of taking into consideration the emerging trends in ELT classrooms globally. 1. Introduction This paper draws on the implications of the rapid growth of English and its rise at the international arena from an ELT perspective. It attempts to examine the crucial changes brought by the phenomenal spread of English to the practice of teaching English all over the world, particularly in the ESL/EFL settings. It is understood that the rapid proliferation of English in the world in recent years has been accelerated by various factors, including the use of English in education and the eventual speedy growth of internationalization of English and education. Thus, it is imperative to examine the impact of the growth of English on its teaching and learning, and the necessity of revisiting some fundamental concepts, beliefs and practices in the ELT field. With the increasing demand for English by speakers of other languages, together with the strong connection between English and the Internet and its applications, there have emerged new realities that challenge the traditional teaching practices. For instance, learners of English today have become more innovative with diverse learning strategies, opportunities, resources, and objectives (Cook, 2003). Moreover, the proliferation of the accessible new media, including social media, has created better learning and language practice opportunities for individuals who use it in learning language activities, and engage in active communication nationally and internationally, and interact in English with speakers of diverse linguistic backgrounds and experiences around the world (Crystal, 2002). In addition, the situation has further been more complex with the emergence of the phenomenon of varieties of Englishes. Practically speaking, with the pressing issues pertaining to the dominance of English and the world's changing linguistic landscape and the limitations of the traditional definition of 'native speaker' to appeal to the current situation, it is difficult to hold the same traditional language teaching perceptions and practices. This requires reconsidering the views and practices held about ELT, especially what concerns the language learners and the type of language taught to them. Furthermore, another indication of the changing scene relates to the fact that when English is spoken almost everywhere in the world, there is an urgent need for revising our approach to the materials we use in our classes and the way we assess our students as well. Moreover, the English language learners' actual needs must be addressed and taken into consideration when it comes to what variety of English should our students learn today. Because developing an understanding about their actual needs and views about what kind of English they would want to learn will keep teachers more focused and to the point (Gross, 2016; Jenkins, 2014).

Translation is the process of rendering aspects and features of a target text semantically, culturally and pragmatically into another language. However, translating idiomatic and culturally-bound expressions has been a challenge for translators as they are culture-bound and involve many cultural elements. This study aims at investigating difficulties encountered by Omani undergraduate students majoring in English language teaching and literature when translating idiomatic and culturally-bound expression from English into Arabic. Additionally, it attempts to identify and demonstrate some of the strategies that they used to translate and overcome such challenges and suggest what could be done to help them handle such challenges and improve their translation skills and competencies. A translation test along with a short survey was administered to 60 Omani undergraduate students majoring in English language and literature at the department of English Language and Literature in a public college in Oman. Reliability and validity for both the translation test and questionnaire were established. The mostsalient challenges difficulties reported by students and the most frequently coping strategies that they were used as strategies in translating idiomatic and culturally-bound expressions and handling them were presented.Some of the study's recommendations and key pedagogical implications were also highlighted and discussed.

This paper presents the results and findings of a study carried out in a public college in Oman. The overarching aim of the study is to explore the views of Omani students majoring in English about their undergraduate translation course in terms of content, methods of delivery, modes of assessment, challenges, and what could be done to improve the course in question. The study is significant due to the fact that the results would potentially help translation teachers and practitioners to improve the content, delivery and assessment of their undergraduate translation courses. Additionally, there was a lack of information about students' views on their undergraduate translation courses in this particular context. A questionnaire with open-ended questions was administered to 44 Omani students majoring in English and who were at their final semester of their B. Ed programme. The quantitative data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages and thematic analysis was utilized for the open-ended questions. The results showed that students have mixed opinions and views about the course but the vast majority believed that the course content, objectives, teaching methodology and modes of assessment need to be reviewed and aligned with other courses. As a result, key findings, conclusions, recommendations, and pedagogical implications were presented. It is hoped that the findings will be of a great value to undergraduate translation teachers in this particular college.

Introduction This paper looks into EFL teachers' understanding and perceptions about critical thinking classroom and the challenges that they face when teaching and assessing it. A questionnaire was administered to 15 EFL teachers at Caledonian College of Engineering, Oman at the School of Foundation Studies to investigate their views and beliefs about critical thinking classroom and the challenges critical thinking instruction. The study reveals that assessment and teaching are the most obvious pedagogical challenges; and teachers' understanding and interpretations of critical thinking are varied. Recommendations on how these challenges can be overcome are presented.

This exploratory study is set to investigate Sudanese translation practitioners' perceptions about language-related challenges encountered when translating legal contracts. It attempts to explore those practitioners' perceptions and views about these difficulties in the Gulf context, specifically in Oman and the UAE, and compare them with related findings from empirical literature. The significance of the present study stems from the fact that the results may help legal translation practitioners to improve their practices. To achieve the study objectives a questionnaire was designed and distributed to thirty-three Sudanese translation practitioners to collect data. Additionally, relevant literature was reviewed to pinpoint the gaps in this area and support information stemming from the questionnaire. The findings show that translation practitioners' perceptions about legal contracts translation challenges are consistent with findings in the empirical literature. The study specifically shows that the most apparent challenges are: language-related challenges, followed by style-related challenges, culture-specific challenges, and culture-specific challenges, respectively. The study also concluded with some key relevant recommendations: First, legal contracts should be translated by well-trained and certified translators. Second, workshops and training on legal translation should be conducted periodically and training should be one of the requirements for practising and joining legal translation industry. Moreover, translators of legal contracts should be accredited individually and that should be conducted by experts and specialized bodies.

This paper examines English language and business faculty's awareness
about plagiarism detection technology. The study strives to achieve the following
objectives: To provide English language teachers and practitioners with a better
understanding of the issues of plagiarism technology and to raise their
awareness about plagiarism detection technology, and to inform current debates
about its usefulness. Moreover, it attempts to find out how familiar English
language teachers are with plagiarism detection software and to identify the
type(s) of plagiarism software is commonly used by English and business
teachers. Additionally, it tries to assess to what extent the plagiarism detection
software used by the teachers curb plagiarism practices among students. Finally,
it attempts to evaluate the teachers’ perceptions of the usefulness of the
originality reports to their students. A questionnaire was given to 40 teachers to
collect their responses about plagiarism technology. The findings revealed that
the vast majority of teachers are aware of Turnitin and Safeassign. The great
majority of teachers believed that plagiarism software has curbed plagiarism
practices among their students. Additionally, they assumed that the originality
report has been useful for their students and it has helped them understand
plagiarism in a better way. The study findings, pedagogical implications and the
offered recommendations were presented.

Differentiated assessment (DA) seeks to address the individual differences between students and provides them
with the appropriate assessment strategy. This paper looks into the possibility of impelemting differentiated
assessment in a public college in Oman. Additionally, it attempts to explore teachers' views about the possibility
of implementing DA and to what extent do they support the idea of using DA and why. Further, it strives to
identify some institutional, instructional and pedagogical challenges which might hinder the implementation of
differentiated assessment and to find some best possible ways and strategies for implementing it in this context
in question. A questionnaire was administered to 40 teachers to answer the study questions and to propose an
assessment model on differentiated assessment. The results revealed that all the participants strongly support the
idea of implementing the use of differentiated assessment in the Department of English Language and Literature
(DELL), however, there are many institutional and pedagogical challenges need to be considered. Some
recommendations and pedagogical implications were presented.

This study is set out to investigate students' and teachers' perceptions and assumptions about newly implemented CALL Programme at the School of Foundation Studies, Caledonian
College of Engineering, Oman. Two versions of questionnaire were administered to 24
teachers and 90 students to collect their beliefs and assumption about CALL programame.
The results shows that the great majority of the students report that CALL is very interesting,
motivating and useful to them and they learn a lot form it .However, the number of CALL
hours should be increased, lab should be equipped and arranged in user friendly way,
assessment should be integrated into CALL, and smart boards, black boards should be
incorporated into the programme
Introduction

This study investigates factors responsible for grade
inflation in college education. Grade inflation and
grading leniency is something really dangerous in
academia has been seen as a controversial issue in tertiary
education because it could endanger the whole education
process. Grade inflation cannot be viewed as an improvement
in students' intellectual abilities rather than just a misleading
thing which works as an ineffective tool for communicating
students' real abilities. This an attempt to find out instructors'
views about institutional, instructional, and pedagogical
factors that contribute to grade inflation in college education
and to provide insight s and strategies of dealing with this
problem. 40 college instructors were surveyed and relevant
literature with regard to different responsible factors related
to grade inflation were reviewed and discussed. The findings
from surveys have shown that instructors believed that
institutional and instructional factors such as student
evaluations are the main factor behind grade inflation. Some
suggestions and recommendations were presented to solve
this problem.
Keyword: grade inflation, college education, student
evaluations, instructional factors, institutional factors

Academic research remains a prime source of knowledge and innovation for higher education institutions (HEIs) that
strive to grow, expand and develop their academic reputations and standards. Yet, research informs teaching practices,
shapes social changes and it has financial outcomes for HEIs. Therefore, it is imperative to develop institutional policies
and strategies for promoting and sustaining quality research in HEIs in Oman. There are a number of international
frameworks and models which have been developed to measure research quality in HEIs around the world. For
example, bibliometrics were used to assess research quality in HEIs in the UK because bibliometric data can provide a
number of component variables. An appropriate bibliometric model may include components such as output volume,
diversity of outputs, citation volume, journal impact factor and average citations per publication, etc. Moreover, other
popular examples of models for assessing research quality are Multidimensional Research Assessment Matrix (MRAM)
used in Europe and the UK’s Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). However, neither of the above mentioned models
is adopted by HEIs in Oman. Thus, the current study is an attempt to explore some institutional, international, logistic
and pragmatic factors that impact academic research and publication quality, review popular international research
quality assessment models and explore the possibility of applying them in the Omani context. To achieve the study
objectives, 20 teacher researchers were surveyed and the findings and recommendations were presented.
Keywords: Quality Research, HEIs in Oman, International Models, Factors, Teacher Researchers' Views

English-Medium Instruction (EMI) is a rapidly growing global phenomenon in countries where English is a second or foreign language. This book focuses on empirical research studies conducted on this growing trend in the Middle East and North Africa, an under-researched area with regards to the effects and challenges of the implementation of EMI in higher education. The contributors are researchers with first-hand experience in countries in the region, including Iran, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Turkey. Each chapter follows a consistent structure, allowing comparisons to be drawn between policies and practices in different countries. Topics covered include investigating perceptions and attitudes of both students and lecturers, opportunities and challenges afforded by EMI, as well as the evolution of EMI practices. By exploring these issues, through the lens of a decolonial critical approach, this volume informs the theory underlying research into the phenomenon of EMI in the region

Abstract: This paper considers the views and perceptions of Omani engineering students about the use of English as the medium of instruction in their engineering degree programme. On the other hand, it investigates the students’ views of the skills and attributes which are necessary to succeed in their engineering classes as well as in their future employment. The overarching aim is to critically examine the concept of EMI in the context of Oman and identify engineering teachers’, engineering students’ and EAP teachers’ views concerning the skills and attributes that are important for success in the study of engineering through EMI. A qualitative research design with semi-structured interview with 12 engineering students, observations and document analysis were used as the main methods of data generation. The interview data were coded thematically and analysed inductively.  The study attempts to address the following fundamental question: what skills/attributes did these engineering students, engineering teachers and EAP teachers in Oman think are essential for success in learning in the context of engineering taught through the medium of English? Overall, students, as well as their engineering and EAP teachers, reported a wide range of skills and attributes required in their engineering study and their future employment which merit consideration. The results showed that students and their teachers believed there are several crucial skills which are required to help them complete their engineering studies successfully and their future profession. Keywords: English as a medium of instruction, the language of instruction, engineering education in Oman, English proficiency of engineering lecturers

This qualitative evaluative study is based on semi-structured interviews with two Sudanese professor supervisors and three Ph.D. candidates who have recently completed their Ph.D. study in linguistics and English language-related studies at the Graduate College, University of Khartoum, Sudan. The study explored and evaluated the problems and challenges Ph.D. candidates encountered during their candidature from the perspectives of both supervisors and candidates themselves: How do these challenges impact on their study? How do they cope with these chal-lenges? How can these challenges be overcome? The study provided new insights into doctoral education in Sudan, specifically in the University of Khartoum. The study adopted a qualitative methodology with semi-structured face-to-face interviews being the principal method of data collection along with the collection of some institutional documents, some of which are being used during interviews in a discourse-based format. Five tape-recorded interviews were conducted with both candidates and supervisors. Interview data were coded and analyzed inductively. Results of data analysis revealed that there were many problems and challenges doctoral students experienced throughout their Ph.D. candidature, such as supervision-related challenges , resources-related and organizational challenges. In addition, there were a number of strategies candidates reportedly used to deal with these challenges and both candidates and supervisors reportedly held varied perceptions about what makes a good quality Ph.D.. The study recommendations, implications along with its limitations and suggestions for further research were presented and discussed.