An associate professor of curriculum and instruction in the teaching of English as a foreign language. I am interested in curriculum design, learner autonomy, teacher autonomy and academic readiness. Address: Muscat, Masqat, Oman
Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 2018
The present study aimed to investigate EFL teachers' and students' views on the current p... more The present study aimed to investigate EFL teachers' and students' views on the current practices of the student's portfolio in terms of teacher's purposes, students' purposes, teachers' roles and students' roles. The study sample included 953 EFL students and 258 teachers in the Sultanate of Oman. Data was collected using questionnaires. The major findings of the present study were that both teachers and students used the student’s portfolio for achieving a variety of purposes; however, the roles that they played might not lead to the achievement of these purposes. Generally speaking, teachers rarely played their roles in implementing the student's portfolio. The results indicated that teachers hardly prepared their students to implement the student’s portfolio and they assessed their students' portfolios at a moderate level. Regarding students, it was found that the students rarely participated in making decisions about their portfolios and they...
2017 6th International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Accessibility (ICTA), 2017
Nowadays, more educational institutions in countries worldwide move towards inclusive education t... more Nowadays, more educational institutions in countries worldwide move towards inclusive education that ensures visually impaired students equal opportunities with their sighted peers "for success in mastery of course material … without compromising the content, quality or level of instruction" (Optimizing, 2014, p.3) [1]; the Sultanate of Oman is no exception. This paper reports the findings of a study that sought to examine the specific challenges teachers in Oman face with creating accessible and usable learning environment for visually impaired students taking English language courses at tertiary education level. Data was collected during a one semester period at the Centre for Preparatory Studies at Sultan Qaboos University using face-to-face interviews with language teachers. The researchers looked into the teachers' views on challenging aspects related to technological and pedagogical support given to visually impaired students for them to meet learning outcomes an...
8th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'22)
Learning to speak in a foreign language can be a very challenging task for learners. This could b... more Learning to speak in a foreign language can be a very challenging task for learners. This could be due to the way speaking is taught, the lack of motivation or limited opportunities to practice the foreign language. Visual art has been found to provide a creative and imaginative platform for communication that can stimulate learner involvement and motivation. This study attempted to measure the impact of an art-based approach on teaching English language speaking skills to intensive English language program students at Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman. The researchers used the one-group pretest and posttest research design. The themes of the art work were based around the 17 sustainable development goals. The results showed a significant improvement in students' speaking ability. In addition, the learners were enthusiastically involved in the language learning process. The findings of the study assert the positive impact of visual art on speaking.
Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics, 2021
Language proficiency is one of the most important factors in international students' succ... more Language proficiency is one of the most important factors in international students' success or failure of academic performance. To ensure that incoming international students possess adequate English proficiency, most universities in the United States have gate-keeping procedures. Prior to admission, international applicants must either achieve a passing score on an English proficiency test or complete the institutional intensive English as a Second Language (ESL) program. The purpose of this study is to investigate the research question as to whether or not international freshmen are better prepared to study in a postsecondary program in an American university if they pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or if they complete an ESL program. This study comprises 712 subjects who were admitted to a large state university in the United States from fall 1997 to fall 2003 and had successfully completed their freshman year. These subjects are originally from Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, whose primary languages are Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Arabic. All data were coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). T-tests with significance level .05 were performed to test the differences in the first-year Grade Point Average (GPA) between admission groups, and further between admission groups under each language group. The findings indicate that neither TOEFL takers nor ESL completers had a higher first-year GPA whereas ESL completers performed significantly better than non-ESL completers in the first year of study. Specifically, the largest gap was between Japanese ESL completers and Japanese ESL non-completers. However, this phenomenon of ESL completers outperforming ESL non-completers was not uniform through the other language groups. Further research is needed in order to explain this inconsistent finding among different language groups.
Language teaching materials developed in-house by teachers have the potential to meet local needs... more Language teaching materials developed in-house by teachers have the potential to meet local needs in a way that global materials cannot (Tomlinson, 2001, Jolly and Bolitho, 1998, Masuhara, 1998, Sheldon, 1988). Home-produced materials can be centred around the human beings in the equation — the local learners and teachers —and their needs. The materials can address learners in the context of their own culture, focus on content that is real to the learners and avoid one of the pitfalls of global materials, which ‘in trying to cater for everybody, …end up engaging nobody.’(Tomlinson, 2001, p. 1) However, that is not the whole story. Sheldon (1988) points out that commercial coursebooks often have more credibility with students, who may be seduced by the glossy cover and assume that as they are published, there is a guarantee of high quality. Some teachers may share this belief and put their faith in the fact that the commercial textbook was written by ‘experts’ and thoroughly road-tested before it reached their classroom. These beliefs reflect on the home-produced book, which may be perceived as lacking in both expertise and quality. In this paper, the authors describe an in-house materials development project at a university in the Sultanate of Oman and the evaluation of the materials. A series of three writing and language use course books for high beginner to pre-intermediate learners was developed by a team of teachers. We outline the stages of the evaluative process and focus on a retrospective evaluation carried out after one and a half semesters of classroom use. Through evaluating the attitudes of teachers and students towards the materials and looking at the effects on the learners’ development as writers, we hoped to find out if the materials work and to identify areas for improvement.
This study investigated the characteristics of effective university instructors as perceived by 5... more This study investigated the characteristics of effective university instructors as perceived by 547 students. The students came from institutions in two different countries, Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman and Süleyman Demirel University in Turkey. They were asked to indicate the personality and the teaching characteristics they felt were essential qualities of an effective university instructor. The students’ responses were also assessed based on gender, year of study, and grade point average (GPA). According to the findings, an effective university instructor respects students as people, recognizes their identity, listens to their concerns and challenges, and is someone students can depend on for support when needed. With regard to teaching characteristics, an effective instructor is the one who treats students equally, builds their confidence, comes prepared for the lesson, and is clear and easy to be understood. Female students placed more value on personality ...
The current study examined two hypothesized models in which teachers' efficacy beliefs are pr... more The current study examined two hypothesized models in which teachers' efficacy beliefs are predicted by teaching attitudes and teaching anxiety. Attitudes and anxiety, as predictors, interchanged the role of being exogenous variable in the two suggested models. Data from 329 pre-service teachers showed moderate relationships among the three variables with the strongest relationship reported between teaching anxiety and efficacy beliefs. Path analysis showed support for the model in which teaching attitude was the predictor of both anxiety and efficacy beliefs. The study results emphasized the need for paying attention to the nature of applied experiences the pre-service teachers get during university years and the importance of careful design of preparation teacher programs. Further studies should investigate the model through intervention and longitudinal researches.
Pertanika journal of social science and humanities, 2019
This study sought to ascertain the intentions of College of Education students towards the teachi... more This study sought to ascertain the intentions of College of Education students towards the teaching profession using a questionnaire. The sample consisted of 464 students drawn from nine education majors at the College of Education at Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman. The study revealed that while many of the students intended to join the teaching workforce, a fairly large portion did not seem to share the same interest. There is a range of internal and external factors that contribute to the positive and negative views students develop about teaching. Students’ views reflected their perceptions about the status of the teacher and teaching in general. The study concluded that despite being admitted to the College of Education, student teachers were vulnerable to internal and external factors that
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 2021
Project-based learning (PBL) helps students gain a deep understanding of the knowledge they acqui... more Project-based learning (PBL) helps students gain a deep understanding of the knowledge they acquire, develops higher levels of learning, and promotes the motivation to learn. Through self-inquiry, self-planning, and investigation, students learn to be independent thinkers and autonomous learners and pursue their learning needs by seeking solutions for real-life problems. The objective of this study was to explore the extent to which PBL approach helped 146 student-teachers at the College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, develop their course design skills. The study utilized a questionnaire with multiple sections. The students were asked for their opinion about the approach, the difficulties they encountered, and suggestions for improvement. The results revealed that the students’ responses were positive. The students enjoyed the project and agreed that it helped them gain many of the principles of courses design, as well as a host of academic skills. The students also r...
Spelling is a basic literacy skill in any language as it is crucial in communication. EFLstudents... more Spelling is a basic literacy skill in any language as it is crucial in communication. EFLstudents are often unable to spell or pronounce very simple monosyllabic words even after several years of English instruction. Similarly, teachers and researchers usually focus on the larger skills such as speaking and reading and ignore the smaller components. This study attempted to investigate the problems that university Arab learners face in spelling English vowels. The reason for focusing on vowels is that they appear to be more problematic and irregular than consonants, probably because of the perceptible mismatch between phonemes and graphemes. The study has primarily focused on monosyllabic words in order to (a) test the students ’ knowledge in spelling these basic words and (b) to avoid the impact of other factors, such as stress and intonation which affect the pronunciation of vowel sounds in multi-syllable words. Data were collected through a battery of tests. The study has importan...
Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 2018
The present study aimed to investigate EFL teachers' and students' views on the current p... more The present study aimed to investigate EFL teachers' and students' views on the current practices of the student's portfolio in terms of teacher's purposes, students' purposes, teachers' roles and students' roles. The study sample included 953 EFL students and 258 teachers in the Sultanate of Oman. Data was collected using questionnaires. The major findings of the present study were that both teachers and students used the student’s portfolio for achieving a variety of purposes; however, the roles that they played might not lead to the achievement of these purposes. Generally speaking, teachers rarely played their roles in implementing the student's portfolio. The results indicated that teachers hardly prepared their students to implement the student’s portfolio and they assessed their students' portfolios at a moderate level. Regarding students, it was found that the students rarely participated in making decisions about their portfolios and they...
2017 6th International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Accessibility (ICTA), 2017
Nowadays, more educational institutions in countries worldwide move towards inclusive education t... more Nowadays, more educational institutions in countries worldwide move towards inclusive education that ensures visually impaired students equal opportunities with their sighted peers "for success in mastery of course material … without compromising the content, quality or level of instruction" (Optimizing, 2014, p.3) [1]; the Sultanate of Oman is no exception. This paper reports the findings of a study that sought to examine the specific challenges teachers in Oman face with creating accessible and usable learning environment for visually impaired students taking English language courses at tertiary education level. Data was collected during a one semester period at the Centre for Preparatory Studies at Sultan Qaboos University using face-to-face interviews with language teachers. The researchers looked into the teachers' views on challenging aspects related to technological and pedagogical support given to visually impaired students for them to meet learning outcomes an...
8th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'22)
Learning to speak in a foreign language can be a very challenging task for learners. This could b... more Learning to speak in a foreign language can be a very challenging task for learners. This could be due to the way speaking is taught, the lack of motivation or limited opportunities to practice the foreign language. Visual art has been found to provide a creative and imaginative platform for communication that can stimulate learner involvement and motivation. This study attempted to measure the impact of an art-based approach on teaching English language speaking skills to intensive English language program students at Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman. The researchers used the one-group pretest and posttest research design. The themes of the art work were based around the 17 sustainable development goals. The results showed a significant improvement in students' speaking ability. In addition, the learners were enthusiastically involved in the language learning process. The findings of the study assert the positive impact of visual art on speaking.
Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics, 2021
Language proficiency is one of the most important factors in international students' succ... more Language proficiency is one of the most important factors in international students' success or failure of academic performance. To ensure that incoming international students possess adequate English proficiency, most universities in the United States have gate-keeping procedures. Prior to admission, international applicants must either achieve a passing score on an English proficiency test or complete the institutional intensive English as a Second Language (ESL) program. The purpose of this study is to investigate the research question as to whether or not international freshmen are better prepared to study in a postsecondary program in an American university if they pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or if they complete an ESL program. This study comprises 712 subjects who were admitted to a large state university in the United States from fall 1997 to fall 2003 and had successfully completed their freshman year. These subjects are originally from Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, whose primary languages are Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Arabic. All data were coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). T-tests with significance level .05 were performed to test the differences in the first-year Grade Point Average (GPA) between admission groups, and further between admission groups under each language group. The findings indicate that neither TOEFL takers nor ESL completers had a higher first-year GPA whereas ESL completers performed significantly better than non-ESL completers in the first year of study. Specifically, the largest gap was between Japanese ESL completers and Japanese ESL non-completers. However, this phenomenon of ESL completers outperforming ESL non-completers was not uniform through the other language groups. Further research is needed in order to explain this inconsistent finding among different language groups.
Language teaching materials developed in-house by teachers have the potential to meet local needs... more Language teaching materials developed in-house by teachers have the potential to meet local needs in a way that global materials cannot (Tomlinson, 2001, Jolly and Bolitho, 1998, Masuhara, 1998, Sheldon, 1988). Home-produced materials can be centred around the human beings in the equation — the local learners and teachers —and their needs. The materials can address learners in the context of their own culture, focus on content that is real to the learners and avoid one of the pitfalls of global materials, which ‘in trying to cater for everybody, …end up engaging nobody.’(Tomlinson, 2001, p. 1) However, that is not the whole story. Sheldon (1988) points out that commercial coursebooks often have more credibility with students, who may be seduced by the glossy cover and assume that as they are published, there is a guarantee of high quality. Some teachers may share this belief and put their faith in the fact that the commercial textbook was written by ‘experts’ and thoroughly road-tested before it reached their classroom. These beliefs reflect on the home-produced book, which may be perceived as lacking in both expertise and quality. In this paper, the authors describe an in-house materials development project at a university in the Sultanate of Oman and the evaluation of the materials. A series of three writing and language use course books for high beginner to pre-intermediate learners was developed by a team of teachers. We outline the stages of the evaluative process and focus on a retrospective evaluation carried out after one and a half semesters of classroom use. Through evaluating the attitudes of teachers and students towards the materials and looking at the effects on the learners’ development as writers, we hoped to find out if the materials work and to identify areas for improvement.
This study investigated the characteristics of effective university instructors as perceived by 5... more This study investigated the characteristics of effective university instructors as perceived by 547 students. The students came from institutions in two different countries, Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman and Süleyman Demirel University in Turkey. They were asked to indicate the personality and the teaching characteristics they felt were essential qualities of an effective university instructor. The students’ responses were also assessed based on gender, year of study, and grade point average (GPA). According to the findings, an effective university instructor respects students as people, recognizes their identity, listens to their concerns and challenges, and is someone students can depend on for support when needed. With regard to teaching characteristics, an effective instructor is the one who treats students equally, builds their confidence, comes prepared for the lesson, and is clear and easy to be understood. Female students placed more value on personality ...
The current study examined two hypothesized models in which teachers' efficacy beliefs are pr... more The current study examined two hypothesized models in which teachers' efficacy beliefs are predicted by teaching attitudes and teaching anxiety. Attitudes and anxiety, as predictors, interchanged the role of being exogenous variable in the two suggested models. Data from 329 pre-service teachers showed moderate relationships among the three variables with the strongest relationship reported between teaching anxiety and efficacy beliefs. Path analysis showed support for the model in which teaching attitude was the predictor of both anxiety and efficacy beliefs. The study results emphasized the need for paying attention to the nature of applied experiences the pre-service teachers get during university years and the importance of careful design of preparation teacher programs. Further studies should investigate the model through intervention and longitudinal researches.
Pertanika journal of social science and humanities, 2019
This study sought to ascertain the intentions of College of Education students towards the teachi... more This study sought to ascertain the intentions of College of Education students towards the teaching profession using a questionnaire. The sample consisted of 464 students drawn from nine education majors at the College of Education at Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman. The study revealed that while many of the students intended to join the teaching workforce, a fairly large portion did not seem to share the same interest. There is a range of internal and external factors that contribute to the positive and negative views students develop about teaching. Students’ views reflected their perceptions about the status of the teacher and teaching in general. The study concluded that despite being admitted to the College of Education, student teachers were vulnerable to internal and external factors that
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 2021
Project-based learning (PBL) helps students gain a deep understanding of the knowledge they acqui... more Project-based learning (PBL) helps students gain a deep understanding of the knowledge they acquire, develops higher levels of learning, and promotes the motivation to learn. Through self-inquiry, self-planning, and investigation, students learn to be independent thinkers and autonomous learners and pursue their learning needs by seeking solutions for real-life problems. The objective of this study was to explore the extent to which PBL approach helped 146 student-teachers at the College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, develop their course design skills. The study utilized a questionnaire with multiple sections. The students were asked for their opinion about the approach, the difficulties they encountered, and suggestions for improvement. The results revealed that the students’ responses were positive. The students enjoyed the project and agreed that it helped them gain many of the principles of courses design, as well as a host of academic skills. The students also r...
Spelling is a basic literacy skill in any language as it is crucial in communication. EFLstudents... more Spelling is a basic literacy skill in any language as it is crucial in communication. EFLstudents are often unable to spell or pronounce very simple monosyllabic words even after several years of English instruction. Similarly, teachers and researchers usually focus on the larger skills such as speaking and reading and ignore the smaller components. This study attempted to investigate the problems that university Arab learners face in spelling English vowels. The reason for focusing on vowels is that they appear to be more problematic and irregular than consonants, probably because of the perceptible mismatch between phonemes and graphemes. The study has primarily focused on monosyllabic words in order to (a) test the students ’ knowledge in spelling these basic words and (b) to avoid the impact of other factors, such as stress and intonation which affect the pronunciation of vowel sounds in multi-syllable words. Data were collected through a battery of tests. The study has importan...
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