University of Exeter EdD in TESOL Thesis

Effects of English medium instruction on

students’ learning experiences and quality of
education in content courses in a public
college in Oman

Submitted by
Saousan AlBakri
To
The University of Exeter

For the degree of

Doctor of Education in TESOL

Submission date
March 2017

This thesis is available for library use on the understanding that it is copyright
material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper
acknowledgement.

I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been
identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for
the award of a degree by this or any other university

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 ABSTRACT

This study critically explores the perceptions of students on the implementation of

the English as a medium of instruction (EMI) policy at a public higher education

institution in Oman and its effect on the quality of their learning experiences and

academic performance. Although the Gulf has recently witnessed an increase in

research on EMI, such research is rather scarce in Oman in particular from a

critical approach. Through the focus on students‟ perspectives, the study gives a

voice to otherwise voiceless students whose insights have been largely ignored

by language policy planners. For the study, a critical exploratory methodology

was adopted where in-depth qualitative data were collected through a two-phase

sequential mixed methods approach that consisted of a questionnaire distributed

among 328 students studying in seven different faculties, 14 classroom

observations and 14 students‟ interviews.

The findings suggest that the majority of participants either supported or

accepted the EMI policy for pragmatic reasons based on the utilitarian function of

English as a lingua franca in Oman and its requirement for future jobs. However,

the participants acknowledged that they faced great difficulties in their study

which was mainly caused by their insufficient language competence. It was also

acknowledged that Arabic as a medium of instruction (AMI) would lead to a more

comprehensive understanding of the subject matter and would most probably

lead to better academic performance. Few participants found that the

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endorsement of EMI negatively influenced their ability to use Modern Standard

Arabic (MSA) and marginalised the role of Arabic in their society.

Overall, the implementation of EMI had a disempowering effect on students with

low English language proficiency and had a negative psychological impact on

them. Based on the findings, the EMI policy has been contested since it does not

provide students with equal opportunities to study at tertiary level. In addition, the

quality of education has been compromised in response to assumed market

forces. Also, a strict EMI policy does not allow students to enhance their Arabic

competence which is relevant for future employment. The pedagogic

competence of teachers has also been questioned and gaps in the support

system for students with language deficiencies have been identified.

The study makes several recommendations that are expected to improve the

learning conditions of students studying at tertiary level through EMI. The

recommendations include the enhancement of English language teaching (ELT)

in schools to better prepare students for their academic study in English. In

addition, AMI courses should be offered in all faculties due to its support in

gaining profound comprehension of the subject matter and its relevance for

students‟ future jobs. Teachers should be given the opportunity to develop their

pedagogic competence that would allow them to use a student-centred approach

in teaching through EMI or AMI. Finally, the college should increase students‟

support in their study especially in EMI through creating support centres where

they could resort to in case they face any difficulties in their study.

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 DEDICATION

With love to my children

Hashem, Hazem, Khaled and Lana.

It is never too late to follow your dreams.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Completing this doctoral journey that I started in Syria, continued in Oman

and finalized in Germany would not have been possible without the support
of a number of people. For this reason I would like to acknowledge their
support that helped me reach my final destination.

Most importantly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my

supervisor Dr. Salah Troudi. Without his invaluable support and guidance,
his belief in me and his encouragement over the years, I would have never
been able to complete my doctoral journey. He helped me stay positive in
difficult times and kept me on the right track when I was about to lose my
way. I am also in debt to him for inspiring me to look into my own knowledge
and to question my own assumptions that allowed me to grow academically.

My gratitude goes also to my institution in Oman that facilitated easy access

to the research site and to all participants who volunteered to participate in
this study. My special thanks go to all students who were generous with their
time and offered valuable insights into their learning experiences with EMI. I
would also like to thank my colleagues who provided me with feedback on
the questionnaire items and who proofread the Arabic versions of all
documents.

Special thanks to my beloved family to whom I dedicate my thesis: I am

indebted to my children, Hashem, Hazem, Khaled and Lana for their endless
support and encouragement that gave me the strength to complete this long
and strenuous journey. My deepest appreciation goes to my parents who
taught me to be a fighter and never to lose hope. I owe you all my love and
gratitude.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………………..2
DEDICATION.…………………………………………………………………………...4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. …………………………………………………………….5
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………………….6
CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION………………………………………………..14
1.1 The nature of the problem ……………………………………………………….14
1.2 The rationale of the study ………………………………………………………..17
1.3 The significance of the study…………………………………………………….19
1.4 Contribution to knowledge ……………………………………………………….20
1.5 Research questions ………………………………………………………………21
1.6 Structure/Organisation of the thesis…………………………………………….22
CHAPTER TWO – CONTEXT OF THE STUDY…………………………………...23
2.1 Oman and its relationship with the English language ………………………...23
2.1.1 Factors promoting the spread of English ………………………………..24
2.2 The status of English in Oman…………………………………………………..26
2.3 English and education in Oman ………………………………………………...27
2.3.1 ELT in schools………………………………………………………………27
2.3.2 ELT in higher education institutions……………………………………....28
2.3.3 The effectiveness of ELT…………………………………………………..29
2.4 Institutional context of the study ………………………………………………...31
2.4.1 Admission to HCT…………………………………………………………..33
2.4.2 Undergraduate programmes ……………………………………………...34
2.4.3 The role of IELTS at HCT …………………………………………………35
2.5 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………...36
CHAPTER THREE – LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………….37
3.1 Theoretical framework ……………………………………………………………37
3.2 Language policy …………………………………………………………………..40
3.2.1 Research approaches on language policy ………………………………43
3.3 Language education policy – EMI ………………………………………………45
3.3.1 Reasons for EMI …………………………………………………………...46

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3.4 Critical issues related to EMI ……………………………………………………50
3.4.1 Domain loss of L1 ………………………………………………………….50
3.4.2 Benefits of EMI ……………………………………………………………..54
3.5 Challenges related to EMI ……………………………………………………….55
3.5.1 The changing role of content teachers …………………………………...55
3.5.2 Content teachers‟ linguistic and pedagogic competence ………………56
3.5.3 Students‟ English language proficiency ………………………………….58
3.5.4 Reading disciplinary content in English …………………………………..62
3.5.5 Writing in content courses …………………………………………………66
3.6 Different views regarding EMI …………………………………………………..72
3.7 Concluding remarks ………………………………………………………………76
CHAPTER FOUR – METHODOLOGY ……………………………………………..78
4.1 Research framework ……………………………………………………………..78
4.1.1 The interpretive paradigm ………………………………………………...78
4.1.2 The critical paradigm ………………………………………………………79
4.1.3 Paradigmatic position of this study ………………………………………82
4.2 Research questions ………………………………………………………………83
4.3 Research design and justification ………………………………………………85
4.4 Research methods and justification …………………………………………….86
4.4.1 Closed-ended questionnaire ……………………………………………...86
4.4.2 Semi-structured classroom observations ………………………………..87
4.4.3 Semi-structured interviews ………………………………………………..89
4.5 Sampling …………………………………………………………………………..90
4.6 Data collection procedures ………………………………………………………93
4.6.1 Quantitative data collection ……………………………………………….93
4.6.1.1 Construction of the questionnaire ………………………………..93
4.6.1.2 Administration of the questionnaire ……………………………...95
4.6.2. Qualitative data collection…………………………………………………96
4.6.2.1 Semi-structured classroom observation procedures……………96
4.6.2.2 Semi-structured interview procedures ……………………………98
4.7 Data analysis …………………………………………………………………….100

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 4.7.1 Quantitative data analysis ……………………………………………….100
4.7.2 Qualitative data analysis …………………………………………………101
4.7.2.1 Data management ………………………………………………..101
4.7.2.2 Data analysis procedures ……………………………………….102
4.8 Quality criteria of the research …………………………………………………106
4.9 Ethical dimensions ………………………………………………………………110
4.10 Challenges and limitations ……………………………………………………112
CHAPTER FIVE – FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ……………………………...114
5.1 Students‟ perceptions on EMI ………………………………………………….114
5.1.1 EMI enhances English language proficiency –“I kill 2 birds with one
stone”……………………………………………………………………………...114
5.1.2 The need for English – “we have a lot of foreigners so we need this
language”………………………………………………………………………….117
5.1.3 Views on AMI – “It’s possible but in our society they don’t accept it” .120
5.1.4 Negative attitude towards EMI – “studying in Arabic is better” ………123
5.2 Quality of students‟ academic experience ……………………………………127
5.2.1. Readiness for EMI – “I expected difficulties but not to that degree” .127
5.2.2 Improvement of language – “Speaking - now I can speak” ………….132
5.2.3 Comprehending lectures – “most of it I don’t understand” …………...134
5.2.3.1 Teacher origin –“I feel more comfortable when the teacher is of
my nationality” ……………………………………………………………...135
5.2.3.2 Delivery of content – “They just read” ………………………….140
5.2.4 Interaction in the EMI classroom – “I usually listen” ………………….144
5.2.5 Extra effort – “The extra effort is mostly related to learning every new
word” ……………………………………………………………………………...146
5.2.6 Psychological impact – “No, I don’t ask. I get afraid” ………………..150
5.3 The challenges of reading in content courses ……………………………….155
5.3.1 Reading materials – “We just have to read the handout” …………….155
5.3.2 Reading online resources –“For an assignment we need to read from
the net” …………………………………………………………………………...158
5.3.3 Reading difficulties – “I don’t understand all the words” ……………..159

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 5.3.4 Reading strategies – “I have to translate many words” ………………162
5.4 Challenges of writing in content courses ……………………………………..166
5.4.1 Writing assignments ……………………………………………………...166
5.4.1.1 Focus on content – “If the content is correct, you get a good
grade”.……………………………………………………………………….169
5.4.2 Writing difficulties – “I find it very difficult to write” ……………………172
5.4.3 Writing strategies …………………………………………………………174
5.4.3.1 The use of L1 – “I know how to write the sentence in Arabic” 174
5.4.3.2 Copy and paste – “I read and copy/paste the information” ….176
5.4.4 Teacher feedback – “We don’t see the paper again” …………………180
5.5 Effect of EMI on students‟ academic performance ………………………….181
5.5.1. Performance in exams – “There are many problems during exams” 181
5.5.2 Satisfaction with academic performance –“I never get a grade that
satisfies me” ……………………………………………………………………..184
5.5.3 Expected academic performance through AMI –“In Arabic I would have
been one of the top students in class” …………………………………………186
5.5.4. Students‟ input to enhance academic performance – “The college
should focus on the student” ……………………………………………………189
5.6 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………….192
CHAPTER SIX – CONCLUSION ………………………………………………….194
6.1 Summary of the main findings …………………………………………………194
6.2 Implications ………………………………………………………………………197
6.3 Recommendations ………………………………………………………………202
6.3.1 Enhancement of students‟ English language proficiency …………….202
6.3.2 Revision of the EMI policy ……………………………………………….203
6.3.3 Enhancement of teacher competence …………………………………205
6.3.4 Support for students ……………………………………………………...206
6.4 Theoretical and pedagogical contribution ……………….……………………207
6.5 Suggestions for further research ………………………………………………209
6.6 Personal reflection on thesis journey …………………………………………210
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………..214

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APPENDICES ……………………………………………………………………….244
Appendix 1: Background information of questionnaire sample …………………244
Appendix 2: Breakdown of questionnaire sample according to faculties and level
of study ……………………………………………………………………………….245
Appendix 3: Breakdown of classroom observation sample ……………………..246
Appendix 4: Background information of interview sample ………………………247
Appendix 5: Student questionnaire (English version) ……………………………248
Appendix 6: Student questionnaire (Arabic version) …………………………….252
Appendix 7: Questionnaire participant information sheet (Arabic version) ...256
Appendix 8: Questionnaire participant information sheet (English version) …..257
Appendix 9: Observation guide …………………………………………………….258
Appendix 10: Classroom observation participant information sheet (content
teacher)………………………………………………………………………………..260
Appendix 11: Classroom observation participant information sheet (student –
Arabic/English version) ……………………………………………………………..261
Appendix 12: Two samples of field notes …………………………………………263
Appendix 13: Interview schedule …………………………………………………..265
Appendix 14: Interview participant information sheet (Arabic/English version).269
Appendix 15: Consent form (Arabic/English version) ……………………………271
Appendix 16: Student questionnaire results ……………………………………...273
Appendix 17: Example of an interview transcription (Hussam) ………………...276
Appendix 18: Classroom observation analysis …………………………………..284
a) Initial classroom observation coding ……………………………………284
b) Linking of revised nodes to potential themes …………………………..285
c) Hierarchies of classroom observation nodes …………………………..287
Appendix 19: Full interview data analysis ………………………………………...288
a) Nvivo word frequency (50 words) to inform possible nodes (Word cloud
view/ Tree map view) ………………………………………………………..288
b) Text search for the word “translate” (summary/reference view) ……..289
c) Coding interview transcripts page view (Aref) ………………………….290
d) Overview coding frequency (Aref) ……………………………………...290

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 e) Code summary sheet for the node “Teacher language” ……………...291
f) Initial interview coding ……………………………………………………..294
g) Tagging frequencies of interview nodes ………………………………..296
h) Collating revised nodes to possible themes ……………………………298
i) Linking themes to areas of research questions ………………………...300
j) Hierarchies of interview nodes ……………………………………………301
Appendix 20: Synthesizing data analysis and linkage to research question
areas …………………………………………………………..................................302
Appendix 21: Certificate of ethical approval from University of Exeter ………..304
Appendix 22: Sample of note-taking strategy …………………………………….305
Appendix 23: Writing sample Ali (Photography, certificatelevel)………………..306
Appendix 24: Writing sample Salim (Business studies, bachelor level)………..307
Appendix 25: Sample on the use of plagiarism (Salim) …………………………312

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Candidates‟ abilities based on Band scores ……………………………..35

Table 2: Classroom observation themes that informed interview questions ….103
Table 3: Reliability Statistics ………………………………………………………..107
Table 4: Beginning English levels of students in foundation programme ……..128
Table 5: Participants‟ perceptions on the reading load according to disciplines155
Table 6: Participants‟ perceptions on understanding technical vocabulary
according to disciplines……………………………………………………………...161

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Initial coding of the interview transcripts ……………………………….105

Figure 2: Snippet of code summary sheet ………………………………………..105

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LIST OF ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS

AMI Arabic medium instruction

BA Bachelor

BICS Basic interpersonal communication skills

CALP Cognitive academic language proficiency

CASS College of Applied sciences

CGPA Cumulative Grade Point Average

ELC English Language Centre

ELT English language teaching

EMI English medium instruction

FNC Federal National Council

GCC Gulf Cooperation Countries

GFP General Foundation Programme

GPA Grade Point Average

HCT Higher College of Technology

HEI Higher education institution

IT Information Technology

IELTS International English Language Testing

LP Language policy

L1 First language (mother tongue)

L2 Second language

MSA Modern Standard Arabic

NES Native English speaker

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Nvivo Qualitative research analysis software tool

PFP Post – Foundation Programme

SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

SQU Sultan Qaboos University

TOEFL Test of English as a foreign language

TW1 Technical writing one

TW2 Technical writing two

UAE United Arab Emirates

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CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION

1.1 The nature of the problem

The global spread of English has had a great impact on language policies all

over the world. The Arab world, especially Gulf countries are no exceptions. In

order to participate in the globalised world where English has become the

language of business, communication, science and academia, many Arab

countries found it necessary to reform their educational systems. One of the

steps taken was to adopt EMI at tertiary level. Gulf countries such as the United

Arab Emirates (UAE), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and

the Sultanate of Oman replaced AMI at public and private colleges and

universities and adopted the EMI policy. Students who would like to pursue their

higher education especially in scientific subjects have no other choice than to

study in English. This can be problematic in particular for students who studied in

public schools where the medium of instruction is Arabic and English is taught as

a second language (Baporikar & Shah, 2012; Mouhanna, 2016; Troudi & Jendli,

2011). The rationale for this decision seems to be the belief that education

through English prepares students best for the multicultural world of employment.

Policy makers also perceive English to be the key that facilitates the national

policy of Emiratisation, Qatarisation, and Omanisation, i.e. the process of

replacing expatriate workforce in the public and private sector with Gulf nationals.

Moreover, there is a common held assumption in the Gulf that studying through

English will improve the English language proficiency of students (Ismail, 2011;

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Rogier, 2012). In addition, Troudi (2009) points out that Arabic is seen by some

educationalists in the Arab world and especially in the Gulf as not adequate to be

used for scientific subjects mainly because of lack of resources and textbooks in

Arabic.

The EMI policy has stirred concerns and debates among researchers,

academics, administrators and officials. Some expressed their concern about the

impact of the EMI policy on the Arabic language, culture, identity and Islam

(Ahmed, 2010, 2011; Findlow, 2006, 2008; Karamani, 2010; Solloway, 2016,

2017; Troudi, 2009; Troudi & Al Hafidh, 2017). For example, Ahmed (2010: 285)

contends that “Marginalization of Arabic and its culture is beginning to be

evident” while Findlow (2006: 21) raises the case that “Arabic is relegated as

non-useful, and Arabic culture is cast as „other‟”. It has also been observed that

students‟ Arabic language proficiency lags behind as a result of EMI (Guttenplan,

2012; Troudi, 2009). A special news report in the UAE (Pennington, 2015)

announced that Arabic is in danger of becoming a foreign language. In response

to these concerns, and in the effort to revive Arabic as a scientific language, a

decision has been taken by the Supreme Education Council in Qatar in January

2012, to adopt AMI in four of the colleges of Qatar University: law, international

affairs, mass communication, business and economics (Belhiah & Elhami, 2014;

Ellili-Cherif & Alkhateeb, 2015). Similarly, members of the Federal National

Council (FNC) in the UAE are planning to “call for a law to ensure Arabic is the

language of instruction in state schools and universities” (Salem, 2014).

15
Another concern is the impact of EMI on the quality of education and learning

experiences of students. It has been observed that many students graduate from

schools with low command of English (Al-Ali, 2008; Al-Mahrooqi, 2012a; Al-

Mamari, 2012; Sergon, 2011). This requires them to study in General Foundation

Programmes (GFPs) at their higher institutions for up to 2 years before they can

start their tertiary study (Baporikar & Shah, 2012). GFPs are designed to support

students to improve their English language proficiency to the level required for

the success in their academic studies. However, many students graduate from

GFPs with poor English skills, but are still admitted to study in their degree

programmes. For example, Ismail (2011) explains that students with equivalent

scores of IELTS 4.5 are allowed to enter a degree programme in the College of

Applied sciences (CASS) in Oman. International English Language Testing

Service (IELTS, 2015: 12) would describe the student with such a score as

“limited user of English”. It is worth mentioning that the foreign western university,

which has been contracted to run the GFP, only admits students into their own

programme with IELTS 6.0. The English Programme Manager at CASS admits

that “IELTS 4.5 is too low a level but that it is necessary to ensure that an

acceptable number of students progress onto the degree programmes” (Ismail,

2011: 253). This clearly shows that social and political considerations also play a

role in educational decisions. In fact, research has shown that students face

many difficulties studying in English such as comprehending their lectures,

reading their textbooks, participating in classroom discussions and writing their

exams (Al-Bakri, 2013; Belhiah & Elhami, 2014; Troudi & Jendli, 2011).

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1.2 The rationale of the study

I was a faculty member at the post-foundation programme (PFP) at a Higher

College of Technology (HCT) in Oman. The vision of HCT as declared on its

official website at the time of the study is to provide “high quality teaching and

learning to prepare and empower the Omani professionals of the future so that

they can contribute to national socio-economic development” (College Vision and

Mission, 2015) One of its graduate attributes is that graduates “Can gather and

process knowledge from a variety of sources, and communicate effectively in

written and spoken English” (College Goals and Values, 2015). Qorro (2006: 3)

emphasises that “Quality education requires that learners take an active part in

knowledge creation through critical thinking, discussion, dialogue, asking

questions and solving problems”. She provides the following argument (ibid: 3):

Only when teachers and students understand the language of

instruction are they able to discuss, debate, ask and answer
questions, ask for clarification and therefore construct and generate
knowledge. These are activities that are a pre-requisite to learning
and whose level determines the quality of education. Thus, the
language of instruction is an important factor in determining the
quality of education.

At HCT students can enroll into their degree programmes after they pass the last

level in the GFP which is an intermediate level. From my own teaching

experience I would classify the English level of some students as elementary at

its best. To further support students with their English language and their

academic studies, they are offered some courses in the PFP. At the same time

17
students have to attend courses in their specialisations. Most content teachers

are non-native Arabic speakers coming from India, Philippines and Pakistan and

classes are held in English. Content teachers, unlike English teachers, might not

see it as their responsibility to support students with their English language and

might rather be concerned about delivering their course material. Considering

these factors, I wonder how students will be able to discuss, debate or ask

questions in order to take active part in knowledge creation. Although it seems

that the EMI policy has been adopted as a means for modernisation and

development, it is crucial to view this policy from a critical perspective. In fact,

Ricento (2006) warns that language policy is not ideologically free and is affected

by social and political forces, a concern shared by Shohamy (2006: 77) who

notes that language education policy “cannot stand alone but is rather connected

to political, social and economic dimensions”. Research on EMI in Oman is rather

limited and is mainly concerned with its effectiveness. For example, considering

the difficulties which students face through the EMI policy, it has been suggested

by Al-Mahrooqi and Tuzlukova (2014: 485) that “Higher education institutions

should foster and encourage student use of English on campus” and “Arab

professors should adhere to the „English only‟ policy in their classrooms”.

Considering the current practices at this college, and building on the findings of a

small-scale study that I conducted in another College of Technology in Oman (Al-

Bakri, 2013), this research aims at challenging the belief, which seems to have

become common sense, that high quality education is best provided to students

through English rather than their first language which is Arabic.

18
1.3 The significance of the study

Most research on EMI, in Oman in particular, has adopted the apolitical approach

which serves to maintain the status quo, i. e. the belief that EMI is necessary for

the modernisation and development of Oman. Although it has been

acknowledged that EMI can be problematic for students due to their low English

language proficiency (Al-Mashikhi, Al-Mahrooqi & Denman, 2014; Baporikar &

Shah, 2012; Sivaraman, Al-Balushi & Rao, 2014) and does not prepare students

well for the job market (Al-Mahrooqi & Denman, 2016; Al-Mahrooqi & Tuzlukova,

2014), it is assumed that increasing the quantity and quality of their English

studies could solve these problems. This research is significant in that it explores

and puts into question the very concept of EMI through reporting on students‟

learning experiences that are mostly affected by the EMI policy but whose

insights are not considered in language education policy planning. In particular,

this research aims to shed some light on the psychological effects which the EMI

policy could have on students which in turn could have an impact on their

learning experiences – an area which has been rarely addressed in the literature.

It further aims to explore the strategies which students employ in reading and

writing in a foreign language which are main skills for academic achievement and

which have so far rarely been explored in a tertiary setting. Tollefson (2013: 308)

argues that in order to reduce inequality in education, it is necessary to find ways

“to ensure that individuals and groups who are affected by policies have direct

involvement and power in policymaking”. The context of the study is also

significant because many Gulf countries have implemented the EMI policy and

19
governments invested huge human and financial resources to support teaching

in English (Al-Mahrooqi, 2012a; McLaren, 2011). The context could also be

significant to societies where the language of instruction (English) is different

from the language of communication (mother-tongue) outside the learning

environment of students such as Turkey. I hope that this research will raise

awareness among policy makers, administrators and teachers to the detrimental

impact such a policy could have on students‟ learning experiences and academic

achievement which could hinder students from contributing effectively in the

socio-economic development of the country.

1.4 Contribution to knowledge

This research aims to contribute to existing knowledge on EMI in tertiary settings,

in particular in the Omani context where research in this field is still in its infancy.

It also aims to contribute to the work of other researchers who have taken a

critical stance towards the EMI policy such as Findlow (2006, 2008), Ismail

(2011), Karamani (2010), McLaren (2011) and Troudi and Jendli (2011) among

others. Although literature on EMI is vast, most of it has been dominated by

research conducted in East Asia such as China (Hong Kong), Japan, Korea,

Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. This study is conducted in a context which had

never been a British colony and where students share the same first language

(Arabic) and the same religion (Islam). Although there has been a recent

increase in research on EMI in the Gulf (Al-Kahtany, Faruk & Al Zumor, 2016;

Habbash & Troudi, 2015 in Saudi Arabia; Ellili-Cherif & Alkhateeb, 2015 in Qatar;

20
King, 2014; Mouhanna, 2016; Solloway, 2016, 2017; Troudi & Al Hafidh, 2017 in

the UAE), research regarding EMI in Oman is scarce especially from a critical

stance. Providing students studying in different faculties with a voice about their

learning experiences with academic subjects and acquisition of English would

help in filling a gap in the literature on EMI, in particular in the Omani context.

Through exploring how the EMI policy is appropriated at the grass-route level by

students, possible gaps between the intended policy aims and their actual

outcomes could be identified. This could support policy makers in their future

language policy planning.

1.5 Research questions

The aim of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of EMI from students‟

perspectives at a public tertiary institution in Oman. The term “content areas”

used in the research questions below refers to students‟ major field of study such

as Engineering, Information Technology, Business Studies, Pharmacy, Applied

sciences, Photography and Fashion Design. This research has an exploratory

and critical agenda and attempts to answer the following research questions:

1. How do Omani students in content areas perceive EMI?

2. Does the EMI policy have an impact on the quality of their academic
experience?
3. Do students in content areas face any difficulties in reading materials
related to their specialisation?
4. Do students face any difficulties in writing effectively in English?
5. Does the EMI policy have an impact on students‟ academic performance?

21
1.6 Structure/Organisation of the thesis

This research is organised in six chapters. Chapter two, which follows this

introductory chapter, is designed to describe the context of the study which

includes information on cultural, socio-economic and political issues related to

Oman which have had an impact on education. It also provides a description of

the educational context and the population of the study. In chapter three, I will

present the theoretical framework that informed my study and I will review the

literature on language policies and research studies on EMI. Chapter four

examines the methodology of the study which includes the presentation of the

research framework, research questions and research design. This chapter also

discusses the ethical dimensions, challenges and the limitations of the study.

Chapter five aims at presenting and discussing the findings of the study in

relation to the research questions. In chapter six, the final chapter, I will present a

summary of the main findings and discuss implications and recommendations in

addition to providing suggestions for further research. I will also discuss the

theoretical and pedagogical contribution to knowledge. The chapter concludes

with a personal reflection on my thesis journey.

22
CHAPTER TWO – CONTEXT OF THE STUDY

This chapter focuses on the context in which the study was conducted. It looks

into the relationship between Oman and the English language through presenting

factors that have supported the spread of English. It also elaborates on the

current status of English, especially in regard to education in schools and higher

education institutions and it discusses the effectiveness of ELT in Oman. Finally,

it presents the contextual background of the tertiary institution in which the study

was conducted.

2.1 Oman and its relationship with the English language

The Sultanate of Oman is one of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

countries that include the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and

Bahrain. It is located in the eastern part of the Gulf area, bordering the UAE,

Saudi Arabia and Yemen from the west. From the south and east it borders the

Arabian Sea whereas form the north-east it borders the Gulf of Oman. The

coastline, which stretches around 1700 km, allowed coastal areas such as

Muscat and Mutrah to come into commercial contact with foreigners mainly from

India, Pakistan, Iran and East Africa. Some of these foreigners settled in the

coastal areas which required the Omanis living there to become tolerant towards

different languages, religions and lifestyles (Al-Busaidi, 1995). Although the

national language of Oman is Arabic, some Omanis are bilingual or even

multilingual. Omanis who have their roots in Zanzibar speak Swahili and those

who have their ancestors in Baluchistan (Pakistan) speak Balushi. Luwati is

23
spoken by people who have their origins in Iran whereas Jibbali is spoken in the

northern mountains of Dhofar. However, they all share Islam as their religion.

2.1.1 Factors promoting the spread of English

The spread of English in Oman did not happen by chance but can be related to

historical, political, social and economic factors. Al-Busaidi (1995) provides an

overview of the relationship between Britain and Oman which can be traced back

to 1646 when the British were granted trading opportunities with Sohar. Unlike

other GCC countries, “Oman had never been a British Colony or a Protectorate

or a Mandated territory” (ibid: 90). As early as 1800, Britain has been involved in

Omani affairs and in 1924, only Britain was granted the right to search for oil.

However, Al-Busaidi (ibid: 91) notes that “there were no English-medium schools

in Oman. There was no British-inspired education. There were no educated

Omanis”. This can probably explain why Oman depended mostly on expatriates

to run their business. Abdel-Jawad and Abu Radwan (2011: 127) in this regard

stated:

In fact, up to 1970 and even after that, there was a total

dependency on non-Arabic speaking expatriates, who were the
dominant workforce, with English being not only the language of
wider communication among them but also the main official
language for them.

Another factor for the spread of English is related to Omanis returning to Oman

after living in Zanzibar, which was under the rule of Oman from 1832-1964,

where they received their education in English. Although most of these Omanis

had finished only primary education and were mostly traders, shopkeepers and

24
transporters, they had good command of English. Al-Busaidi (1995: 95) remarks

that “The return of Omanis to Oman from East Africa resulted in a major increase

in the use of English in the labour market; perhaps no other linguistic group has

been more influential in this process than the Swahili speaking Omanis”.

The Indian community in Oman also had a great influence on the spread of

English in Oman. The Indians have been residents in Oman since at least the

16th century (Allen, 1987 in Al-Busaidi, 1995). Due to their advanced technical

and linguistic (English) knowledge, they were able to act as local agents between

Europeans and the Arabs, with English as the operating language between them

(Landen, 1967 in Al-Busaidi, 1995). Until present, Indians form the largest

expatriate workforce in Oman and are especially involved in education and the

English medium media (De Bel-Air, 2015; Poole, 2006).

The great number of expatriates from a variety of countries further reinforced

English in Oman. After the discovery of oil in Oman in 1963, there was a great

need for foreign expertise (Al-Jadidi, 2009). When Sultan Qaboos took power

after overthrowing his father in 1970, the revenues of oil were mainly used for the

social, economic and political development of the country which demanded the

support of expatriates from different countries. This has contributed to Oman‟s

rapid growth from 654 000 inhabitants in 1970 to over 4 million in April 2014

according to the National Centre for Statistics where Omanis constitute 55.8% of

the population whereas expatriates make up 44.2% (Times of Oman, 2014). The

expatriates are mainly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Philippines who

25
largely dominate the private sector (Al-Issa, 2006a; Al-Mahrooqi & Tuzlukova,

2014; De Bel-Air, 2015). Therefore, English functions as a lingua franca and is

“widely used in business, particularly in banks, chemist shops, medical clinics,

showrooms, general trade stores, restaurants, factories, hotels, insurance

agencies and companies” (Al-Issa, 2006a: 201). In addition, Al-Busaidi (1995:

107) points out that “It has never been a policy of the government, or indeed of

any private organization, to enforce a law of requiring the imported non-Arabic

speaking labour force to learn Arabic”. From my own observation I noticed that

most expatriates residing many years in Oman do not even learn the basics of

Arabic. The lack of interests of expatriates to learn Arabic can be attributed to the

fact that all facilities and services in Oman are available in English such as sign

boards, menus in restaurants or newspapers. In addition, most nationals have at

least some knowledge of English which makes communication possible.

2.2 The status of English in Oman

The status of English has been further promoted by Omani government‟s official

policies in which “the Omani government recognizes and stresses the important

and fundamental role English language is playing worldwide and that it is the

language of science and technology and an effective tool for modernization” (Al-

Issa, 2006a: 199). English in Oman receives political, economic and legislative

support from the government (Al-Issa, 2002). It has institutionalised domains

such as business, media and education (Al-Busaidi, 1995; Al-Issa, 2002). In

general, English is seen as vital for the national development and is considered

26
as a fundamental tool for Omanisation (Al-Issa, 2006b; Al-Hamadi, Budhwar &

Shipton, 2007). In fact, Al-Shmeli (2009 in Buckingham, 2015: 183) notes that in

reflection of the country‟s Omanisation policy, “the administrative and

management positions are predominantly filled by Omanis”. Competence in

English is therefore a necessary pre-requisite for finding a white-collar job in the

private and public sector (Al-Balushi, 2001; Al-Busaidi, 1995; Al-Mahrooqi,

Tuzlukova & Denman, 2016). In addition, Abdel-Jawad and Abu Radwan (2011:

130) explain that “English has been perceived as a symbol of prestige and an

assertion of a superior social status”.

2.3 English and education in Oman

2.3.1 ELT in schools

In education, English has also received a great deal of attention. From 1970,

English was embraced as the only officially taught foreign language in schools

(Al-Issa, 2006a) and it has been taught in higher education since 1986 (Al-

Mahrooqi & Tuzlukova, 2014). In fact, Al-Mahrooqi (2012a: 263) states that ELT

“is seen as a key element in the development of the country and its effective

integration into the modern world”. From 1970 – 1998 English was taught starting

grade four. This system is now referred to as General Education. From 1998

onward English has been taught as a foreign language starting from grade one at

an average of 3 – 4 hours per week and is called Basic Education. Several

researchers in Oman (Al-Issa, 2006a; Al-Jadidi, 2009; Ismail, 2011) indicated

that the decision to increase ELT in schools was taken in response to the

27
important Ministry of Education document entitled Philosophy and Guidelines for

the Omani English Language School Curriculum (Nunan, Tyacke & Walton,

1987) which emphasises that English is a source of national development and

economic progress of the Sultanate of Oman. For public schools, all textbooks

are locally produced at the English Language Curriculum department by British

authors and editors (Al-Issa, 2002). In contrast to public schools, private schools

use imported materials mainly from Britain or the USA. English is also taught as

a school subject with the exception of few bilingual private schools that teach all

science-based subjects in English. It is worth mentioning that the majority of

Omani students study in public schools where education is provided for free to all

students. English teachers consist of Omani nationals and expatriates who come

mainly from Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Sudan and India (Al-Jardani, 2012). Most

expatriates do not stay in Oman for more than four years so there are constantly

new teachers arriving to Oman who are not familiar with Oman‟s educational

system. Al-Jadidi (2009) states that there is a shortage of qualified Omani

English language teachers and that only few native English language teachers

teach at schools. In primary schools for example most female teachers are from

Oman.

2.3.2 ELT in higher education institutions

During the 1990s, English became the medium of instruction in all science-based

subjects in public and private higher education institutions. Therefore, students

who would like to enroll in a public or private higher education institution need to

28
have adequate English language proficiency before being accepted to study in

their degree programmes. It is worth mentioning that in most Omani tertiary

institutions, female students outnumber males (Buckingham, 2015). The entry

requirements in regard to English language proficiency might differ from one

institution to another. All public higher education institutions are fully funded by

the government. Students do not only study for free, but also receive a financial

allowance (90-100 Omani Rials equivalent to 170 £ per month) to cover for

accommodation and living expenses. Female students are also provided with

free transportation.

2.3.3 The effectiveness of ELT

In its effort to improve education, Oman “poured large recourses into language

teaching” at schools, colleges and universities (Al-Mahrooqi, 2012a: 263).

However, these efforts have not yielded the desired outcome because it has

been noticed that students graduate from school with weak English (ibid; Al-Issa,

2011). A study by Al-Mahrooqi (2012a: 263) reveals that the major factors for

students‟ weaknesses in English in schools are “ineffective teachers, inadequate

curricula, uninterested students, limited exposure to English outside the

classroom, unsupportive parents, a poor school system, and peer-group

encouragement”. Al-Issa (2006a: 202) notes that English is taught as a school

subject “to memorise and pass and is characterized as text-book based,

production-oriented and teacher-centred”. Most importantly, students‟

weaknesses in English are mainly related to the exam-based system which

29
encourages teaching through memorisation (Al-Balushi, 1999; Al-Hammami,

1999; Al-Issa, 2007; Al-Toubi, 1998). This can explain why students who enter

higher education institutions have “very limited knowledge of functional language”

(Babrakzai, 2001 in Al-Issa, 2006b: 228). Baporikar and Shah (2012: 15) point

out that 80% of students in Oman entering higher education institutions are first

required to study in GFPs because “school education provided to the student is

very weak to fit them for higher education”. Sivaraman et al. (2014: 28) who

conducted a small-scale study in an Engineering college in Oman, note that

“even after such foundation program training, it is observed that the students do

not feel comfortable in classes taught in English, as medium of instruction”. The

findings of the study (ibid) show that many students have difficulties

understanding the lectures, taking part in class discussions and understanding

exam questions. A study by Al-Mashikhi et al. (2014: 111) conducted at Sultan

Qaboos University (SQU), the only public university in Oman, also reveals that

over 60% of the students “avoided expressing their opinions in classroom

discussions because they are afraid of making mistakes” and that they claimed

difficulty in comprehending the content of their classes. In regard to students‟

overall academic achievement through EMI, Ismail (2011: 261) concludes that

“academic performance is negatively affected for the majority of students” and Al-

Mahrooqi and Tuzlukova (2014: 474) note that “Higher education graduates

emerge weak in English and thus with communication skills inadequate for the

job market”. From my own teaching experience in Oman in foundation and post-

foundation courses, I can only confirm these observations and concerns.

30
2.4 Institutional context of the study

The public college (HCT) where this study took place was established in 1984

and is one of seven colleges of technology operating under the patronage of the

Ministry of manpower. It is the second largest higher education institution in

Oman catering almost 14 000 students (male and female) and employs almost

1000 staff. Beside the English Language Centre (ELC), the college has seven

academic departments: Engineering, Information Technology, Business Studies,

Applied sciences, Pharmacy, Photography and Fashion Design. It follows a credit

hour system which allows for four levels of graduates: Certificate, Diploma,

Higher Diploma and Bachelor. It should be noted that the faculties vary in regard

to the levels which they offer. The faculties of Applied sciences, Engineering,

Information Technology, and Business Studies offer all four levels (Certificate –

Bachelor degree). Fashion Design offers three levels whereas Pharmacy and

Photography offer only two levels.

Subject teachers are recruited internationally and are mainly from India,

Philippines and Pakistan. Some come from Arab countries such as Egypt, Iraq,

Jordan, Palestine, Tunisia and Syria in addition to few Omani nationals while

teachers of native speaker origin are very rare. As a requirement to join the

college, teachers need to hold a PhD or Master degree in a specialised field with

minimum of four years teaching experience and they are expected to teach up to

20 hours per week. In addition, they have three hours office hours per week

where students can meet their teachers. In regard to English, a good command

31
of English is required according to a document for employment at this college

although English proficiency is not formally assessed. Teachers are not provided

with any kind of training to deal with students‟ linguistic challenges but are

regularly observed in their classes by their superiors. In the academic year

2015/2016, when the study was conducted, 13 960 students were enrolled in

different faculties where female students (n=7470) slightly outnumbered male

students (n=6490), (Ministry of Manpower, 2015). Most students are Omani

nationals while few come from Arab countries such as Iraq, Bahrain, Egypt or

Syria. Very few students come from non-Arab counties such as China. Therefore,

the majority of students share a similar background in terms of first language,

culture, religion, and education. Since the medium of instruction is English, it is

necessary that students have the linguistic ability to study in English. The ELC is

designed to support students in improving their English language proficiency

through the provision of non-credited courses in the GFP and to enhance their

academic writing and communicative ability through credited courses in the PFP.

The key goal of the ELC is “To develop learners‟ skills in English, including

speaking, reading, writing, listening, and study skills so as to prepare them for

higher studies in different areas of specialization” (HCT, Student Handbook,

2015/2016: 4). The materials used in the ELC and other departments are both

imported and in-house prepared and all exams are conducted in English.

32
2.4.1 Admission to HCT

Students‟ registration at HCT is dependent on ministerial decisions that might

vary from year to year and is therefore not dependent on students‟ personal

choice. The main criterion for students‟ enrollment at HCT is that they have

achieved the minimal mark in their high school certificate set by the ministry of

higher education. However, a pre-requisite for the admission in the specialised

programmes is to meet the English language requirement of the college.

Therefore, students have first to take an in-house prepared placement test and

are placed in 4 levels accordingly. Students who score above 86% in the

placement test are allowed to sit for level 4 exit exam. Students can be exempted

from taking the placement test if they provide evidence of a score record of an

international accredited exam such as 400 in Test of English as a foreign

language (TOEFL) or a band score of 4:0 in IELTS. However, they still have to

pass the level 4 exit exam. In addition, students have to meet Information

technology (IT) and Mathematics foundation programme requirements. The GFP

is offered in 3 terms. Each term lasts for around 14 weeks, but term 3 is an

intensive summer term and lasts for around 10 weeks. In level 1, students have

20 contact hours of English whereas in level 2- 4 students have 18 contact hours

of English. For students to pass from one level to another, they need to score

50% of the total assessment score. In addition, students are allowed to fail a

level only once. If they fail twice, then they will be dismissed from the ELC.

However, they can appeal for readmission. This is why some students need up to

two years to finish the GFP. Finally, when students pass level 4 exit exam and

33
Mathematics and IT foundation courses they are allowed to enroll in their

specialised undergraduate programmes.

2.4.2 Undergraduate programmes

Students study in one of the seven undergraduate programmes for 2-5 years

after foundation depending on the level of graduate and the department. This

means that it may take up to 7 years for some students to graduate with a

bachelor degree. In addition to their content courses, students have to take 4

English language courses in the PFP that are designed to enhance their

academic skills needed at this stage such as academic writing, presentation

skills, and public speaking/communication skills. All courses are credited and

there are four hours per week for each course over a period of 14 weeks

average. Teachers in content courses use mainly English to deliver the content

and use mainly in-house prepared materials related to each subject that are

distributed to students in the form of handouts and power-point presentations. All

exams are conducted in English and students‟ grades are not negatively affected

for making linguistic mistakes. However, students need to score 55% to pass.

For students to be promoted from one level to another, they have to fulfill certain

conditions. Students who have completed the diploma level and would like to

proceed to the higher diploma level need to achieve the required Cumulative

Grade Point Average CGPA (2.5) and an IELTS score of 4.5 or its equivalent

TOEFL, while students need to achieve the CGPA (2.75) and IELTS score of 5, if

they would like to continue to the bachelor degree level (HCT, Student

34
Handbook, 2015/2016: 8). I need to clarify that in reality students have to do an

in-house English level exit exam when they finish one level of graduate. These

scores are then converted to equivalent IELTS scores. According to these results

students are permitted into the next level of graduate if they would like to

continue their study.

2.4.3 The role of IELTS at HCT

It seems that the college has adopted IELTS, which is a British standardised

language proficiency test to evaluate the English language proficiency of

students. IELTS scores are reported in bands from 1 (lowest) – 9 (highest). The

table 1 below shows the candidates‟ abilities based on band scores 4 and 5

(IELTS, 2015: 14).

Band 5 Modest user Has partial command of the language, coping with
overall meaning in most situations, though is likely to
make many mistakes. Should be able to handle basic
communication in own field.
Band 4 Limited user Basic competence is limited to familiar situations. Has
frequent problems in understanding and expression. Is
not able to use complex language.

Table 1: Candidates’ abilities based on Band scores

The IELTS (2015) guide also provides information for institutions on the English

level needed for students to study effectively in specific academic disciplines.

The lowest acceptable score for linguistically less demanding courses is 5.5 (ibid:

15). Although the IELTS (2015: 15) guide acknowledges that “many diverse

35
variables can affect performance on courses, on which language ability is but

one”, and that individual institutions should decide on the appropriateness of the

level of English for students, I would like to argue that the entry requirement for

students to study content courses in English with a band score of 4.0 in IELTS is

too low for university studies, thereby supporting Sergon (2011: 23) in his

argument that tertiary level education in English in Oman “must necessitate more

than, at best, a „modest‟ ability in English”.

2.5 Conclusion

Within this context I intend to conduct my study. The participants of the study

consist of a monolingual group of students who are mainly Omani nationals who

studied in public schools in Arabic but who have to study at college in English.

Although EMI has been implemented in Oman for nearly 20 years, students‟

views regarding EMI have been rarely investigated. Since they are mostly

affected by this policy, their experiences should not be ignored when formulating

language policies. This study is an attempt to provide students with a voice

regarding their learning experiences with EMI.

36
CHAPTER THREE – LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter first considers the theoretical framework that informed the study.

This is followed by the discussion of the relevant literature and insights from it are

drawn and related to the current study. First, language policies and their

mechanisms will be discussed, and the main approaches to research on

language policies will be presented. In line with the theoretical framework of the

study, reasons for the implementation of the EMI policy at higher institutions will

be discussed from a critical perspective. Then critical issues related to the EMI

policy will be highlighted and the challenges teachers and students face under

this policy will be explored. Finally, different views regarding EMI will be

presented before the chapter ends with concluding remarks.

3.1 Theoretical framework

This study is informed by a postmodern critical approach based on critical

applied linguistics. Philosophically, critical applied linguistics has been affected

by critical theory, neo-marxism, postmodernism, post-structuralism and feminism.

The agenda of critical theory in order to foster the establishment of an egalitarian

society was developed by scholars such as Adorno, Horkenheimer, Marcuse,

Benjamin, Fromm and Habermas of the Frankfurt School (Carr & Kemmis, 1986;

Crotty, 2003; Pennycook, 2001). Critical theory also includes works of Freire,

Foucault, Giroux and Bourdieu among others. Although these critical theorists

represent plurality of critical theories, they share the conception that unequal

economic and political power relationships exist in society which serve the

37
interests of the dominant hegemony (Talmy, 2010). Therefore, critical theory is

mainly engaged in questions of inequality, injustice, rights and wrong

(Pennycook, 2001). The research approach consists of an action agenda to

promote change of inequality through sustained critique and emancipation of the

individuals. In fact, most research being done in critical domains related to critical

applied linguistics adopted the stance of emancipatory modernism (Pennycook,

2004) which stems from the assumption that “an adequate critique of social and

political inequality can lead to an alternative reality” (ibid: 7). Such an approach is

seen as problematic since it is prescriptive which implies that is does not

acknowledge the limits of its own knowing (Spivak, 1993 in Pennycook, 2001).

Unlike Marxism, which relates human class struggle to mainly economic reasons,

critical applied linguistics goes beyond Marxism because it considers the

elements of the local context. The main concern of critical applied linguistics is to

relate “aspects of applied linguistics to broader social, cultural, and political

domains” (Pennycook, 2001: 5) from a view-point that social relations are

problematic. Its aim is to problematize and question assumptions and practices

that have become naturalised and are taken for granted in the field of applied

linguistics of which critical language policy is part of. The critical questions are

related to “access, power, disparity, desire, difference and resistance” (ibid: 6).

This critical questioning can be linked to postmodernism which should be

understood “as a way of thinking and doing, a skeptical view of the world that

tries to take nothing for granted” (Pennycook, 2006: 62). This critical practice has

been suggested by Dean (1994: 4 in Pennycook, 2001: 8) and is called “the

38
restive problematization of the given”. It is important to mention that Pennycook

(1999, 2001) argues for a self-reflexive stance on critical theory since the notion

of critical in applied linguistics indicates an awareness of the limits of knowing.

In line with this approach, I will adopt a postmodern-problematizing stance in my

study in which an alternative truth to the issue of EMI is not sought. Instead, it

aims to challenge and problematize the seemingly taken for granted assumption

that education at higher institutions in developing countries such as Oman is best

provided in English, with the hope to offer possibilities that could influence future

decisions on language education policies. Ernest (1994: 32) points out the

difficulties that can be encountered when questioning or challenging assumptions

which are seen as “common sense” by institutional bodies. He warns that “If

there is no progress, and there is little of the knowledge that the other two

educational research paradigms seek to establish, then the danger is that there

may be no worthwhile outcome for the time and energy invested”. Researching

the appropriateness and effectiveness of the EMI policy in Oman from a critical

stance is not a simple task considering the top-down nature of the EMI policy

decisions. I am well aware that an immediate change in the EMI policy might not

occur in response to my research. Nevertheless, raising awareness to critical

issues related to EMI and providing students with the opportunity that their voices

are heard could have a positive impact on change for a better situation. In fact,

Troudi (2015: 96) argues that it is “essential to acknowledge that changes to

attitudes, practices and policies is often very slow and necessitates vital stages

of problematization and raising awareness”.

39
3.2 Language policy

Language policy can be defined in many ways as Skutnabb-Kangas (2006)

notes. Phillipson and Skutnabb-Kangas (1996: 434) state that “Language policy

is a broad, overarching term for decisions on rights and access to languages and

on the roles and functions of particular languages and varieties of language in a

given polity” whereas Tollefson (2000: 13) clarifies that “Language policy refers

to a wide range of governmental and non-governmental actions to influence

language acquisition and language use”. A more critical and detailed definition

has been provided by Shohamy (2006: 45) who maintains that “language policy

(LP) is the primary mechanism for organizing, managing and manipulating

language behaviors as it consists of decisions made about languages and their

uses in society”. She further explains that through language policy decisions are

made about which languages should gain status and priority in society such as

global, national, local, regional or others; which languages will be considered as

official, standard, correct and national and which languages will be considered as

important for economic and social status such as English. It can also help in

legitimizing the revival of marginalised languages.

Examples of language policy can be seen in India, Philippines and Singapore

where the official language is English, in the European Union which

acknowledges twenty-five languages as official languages and in the United

Nation, which as a result of a complaint made by eighteen states against the

monolingual United Nation, acknowledges six official languages to be used

40
(Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish) thereby leaving

delegates from other nationalities no other choice than to use English (Piron,

1994 in Phillipson & Skutnabb-Kangas, 1996). Especially the last example makes

it clear that although language policies attempt to solve problems of

communication in multilingual settings, it can also lead to inequalities as they can

violate democratic rights.

Language policies can be stated explicitly through official documents or they can

be derived implicitly through the examination of a variety of practices (Shohamy,

2006). Schiffman (1996 in Shohamy, 2006) differentiates between overt (explicit)

and covert (implicit) policy. He argues that it is not sufficient to study the overt

and declared policies but it is necessary to study the covert and de facto policies.

Ricento (2006: 10) notes that an overarching theory on language policy and

language planning does not exist due to the “complexity of these issues which

involve language in society”. However, a useful framework for language policy

that distinguishes between policy and practice has been introduced by Spolsky

(2004) in which he identifies three components of language policy: belief,

practice and management. Beliefs refer to the ideologies about language that

affect language policy. Practice is related to the actual language practice,

regardless of the policy and management is related to specific acts to manage

language behaviour in a specific context. Spolsky (ibid: 222) further argues that

“real language policy of a community is more likely to be found in its practices

than its management”. Shohamy (2006) clarifies that „real‟ language policy (LP)

is manifested through multiple types of mechanisms. She defines these

41
mechanisms as “overt and covert (i.e., hidden) devices used as means of

affecting, creating, and perpetuating language practices, hence de facto LPs”

(ibid: 57). Examples of these mechanisms and devices are laws, rules and

regulations, standardisation and officiality, language education policies, and

language tests. She explains that these mechanisms or policy devices are used

by all groups in a society in a top-down or bottom-up approach although those in

authority are more powerful in their use of these mechanisms. Often people are

not aware that these devices are powerful tools to influence language behaviour

and practice. Therefore, people comply with these mechanisms unquestioningly

or without resistance, unaware of their sometimes negative influence on

language rights and democratic processes.

Examples of overt policies that differ from real or covert policies can be seen in

multiple contexts. For example, although Arabic is an official language in Israel,

its presence is very limited. It is not used in public places where Jews live and

there is no use of it in government agencies or even in Parliament (Shohamy,

2006). Another example is related to Europe. Coleman (2006: 1) notes that

“Individual plurilingualism and societal multilingualism are the principles which

underpin the language policies of both the European Union and the Council of

Europe”. However, covert practices in regard to language in education especially

in higher education reveal that English has been promoted at the expense of

other languages. Phillipson (2009a) argues that internationalisation in fact means

English-medium higher education. Finally, in Oman, there is no overt policy that

explicitly states that the language of instruction at tertiary level has to be English.

42
Nevertheless, the EMI policy is practiced in most public and private higher

education institutions and can therefore be seen as a covert policy.

Tsuda (1994) states that there are two language policy paradigms: diffusion-of-

English paradigm and ecology-of-language paradigm. They should be regarded

as two opposing paradigms. Language policy can be implemented to serve one

end or the other. The diffusion-of-English paradigm is mainly characterised by

monolingualism, modernisation, ideological globalisation and internationalisation,

linguistic, cultural and media imperialism. In contrast, the ecology-of-language

paradigm promotes multilingualism, equality in communication, maintenance of

languages and cultures, promotion of foreign language education and protection

of human rights. Language policies such as EMI in higher education in the Gulf

belong to the diffusion-of-English paradigm. So far, the diffusion-of-English policy

paradigm has been dominant for the past two centuries (Phillipson & Skutnabb-

Kangas, 1996; Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000). Language policies that promote the use

of English in education all over the world, increasingly in higher education

institutions in Europe, can only confirm this observation. I add my voice to

Phillipson and Skutnabb-Kangas (1996) who argue that the ecology-of-language

policy paradigm should be promoted to encourage linguistic diversity.

3.2.1 Research approaches on language policy

Until the 2000s, language policy approaches could be divided into two main

periods (Tollefson, 2013). Research within the first period began in the 1960s

and early 1970s and focused on language policies of the nation-state. This

43
traditional approach, or neo-classical approach as termed by Tollefson (1991),

stems from the widely held assumption that language policies are adopted to

“enhance communication, to encourage feelings of national unity and group

cooperation, and to bring about social and economic equality” (Tollefson, 2002:

5). This approach remains dominant in research on language policies. The

emergence of critical applied linguistics as a field of study in the 1990s which

focuses on the role of language in power, control, dominance and equality has

led to the emergence of a critical approach on research on language policy,

which rejects this apolitical, positivist approach. Language policy research within

this period has adopted the historical-structural approach as termed by Tollefson

(1991). Critical language policy research has been affected by critical theory,

which includes work that examines “the processes by which systems of inequality

are created and sustained” (Tollefson, 2006: 43). It therefore stems from the

premise that language policies perpetuate socioeconomic inequalities and that

policy-makers usually adopt policies that serve the interests of dominant social

groups (ibid). The critical approach stresses that language policies are

ideological although it might not be apparent (Tollefson, 1991). The main tenets

of critical language policy research are power, struggle, hegemony, ideology and

resistance. Moreover, Tollefson (2002: 4) argues that “a critical perspective

aggressively investigates how language policies affect the lives of individuals and

groups who often have little influence over the policymaking process”. Recently,

the historical-structural approach has been criticized for focusing on top-down

policy planning while emphasis should be paid to “local decisions of individual

44
language users, teachers, parents, administrators, and communities” (Tollefson,

2013: 27). The historical-structural approach is seen as too deterministic that

leaves little space for human choice. This has led to the emergence of the public

sphere approach that emphasises agency rather than structure. Language policy

research has also been affected by Phillipson‟s model of linguistic imperialism

(1992, 2009b) and research on linguistic human rights (Phillipson & Skutnabb-

Kangas, 1995; Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000, 2006).

3.3 Language education policy – EMI

According to Shohamy (2006: 76) language education policy “is considered a

form of imposition and manipulation of language policy as it is used by those in

authority to turn ideology into practice through formal education”. An example of

language education policy is the adoption of EMI in higher education. The impact

of the global spread of English has affected language policy and language

education policy in many countries all over the world. In Europe, Ferguson (2006)

pointed to the escalation in the number of EMI programmes offered at European

universities such as Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Denmark. Wächter and

Maiworm (2008 in Doiz, Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2013) note that there was a 340

percent increase in EMI programmes in European higher education between

2002 and 2007. In China, which is a newcomer to EMI in comparison to

European countries, the implementation of EMI is seen as essential for improving

the quality of undergraduate University programmes; a view that has been

questioned by Hu, Li and Lei (2014) and Kirkpatrick (2011). Due to the rapidly

45
growing global phenomenon of EMI, a research centre on EMI has been

established with the collaboration of the British council in 2014 called “EMI

Oxford”. A study conducted by the centre on 55 countries concluded that “the

general trend is towards a rapid expansion of EMI provision” (Dearden, 2015: 2).

The adoption of EMI at tertiary level is also very common in Asian countries as a

review by Hamid, Nguyen and Baldauf (2013), Nunan (2003) and Fenton-Smith,

Humphreys and Walkinshaw (2017) shows. In regard to the status of English in

the Arab world, Habbash and Troudi (2015: 57) assert that “English has gained a

higher status than ever before, particularly in the Gulf States where English, it is

believed, unquestionably brings many advantages to the millions who learn it”.

Therefore, most public and private higher education institutions in the Gulf have

opted for EMI. Unlike universities in Europe, where only some programmes are

taught in English, students in the Gulf often have no other choice than to study at

tertiary level through English especially for scientific specialisations.

3.3.1 Reasons for EMI

Several reasons for the adoption of EMI have been reported in the literature.

Tollefson (2002: 5) asserts that the rationales provided by policy makers should

be viewed critically:

Too often, policy documents and the rationales offered for them
by policymakers and state authorities are taken at face value. A
critical perspective toward language policy emphasizes the
importance of understanding how public debates about policies
often have the effect of precluding alternatives, making state
policies seem to be the natural condition of social systems.

46
The first argument in favour of the adoption EMI especially at tertiary level is

related to the global spread of English. Since most resources on the internet and

academic resources in different fields are mainly in English, many people see

English to serve a global purpose especially in academia and business (Crystal,

1997). For example, Graddol (1997: 45) notes:

The need to teach some subjects in English, rather than the

national language, is well understood: in the sciences, for example,
up-to-date text books and research articles are obtainable much
more easily in one of the world languages and most rapidly of all in
English.

This is a rather simplistic view and has been contested by many scholars such as

Phillipson (1992, 2009b), Tollefson and Tsui (2004), Pennycook (1994),

Shohamy (2006), and Kumaravadivelu (2006). In Europe globalisation and

internationalisation are seen as key factors for the increased use of EMI at higher

institutions (Coleman, 2006; Doiz et al., 2013). Research has shown that the

main reasons for offering programmes in English at European universities are “to

attract international students, to prepare domestic students for the global market,

and to raise the profile of the institution” (Doiz, Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2011:

347). It is even seen as necessary to attract domestic students (Kurtán, 2004 in

Doiz et al., 2011). In addition, universities are able to augment their revenue by

charging international students with higher fees than domestic students (Barnard,

2014). The income from international students does not only serve the

universities but also the State‟s economy (Bolsmann & Miller, 2008 as cited in

Doiz et al., 2013). Therefore, economic, financial and political reasons rather

47
than educational seem to be the driving forces behind the promotion for EMI at

universities (Tollefson, 2015).

Another reason for the use of EMI is the assumption that learning content

through English will promote students‟ mastery of English (Ali, 2013; Becket & Li,

2012; Chapple, 2015; Macaro, 2015; Shohamy, 2013) which is perceived to be

“intertwined with the overall economic development of a country, and therefore is

a desirable attribute for national governments to promote” (Ali, 2013: 73). This

can be seen in most colonial and post-colonial countries in Africa and Asia where

local languages are taught at school but English is used at tertiary level which is

viewed as more prestigious. This can also be seen in countries that do not have

a colonial history such as Oman where English has been recognised by the

government as a tool for technological and scientific advancement and

modernisation. Such a view inevitably sends a message to the Omani youth that

Arabic is not adequate for the acquisition of knowledge and skills needed in the

globalised world. I support Troudi (2009: 6) in his position that “the direct

implication of EMI policies is that Arabic will be sidelined and will play a minor

educational role”. In fact, Shohamy (2013: 203) points out that extensive

research is needed “to explore how much language is being gained by such

programmes as well as how much academic content is being achieved”.

However, research findings in this regard are rather inconclusive. For example,

while the participants in Chang‟s (2010) study in Taiwan reported that EMI

helped them to improve their English language proficiency, especially in listening,

a study by Lei and Hu (2014) in China found that EMI had no significant effect on

48
students‟ English level. In fact, Chapple (2015: 3) in Japan argues that there is

“an inherent danger in the naïve and simplistic assumption that merely equates

classes taught in English as leading automatically to increased overall language

proficiency”. He emphasises that studies which found a correlation between

English-medium learning and language proficiency such as Wong (2010) have

been mostly conducted in elite institutions where students have already linguistic

competence. In the aforementioned study, only few students reported a gain in

their linguistic abilities. In contrast, 34% failed to complete the course due to

language deficiencies. Findings in the Gulf also suggest that language

improvement occurs over time as a result of studying in English (Al-Mahrooqi &

Tuzlukova, 2014 in Oman; Belhiah & Elhami, 2014 in the UAE; Pessoa, Miller &

Kaufer, 2014 in Qatar). While these studies depended mostly on students‟

perceptions regarding language improvement, a study by Rogier (2012) in the

UAE investigated students‟ language gain through the comparison of IELTS

scores at entry and exit level. He found that after four years of EMI, students‟

language proficiency has increased in speaking, reading writing and listening.

Still teachers found that students‟ writing and listening skills lag behind. It is worth

mentioning that while teachers in King‟s (2014: 145) exploratory study in the UAE

also noted an improvement in their students‟ language, they believe that “the

level is still not good enough at the end”. Overall, findings seem to be

inconclusive since many variables other than EMI could affect students‟ language

proficiency such as context, individual learner differences and teaching style.

49
Enhancing the quality of education is also one of the goals of introducing EMI,

especially in developing countries where good education is often perceived as

English education (Hamid at al., 2013a). This view has been contested by

scholars such as Brock-Utne (2001, 2006) and Quorro (2006) who argue that a

pre-requisite for meaningful and effective learning is the use of the first language

as medium of instruction. Similarly, Markee (2002) and Bruthiaux (2002) state

that research has not supported the view that education through EMI guarantees

success or equivalent level of academic knowledge gain as when education

through mother tongue is implemented. In fact, Habbash and Troudi (2015: 59)

mention that some studies at university level have found that “education in a

foreign language will not necessarily augment students‟ potential to acquire the

subject knowledge; nor will it result in competent users in that language”. A study

by Becket and Li (2012) which explored Chinese students‟ experiences and

perceptions of EMI showed that the majority of students expressed their concern

of the shallow content that was delivered through EMI. Nevertheless, the

students supported EMI as they believe that the spread of English in China will

benefit the people and the nation. It could be that they were supportive due to

pragmatic reasons considering their career prospectus in the future.

3.4 Critical issues related to EMI

3.4.1 Domain loss of L1

Several researchers have voiced their concern that European languages are

experiencing loss of domain in “research publication, in higher education,

50
business and international relations” (Phillipson, 2009a: 337). Macaro (2015)

warns that teaching science subjects in English will inevitably lead publishers to

stop publishing science material in the home language. Therefore, national

languages will lose their status as language of science. Concern about domain

loss and the decreased role of L1 has been mainly voiced in Germany, Belgium

and the Netherland (Wilkinson, 2013) as well as Sweden (Airey, 2004).

Wilkinson (2013: 12) clarifies that “Domain loss is a critical concern, in that it

entails an entire academic discipline no longer being available in the L1 at a

national level”. However, domain loss seems less of a concern of the individual

institution that benefits financially from attracting international students. Similarly,

it might not be of concern for students who seek to prepare themselves for an

increasingly international job-market (ibid). The fear of domain loss is not

restricted to Europe but is also apparent in Asia. For example, Kirkpatrick (2011)

expresses his resentment that six out of eight government-funded universities in

Hong Kong are officially English medium universities. This undermines the

Chinese language which is not “some un-regarded minor language of few

speakers and with no tradition of scholarship” (ibid: 9).

In the Arab world, arguments about domain loss are also evident. Habbash and

Troudi (2015: 62) state that several studies in the Arab world showed that

teaching through English only, could lead to linguistic-cultural dualism where

English is viewed “as a symbol of technology and modern life, travel and

employment, while Arabic is educationally marginalised and is seen to represent

tradition, religion and even worse, backwardness”. For example, Findlow (2006)

51
conducted a qualitative study at three higher institutions in the UAE to explore

500 students‟ perceptions on EMI through the employment of a survey and semi-

structured interviews. The findings indicate that the participants tend to associate

English with notions of modernity, internationalism, secularism, business and

material success, while Arabic was closely linked to localism, religion, tradition

and emotions. In a similar line, Al-Rubaie (2010: 263) in Kuwait explored over

200 trainee teachers‟ views on English through the use of a questionnaire and

semi-structured interviews and found that the “participants associated Arabic with

religion, history and local traditions, while English was linked to technology and

science”. Finally, Habbash and Troudi (2015) conducted a small-scale qualitative

study in Saudi Arabia to critically explore the effect of the spread of English on

students‟ and teachers‟ views regarding the use of English in public education.

The research methods employed were document analysis and semi-structured

interviews with eight male secondary school students and ten male English

language teachers. The findings indicate that the reliance on English in particular

as a language of instruction relegates Arabic to a “second-class status” (ibid: 71).

These studies in particular are relevant to my own study since students‟ views

regarding the use of English versus Arabic in higher education are sought.

The concern that English poses a threat to Arabic has been expressed by many

intellectuals (Ahmed, 2010; Al-Askari, 2002; Al-Dhubaib, 2006; Al-Jarf, 2008;

Hunt, 2012; Ismail, 2011; Pessoa & Rajakumar, 2011; Suleiman, 2004; Troudi,

2009; Troudi & Jendli, 2011; Troudi & Al Hafidh, 2017). In the UAE in particular

this concern also received some attention in the media (Pennington, 2015;

52
Salama, 2010; Salem, 2014). Similarly, the article by Guttenplan (2012) in Qatar

highlights the concern that university students in Qatar are weak in Arabic. Al-

Jazeera news also presented several articles where the author (Al-Jundi, 2013)

questioned the practice of studying scientific subjects in English instead of the

mother tongue Arabic. Not only intellectuals are concerned about the loss of

Arabic, but also some students expressed their concern about their inability to

use MSA (Pessoa & Rajakumar, 2011; Troudi & Jendli, 2011). While Qatar

University in 2012 reacted and switched from EMI to AMI in four colleges

(Belhiah & Elhami, 2014; Ellili-Cherif & Alkhateeb, 2015) a decision that

seemingly aroused a great deal of debate (Lindsey, 2012), Oman does not seem

to show great concern about the domain loss of Arabic. To my knowledge, only

very view voices regarding the impact of EMI on Arabic has been risen with the

exception of Ismail (2011), Al-Bakri (2013) and Abdel-Jawad and Abu Radwan

(2011: 147) who question “in face of this hegemony, one may wonder what the

future holds for the native language”. The effect of EMI on the national language

should not be taken lightly. If English is seen to serve global needs while the use

of Arabic becomes restricted to local use then Arabic will be inevitably sidelined.

The discussion above shows that the EMI policy further promotes the hegemony

of the English language; it does not only increase the spread of English but most

importantly it gives English a superior status and prestige in relation to the

national language.

53
3.4.2 Benefits of EMI

Critics of the spread of English have argued that the benefits of English are not

distributed equally (Tollefson, 2000). This could be applied to the benefits of EMI.

Shohamy (2013: 189) contends that “the teaching of English at HEIs (Higher

Education Institutions) actually leads to discrimination against students whose

English proficiency is not high and who are prevented from maximising their

academic knowledge”. Marsh (2006: 30) states that “the adoption of English as a

medium of learning is responsible for school wastage in various continents” and

that learning through English has led to “confusion, despair, and high dropout

rates”. It is worth mentioning that Marsh (2006) relates the failure of EMI to its

inappropriate implementation. In addition, EMI serves as a gatekeeper to higher

education in the Gulf at least because students have to meet certain language

proficiency requirements in order to be admitted to some colleges (Al-Bakri,

2013; Troudi, 2009; Troudi & Jendli, 2011). The EMI policy could also have an

impact on students‟ career choice. Students who find it difficult to study in English

might choose a major that is offered in Arabic but which might not be compatible

with their interests (Troudi & Jendli, 2011). Moreover, Tsui and Tollefson (2004:

2) point out that the EMI policy “determines which social and linguistic groups

have access to political and economic opportunities”. Barnard (2014) elaborates

on this view and states that teaching in English widens the gap between the

middle classes which can afford learning in English and the working classes who

have to put up with it. In the Gulf, students who can afford to study at private

schools through English are advantaged when joining higher education

54
institutions in comparison to students who studied at public schools through

Arabic (Troudi & Jendli, 2011). Moreover, learning through English does not

necessarily provide equal job opportunities and benefits for their learners. For

example, the field of education in the Gulf has witnessed biased recruitment

processes (McLaren, 2011). Many tertiary institutions advertise for teaching

positions with a notice that native speakers or graduates from western-based

universities are preferred. This disadvantages those who graduated from

universities in the Gulf or other Asian countries despite having studied their

specialisation in English. In Oman, students who graduate with higher English

language proficiency are more likely to get a well-paid job than those who are

less proficient since the knowledge of English is one of the basic requirements

for getting a white-collar job (Al-Balushi, 2001; Al-Busaidi, 1995).

3.5 Challenges related to EMI

3.5.1 The changing role of content teachers

Shohamy (2013) points out it is assumed that students would be motivated to

learn in English an academic subject they are interested in, while improving their

language skills at the same time. This implies a paradigm shift in language

planning in which content-area lecturers have become responsible for the

development of students‟ language proficiency, suggesting a shift away from the

present paradigm in which English lecturers are responsible for this (Ali, 2013).

However, content teachers do not emphasise on language learning in class

(Aguilar & Rodríguez, 2012 in Spain; Costa & Coleman, 2013 in Italy; Kerklaan,

55
Moreira, & Boersma, 2008 in Portugal). In fact, Doiz et al. (2013: 217) indicate

that “Heed is usually paid to vocabulary, but grammar is hardly ever worked on in

class, even by those teachers who have a background in linguistics”. The reason

could be that content teachers do not see themselves as language teachers but

expect students to have the necessary language requirement to focus on content

(Airey, 2012; Ali, 2013; Dearden, 2015; Rogier, 2012; Wilkinson, 2013). A study

conducted in 55 Asian countries shows that EMI teachers “firmly believed that

teaching English was not their job” (Dearden, 2015: 28). In contrast, they

believed that English proficiency would develop as a by-product of the content

lessons and they thought that students should be responsible for their language

development. King (2014) in the UAE explored 45 content teachers‟ views on

EMI in the tertiary sector though the use of an open-ended questionnaire and

semi-structured interviews with nine of them. King found that content teachers

did not acknowledge their role as English teachers and most of them would direct

a student to an English teacher for help. There seems to be a gap between the

goals of the EMI policy at the macro-level (nation) and the implementation of

these goals at the micro-level (classroom) which should be considered by policy-

makers.

3.5.2 Content teachers’ linguistic and pedagogic competence

Another crucial issue is the linguistic and pedagogic competence of content

teachers to effectively deliver academic content through EMI. It has been

reported in the literature that many content teachers, especially in Asia, have

56
limited language proficiency to teach in English (Hamid, 2011; Hamid, Jahan &

Islam, 2013; Zacharias, 2013). Likewise in Europe, teachers seem to struggle

with language proficiency (Airey & Linder, 2006; Wilkinson, 2013). For example,

Vinke, Snippe and Jochems (1998) in the Netherland reported that teachers

found difficulty in expressing themselves effectively in English. Griffiths (2013) in

Norway explored teachers‟ perspectives on EMI and their practices through the

employment of interviews with 20 teachers and 5 classroom observations. She

reported that many teachers felt challenged teaching in English and that “limited

vocabulary caused challenges for all disciplines” (ibid: 100). In addition, Barnard

(2015: 9) argues that those who have the linguistic ability might not have the

pedagogic ability “to deliver conceptually complex matters in a second language”

a concern shared by Griffiths (2013) who found that teachers lack the pedagogic

competence necessary for the multi-cultural classroom. Another example is a

study by Wilkinson (2005) who notes that Dutch content lecturers needed more

time to deliver lessons through EMI due to their weaker linguistic ability which

they felt was frustrating. Also it was found that content teachers often adopt the

strategy to stay closely to the text book while delivering the content (Airey &

Linder, 2006; Hu et al., 2014; Zacharias, 2013) most probably “to minimize

spontaneous interaction and improvisation” (Hu et al., 2014: 35). Therefore, EMI

classes are seen as boring and lacking sparks and humour (Barnard, 2015; Sert,

2008). Alidou and Brock-Utne (2011) argue that in fact teachers feel more

comfortable in classes where they can use their mother-tongue. Another crucial

issue is that in most English medium settings teachers hardly receive training on

57
how to teach through EMI (Dearden, 2015; Williams, 2015; Zacharias, 2013). Vu

and Burns (2014) indicate that the only criterion to be a lecturer at an EMI

programme in a Vietnamese public university is the ability to use English. In

Zacharias‟ (2013: 105) qualitative study in Indonesia, 12 teachers reported

through semi-structured interviews that “the training that they received was only

dealt with daily English and not the English for the specialised purpose related to

their subject matter”. In contrast, the need for pedagogic training for EMI was not

seen as necessary by teachers in Griffiths (2013) study. Williams (2015) points

out that the instructors‟ inadequate level of English seems to be a global problem

which has so far not received much attention. Ibrahim (2001: 125) went so far as

to label instructors‟ lack of proficiency as a “threat” to EMI. I would argue that

these are serious issues that have to be considered by policy-makers because

this will inevitably have a negative impact on the quality of education the students

receive and on students‟ academic learning experience, an issue that has been

rarely discussed in the literature on EMI.

3.5.3 Students’ English language proficiency

The inadequate linguistic competence of students studying through EMI has

been widely discussed in the literature. A pre-requisite for comprehending

academic content is that students have adequate linguistic competence.

According to Barnard (2015) an IELTS score of 6.5 – 7.0 is needed for students

to join an international university. Hellekjær (2009) argues that the development

of basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) is not sufficient for students to

58
cope with the demands of higher education in English, but they need to develop

cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP). There is evidence in the

literature that the majority of students in Asian contexts graduate from school

with low English language proficiency (Kirkpatrick, 2011; Evans & Morrison,

2011a). Students with low English competence will most probably lack the ability

to use English in an academic context where they are required to read, write,

comprehend and interact in the classroom and conduct oral presentations. In

South Africa, van Wyk (2014) has pointed out that at the University of Free State,

65% of students encounter great difficulties to comprehend the academic content

because of their low English proficiency. In addition, research has shown that

interaction in EMI classrooms among teachers and students is very limited

(Brock-Utne, 2006, 2012; Chang, 2010; Kagwesage, 2012). While Chang (2010)

and Kagwesage (2012) used questionnaires and semi-structured interviews in

their research, Brock-Utne (2006) employed class room observations to gain

insight into an EMI classroom, a data collection method that has been rarely

employed in research on EMI and which I will consider using in my own research.

In addition, it has been noted that students find it difficult to take notes during

lectures and prefer to copy notes from the board or the teacher (Airey & Linder,

2006; Kagwesage, 2012). In the UAE, it has been reported that many students

are linguistically not ready to continue their higher education in English. For

example, Belhiah and Elhami‟s (2015) survey of 100 teachers and 500 students

at six universities in the UAE on the effectiveness of EMI found that many

students struggle in class due to the exclusive use of English. In Oman, several

59
researchers indicated that more than 80% of students do not have adequate

English language proficiency to study at tertiary level (Al-Issa, 2011; Baporikar &

Shah, 2012). Students are not comfortable in the EMI classes and this is

reflected in their comprehension of the modules, class participation, exam

preparation and overall performance (Al-Bakri, 2013; Al-Mashikhi et al., 2014;

Sivaraman et al., 2014). It should be noted that the study that I conducted in

2013 was a small-scale study which consisted of semi-structured interviews with

10 students studying in different specialisations and 5 classroom observations,

while Sivaraman et al. (2014) employed only a survey that was distributed to 132

students and 85 teachers at an Engineering college. Similarly, Al-Mashikhi et al.

(2014) used a closed-ended questionnaire featuring 30 items and 5 open-ended

questions that were distributed among 60 undergraduate science students.

However, the dependence on self-reports alone is not sufficient to gain deep

insights into the challenges which students face. In addition, the above

mentioned studies were rather small-scale and were restricted to students

studying in one department with the exception of Al-Bakri (2013). Including

students from other departments might have yielded different results. This study

aims to fill the gaps in this regard. In addition, some studies indicated that

students‟ comprehension level was also related to teachers‟ delivery style, accent

and speech rate (Navaz, 2013 in Sri Lanka; Kym & Kym, 2014 in Korea). For

example, Miller (2009) reported that the participants preferred Hong Kong

teachers because it was easier for them to understand their accent than other

English accents. In Oman, this issue has to my knowledge not been explored.

60
However, Al-Issa and Al-Bulushi (2012) mentioned that Omani students are

familiar with the accents of Arab teachers and Al-Issa (2005) stated that Omani

students are exposed to British and US English accents in their listening material

as they are viewed as the correct model for English.

Despite the acknowledgement that students encounter great challenges studying

through English, the EMI policy is nevertheless mostly supported in the literature.

Macaro (2015: 7), the Director of the Centre for Research and Development in

English Medium Instruction, referring to the challenges facing any institution

adopting EMI, remarks that:

Nevertheless my understanding of the current situation is that it is

an unstoppable train. Better therefore that we do everything we can
to keep it on the rails and allow its passengers to reach their
destination safely rather than try to block its progress.

Most research discussing the challenges, also describe how students were able

to overcome these challenges or recommend solutions and strategies to

overcome these problems. For example, Evans and Morrison in Hong Kong

(2011a) investigated language-related challenges that first-year students face

when trying to adjust to the demands of EMI through the employment of a survey

sent to 3000 students and semi-structure interviews conducted with 28 students.

The findings indicate that students were able to deal with these challenges

through high motivation, hard work, effective strategies, and peer support.

Research also found that in order to cope with the difficulties of EMI, students

tend to use surface level learning strategies such as memorising or copying from

teachers and peers (Brock-Utne & Alidou, 2011; Kagwesage, 2012).

61
3.5.4 Reading disciplinary content in English

Reading academic texts is considered to be one of the most important skills for

L2 tertiary students studying through English (Shen, 2013). Research has shown

that quite often students enter higher education without being prepared for the

demands of academic reading. Sengupta (2002: 3) defined academic reading as

“purposeful and critical reading of a range of lengthy academic reading texts for

completing the study of specific major subject areas”. In Norway, Hellekjær

(2009) explored 578 university students‟ academic reading proficiency through

the employment of a reading proficiency test and a questionnaire. The findings

indicate that unfamiliar vocabulary and slow reading were seen as the key source

for the difficulty of reading. It is worth mentioning that 16-year old Norwegian

students performed well in a comparative study on English language proficiency

that was conducted in eight European languages (Bonnet, 2004 in Hellekjær,

2009). The author concludes that “This could, in fact, imply that the inadequate

level of academic English reading proficiency displayed by the Norwegian

respondents in the present study is better than the levels that are found in most

other non-English-speaking countries” (ibid: 16). Therefore, it is expected that

students in Asia, who often have not even reached efficient BICS, face difficulties

in reading academic texts.

In the Asian/South African context, several studies investigated the challenges

students face in their academic study through English. An example is a large-

scale study by Evans and Green (2007) in Hong Kong where around 5000

62
students from 26 different departments participated. In regard to reading,

understanding technical vocabulary and difficult words (non-technical vocabulary)

were identified as the two major challenges which impeded students‟

comprehension but which they tried to overcome through consulting peers and

teachers or through reading explanations in Chinese. In Taiwan, Shen (2013)

conducted a qualitative study with 47 Engineering and 59 English majors to

explore students‟ academic reading difficulties. The findings indicate that

students attributed their reading difficulty to their inadequate vocabulary. Some

students mentioned that they also had problems with sentence structure and

background knowledge. Shen argues that it is the teachers‟ responsibility to

support students by choosing texts which are of appropriate difficulty level. I

believe that this might not be feasible especially in contexts where the textbooks

are chosen by the department and teachers are not flexible to choose their own

text. Moreover, most English written specialised texts are written for native

speakers of English and not especially designed for L2 learners which could

make reading even more challenging. A study by Cheng (2010) on medical and

pharmacy students‟ cognitive reading readiness for college English texts shows

that most students are not ready to learn from texts written in English. Therefore,

Cheng (2010: 26) argues that “If the principal mission of a college education in

Taiwan is the effective transmission of knowledge, then more research is needed

to validate this methodology”. Reading material in English was also a problem for

students in a public University in Rwanda (Kagwesage, 2012). However, the

problematic aspect varied from student to student. Some students related their

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problems to teaching practices. For example, at school, students were supported

by their teachers to acquire information while at university students had to read

on their own to get knowledge. Unlike other studies on reading where vocabulary

was found to be the greatest impediment to reading, students in this study did not

mention that vocabulary was a major challenge. It could be that students in this

context where rather competent in English since Kagwesage explains that only

best performers are admitted to this prestigious public university.

In the Arab world, several researchers indicated that Arab students have great

difficulty with reading in English (Al-Mahrooqi, 2012b; Cobb & Horst, 2001 in

Oman; Mourtaga, 2006 in Palestine; O‟Sullivan, 2010 in the UAE). In fact, in the

Arab world and in Oman in particular only very few EMI studies looked into the

quality of students‟ learning experiences. O‟Sullivan (2010) argues that students

in the UAE fail to have adequate reading skills, which is of paramount importance

to function at higher education through the English-medium. His argument is

based on his brief overview on the literature that provides evidence that the

students in the UAE face problems in reading in English in general, in addition to

the evidence from the institutions own research that indicates that students‟

performance in reading is not satisfactory. This is a very broad statement and

does not indicate the areas in reading that students face difficulties with. Instead,

he discusses possible reasons for this weakness such as lack of reading habits

among Arab students in Arabic and outdated methodology at school which is

exam based. In Oman, Al-Mahrooqi (2012b) investigated the views of 23 female

college students majoring in Education and Arts on their reading problems

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regarding literature. This was explored through semi-structured interviews which

consisted of two main questions. The findings revealed that vocabulary was

perceived as the biggest obstacle in reading literature. She argues that the

reading difficulties stem from factors such as “absence of reading culture, low

English proficiency, a paucity of vocabulary, lack or ineffective use of reading

strategies and poor teaching” (ibid: 26). This claim is based on previous research

findings rather than the findings of her actual study. It has also been argued that

Arab students are slow readers because they are overly dependent on the text

(Al-Barashdi, 2012; Al-Mahrooqi, 2012b). Cobb and Horst (2001) note that

between 1987 and 1990 at SQU, scientific texts in English and content courses

were constantly simplified and shortened for students to be able to comprehend.

I would argue that this had a negative impact on the quality of education the

students received. Similarly, Bielenberg (2004) in the UAE investigated students‟

difficulties which they encountered in Math and Science courses at tertiary level

and found that students faced difficulties in vocabulary. Bielenberg explains that

students encounter difficulties in understanding mathematics and IT word

problems because they lack academic English and are only familiar with school

English. Academic English includes items that are of Latin or Greek origin and is

syntactically more complex. Moreover, Al-Barashdi (2012) examined reading

problems of eight first year students at the Language Centre at SQU in Oman. In

this study, unlike the other studies which I have referred to, the researcher

employed beside a questionnaire, a think-aloud method to identify students‟

reading difficulties. Vocabulary was also perceived as the main obstacle for

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comprehension, in addition to background knowledge and organisational

structures, whereas syntactic elements were not seen as causing great problems

in comprehension. The strategies which the students employed were mainly

related to guessing meaning from context and translation. Similar to other studies

conducted in Oman, students‟ challenges with reading in English were explored

in regard to English majors or classes. The reading problems, that students face

in EMI classes, have to my knowledge not been explored; an issue that I intend

to investigate in the current study.

Overall, reviewing these studies it is evident that vocabulary – technical or

general English – is a major challenge for students. This is in line with research

on L2 reading where vocabulary knowledge is strongly related to reading ability

(Grabe, 2009). If students do not have adequate English language competence,

it is not surprising that they encounter difficulties in reading because they have to

decode the text before they can understand the content which is an extra

cognitive burden (Troudi, 2009) and time-consuming. One of the rationales for

the implementation of EMI is that most scientific resources are in English.

Reviewing these studies it seems unlikely that many L2 students at tertiary level

are able to make use of these scientific resources mainly because they lack

adequate reading skills.

3.5.5 Writing in content courses

Evans and Green (2007: 8) state that “Writing is arguably the most important

language skill at university because students‟ grades are largely determined by

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their performance in written assignments, tests and examinations”. Students

studying in higher education institutions through EMI “have been found to face

problems mainly in writing, making them unable to cope with the institution‟s

literacy expectations” (Bacha, 2002: 161). Although research into EFL writing is

vast, there seems to be a scarcity into research on undergraduate students‟

writing difficulties which they encounter in their content courses. In Hong Kong,

academic writing has been found to be the main source of difficulty for

undergraduate students (Hyland, 1997; Littlewood & Liu, 1996). A large-scale

study by Evans and Green (2007) showed that students‟ writing problems were

mainly related to language rather than content. In particular, lexical and

grammatical aspects of academic writing were perceived as most problematic.

As a result, students found it easier to revise content and organisation than to

proof-read their written assignments which involves correction of grammar,

vocabulary and punctuation. Similarly, a longitudinal study by Evans and

Morrison (2011b) that investigated undergraduate students‟ challenges in writing

indicated that students found vocabulary and grammar as the most problematic

aspect of writing. Although the students were concerned about their lexical and

syntactic simplicity in their writing, they reported that teachers were more

concerned about the content than grammatical accuracy and stylistic refinement

when assessing students‟ writing, thereby supporting findings by Zhu (2004). In

fact, several researchers have noted that content teachers rarely provide their

students with feedback on their writing (Barnard, 2015; Hyland, 2013) although

the provision of feedback is seen as a potential tool for learning (Hattie &

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Timperley, 2007; Ng, 2015). In a small-scale study, Hyland (2013) investigated

content teachers‟ perceptions of feedback through semi-structured interviews.

The participants consisted of 20 teachers from four faculties at an English

medium university in Hong Kong. The findings indicate that although most

teachers valued feedback, they often do not provide students with feedback on

their writing other than some “ticks, question marks and a grade” (ibid: 247).

Hyland (2013) also notes that the faculty teachers did not pay attention to

accuracy in students‟ writing.

In the Arab world, several studies have found that students face difficulties in

academic writing in English (Huwari & Al-Khasawneh, 2013 in Saudi Arabia;

Khuwaileh & Al Shoumali, 2010; Tahaineh, 2010 in Jordan). For example,

Tahaineh (2010) found that students‟ errors in writing are mainly related to syntax

and grammar, in particular in the use of prepositions. Data were derived from the

analysis of free compositions written by 162 students in their first, second and

third year of academic study. A study by Javid and Umer (2014) in Saudi Arabia

showed that undergraduate students find the use of appropriate lexical items,

organisation and grammar as difficult. Data were collected through the use of a

questionnaire administered to 108 male and 86 female students in their third and

fourth academic year of study. I believe that the findings should be considered

with caution since data were collected through self-reports rather than actual text

analysis. In Palestine, Hammad (2014) explored undergraduate students‟ writing

problems through the employment of a mixed methods approach: an open

question questionnaire and an essay writing test administered to 60 fourth year

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English major students and interviews conducted with 3 English writing teachers.

The study found that the writing problems included “grammatical errors, lexical

errors, word-for-word translation, cohesion errors, lack of academic style, and

lack of content knowledge” (ibid: 13). Students also reported that some teachers

only provided them with a score for the essay without providing feedback on their

errors. It is worth mentioning that students had to write an essay which is rather

personal in nature, since they had to write about their favourite hobbies. The use

of a test about an academic topic related to students‟ major might have led to

different results. In Oman, similar to other Arab countries, students encounter

many difficulties in writing in English (Al-Issa & Al-Bulushi, 2012; Al-Seyabi &

Tuzlukova, 2014). Al-Badwawi (2011) investigated first year students‟ problems

in academic writing in a CASS in Oman. A qualitative data collection method was

employed and data were collected from 3 main sources: semi-structured

interviews with 15 teachers from different departments (English, Communication,

Business), seven student focus group interviews and document analysis. The

Head of the English Department and the Director of the English Language

Programme at the Ministry of Higher Education were also interviewed. The study

reveals that the main problems students encounter in writing are related to

language skills, research skills, text-managing skills and time management. In

regard to language skills, spelling and grammar were seen as the most

problematic areas in students‟ writing. This prevented students from expressing

their ideas clearly. “Other problems include lack of vocabulary, especially

technical or academic vocabulary, using informal conversational language,

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inability to organise ideas in a logical manner, and using memorised expressions

that do not necessarily serve the purpose of their writing” (ibid: 122). Although

teachers of all different departments acknowledge the linguistic problems of

students, content teachers reported that they focus on content rather than

language when assessing students‟ writing because they believe that improving

language is the responsibility of the English language teachers. This confirms

findings in the literature that content teachers do not see that it is their

responsibility to support students in their language development. In regard to

research-skills, students reported that they faced difficulties in comprehending

the references which they had to read. This is not surprising because these

references are usually written in a language that is higher than the competence

level of the students. As a result of students‟ inability to understand references,

they listed summarising and paraphrasing as the greatest challenges after

grammar and spelling. In addition, students encountered difficulties in using

appropriate in-text and end-text referencing. Finally, students mentioned that

“they sometimes had to resort to plagiarism because they do not find the time to

write and learn from the experience of writing academic assignments” (ibid: 121).

In fact, some subject teachers do not mind that students copy material from the

internet without rewriting the content in their own words. What they care about is

that students study the content and do not ask them to critically evaluate the

information. I would argue that such an attitude inevitably sends a message to

students that plagiarism is an acceptable practice in academic contexts and that

the aim of the assignment is to serve assessment purposes. This could explain

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why students do not see writing assignments in their subject courses as learning

tools for the development of their language proficiency. Another strategy that

students employed to write their assignments was the use of L1. Such an

approach is seen to be a compensation strategy adopted by students to reduce

the overload in L2 writing (Kim & Yoon, 2014).

The issue of plagiarism in L2 writing at tertiary level has received some attention

in the literature (Flowerdew & Li, 2007; Hu & Lei, 2015; Li & Casanave, 2012;

Pecorari, 2003, 2015). Even in the Gulf, some researchers and teachers have

raised their concerns regarding plagiarism in writing (Alhinai & Al-Mahrooqi, 2015

in Oman; Khan, 2010 in the UAE) an issue that attracted the attention of the

media (Al-Shaaibi & Al-Alwi, 2015 in Oman; Shabandri, 2015; Swan, 2014 in the

UAE). Some researchers argue that students often plagiarise because they are

not familiar with the appropriate way to write academic assignments that require

the use of resources. Some might lack the linguistic ability to rewrite the collected

information in their own words. In addition, Hu and Lei (2015) found that Chinese

students had different perceptions about what should be considered plagiarism

or not. Therefore, some researchers maintain that it is necessary to distinguish

between intentional and unintentional plagiarism, the latter being referred to as

patch-writing (Howard, 1993 in Li & Casanave, 2012). I believe that the integrity

of writing should not be compromised as a result of low linguistic ability or lack of

knowledge how to appropriately reference sources. If students do not learn these

issues in their undergraduate studies, they might face serious consequences

especially if they intent to continue their higher education.

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The literature review shows that most research on students‟ challenges in writing

seems to be conducted in a traditional approach remaining uncritical of the

implementation of EMI. Its aim is mainly to be able to provide possible solutions

and strategies for students to overcome these difficulties. In addition, students

were not consulted about their views on how to improve their learning

experiences concerning the challenges they face while studying through EMI.

3.6 Different views regarding EMI

Research on EMI acknowledges that students encounter great challenges

studying in a language other than their native language. Nevertheless, students‟

and researchers‟ views in a variety of contexts concerning the implementation of

EMI are inconclusive although researchers‟ views in general show more critical

awareness. In regard to students‟ views, Kagwesage (2012) noted that students‟

limited language competence hindered them to understand their lectures, to take

notes, to effectively participate in class discussions and to read texts in English.

Still they were positive about EMI and they were determined to work hard in

order to cope with EMI. This is in line with findings in Evans and Morrison

(2011a) where respondents also were in favour of EMI due to the perceived need

of English in the global world. In the Arab world, Charise (2007) reports on

research done in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. She states that students

developed a positive attitude towards EMI for pragmatic reasons and did not

relate the use of English to linguistic imperialism. Al-Jarf (2008) in Saudi Arabia

found that 96% of the participants consider English a superior language, being

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an international language, and the language of science and technology,

research, electronic databases and technical terminology. In Oman, a small-

scale study by Al-Bakri (2013) also showed that most students were supportive

of EMI despite the challenges they face mainly because it is a basic requirement

for employment especially in the private sector. Some students preferred a

bilingual approach. For example, Alnajjar, Jamil and Abu Shawish (2015) in

Palestine explored 350 university students‟ attitudes towards EMI through the

use of a questionnaire. The majority of the students expressed their preference

for a bilingual approach in teaching where English and Arabic are used to

facilitate learning and teaching. In contrast, a recent study by Ellili-Cherif and

Alkhateeb (2015: 212) in Qatar found that the 295 university students of various

faculties are in favour of AMI because they believed that using Arabic could

enhance learning although they agree that Arabic instruction “will affect their job

prospects and their chances of completing post-graduate studies”. The

preference for Arabic instruction was also expressed by the students in Al-

Kahtany et al.‟s (2016) study in Saudi Arabia and by most female students in

Solloway‟s (2017) study in the UAE. In Oman, Al-Mashikhi et al. (2014)

investigated 60 undergraduate science students‟ attitudes towards EMI at SQU.

The findings reveal that more than half of the participants expressed their

preference for AMI. Nevertheless, the authors conclude that the “participants did

not show negative attitudes towards EMI itself and reported both instrumental

and integrative motives for their engagement with the English language” (ibid:

99). Although the findings regarding students‟ attitudes towards learning in

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English are inconclusive, it seems that the majority of students tend to prefer EMI

over AMI especially in the Gulf area. This could be related to students‟

perceptions that learning in English will open doors for employment, a belief

which they uncritically embraced.

Some researchers are strongly in favour of the implementation of EMI at tertiary

level. For example, Nurlu (2015: 14) asserts that Turkey is aiming to become a

centre for international education. Therefore, “lingua franca is a must and there is

no other way than a well-structured and practiced EMI setting to realize this

objective”. In Oman, EMI at tertiary education is considered essential for the

development of the country as already discussed (2.3). In contrast, Ismail (2011)

urges policy planners in the Gulf region to reconsider the problematic nature of

changing from AMI to EMI and to consider bilingual education at tertiary level.

Barnard (2014) argues that most students in an Asian context lack the linguistic

ability to critically engage with academic content delivered in English only and to

produce “original work at the appropriate academic standard” (ibid: 13). He

believes that currently only some universities may offer programmes entirely

through EMI. He therefore suggests applying a dual-medium model that would

better prepare students academically, bilingually and interculturally to meet the

challenges of the multicultural world. Similarly, Kirkpatrick (2011: 2) believes that

universities in Hong Kong need to adopt a bilingual policy in order to “protect

local language(s) and scholarships written in the local language(s)”. Macombe

(2015) also believes that it is necessary to replace monolingual language policies

with a bilingual one where only selective courses should be taught in English. In

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the UAE, Belhiah and Elhami (2014: 21) advocate the implementation of bilingual

education where English should be seen as an ally to Arabic, under the condition

that English “neither displaces the mother-tongue nor poses a threat to national

identity and heritage”. In a similar vein, King (2014) suggests text-heavy subjects

to be taught in Arabic and less text-heavy ones to be taught in English while

Raddawi and Meslem (2015: 85) argue that implementing bilingual education in

the UAE could “help preserve Arabic, and potentially make speakers of Arabic

believe in their mother tongue”.

Some researchers advocate the use of the first language for education such as

Brock-Utne (2006, 2012) and Quorro (2006). Hu et al. (2014) seem to oppose

education through English mainly because EMI functions as gate-keepers to

English and the potential benefits from gaining English proficiency. In addition,

EMI and even Chinese-English education are seen as perpetuating inequalities

in the Chinese society and “further differentiating the Chinese society” (Hu, 2009:

53). Troudi (2009) advocates the use of Arabic to teach sciences at tertiary level

and to continue using Arabic at schools due to the detrimental effects EMI has on

the status of Arabic as a language of science and academia and on students‟

learning experiences. In a recent critical study in Saudi Arabia, Al-Kahtany et al.

(2016) assert that the imposition of the EMI policy is a violation of the Saudi

language policy, which states that the language of instruction at all levels of

education should be Arabic. They explored 702 students‟ and 162 teachers‟

views regarding the use of English versus Arabic in colleges of Engineering,

Medicine and Science. While students preferred AMI, teachers expressed their

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preference for EMI, a view which the authors believe to be the result of being

blinded by the hegemony of English. Through the support for EMI, teachers do

not only sacrifice students‟ academic performance but also deprive the students

of their human right to study in their mother tongue. The authors call for a more

rigorous language planning in the form of upgrading the status of Arabic as a

medium of instruction in scientific fields. In addition, they see it as necessary to

enhance students‟ English linguistic ability through teaching English for special

purposes so that students remain familiar with the advances in these fields.

3.7 Concluding remarks

The aim of this chapter was to present the theoretical framework upon which this

study is based and to review the literature that informed my study. The review

suggests that the driving forces behind the implementation of the EMI policy are

mainly ideological, political, financial and social, despite the claim of policy-

makers that the reasons for the adoption of such a policy are mainly educational.

Reviewing the literature on EMI in a variety of contexts reveals that research that

critically investigates the impact of such a policy on students‟ learning

experiences and academic performance which inevitably also affects their future

lives is rather scarce. Considering the challenges that students face through EMI

shows that it is necessary to adopt a critical stance towards its promotion.

Students who are mostly affected by such vital language education policy

decisions are not consulted prior to its implementation. This study seeks to

critically explore students‟ learning experiences under the EMI policy within their

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socio-cultural context in an attempt to raise awareness to critical issues related to

EMI. The research framework for such an investigation will be discussed in the

next chapter.

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CHAPTER FOUR - METHODOLOGY

This chapter introduces the philosophical and methodological decisions that

underpin the research framework of the study and explains and justifies the

research design. Then the research questions are reviewed and the research

methods are explained and justified. This is followed by a description of the

sampling procedure before addressing the data collection procedures and

analysis. Finally, the steps taken to ensure the quality of the research are

presented before the challenges and limitation of the study are outlined.

4.1 Research framework

The researcher‟s philosophical assumptions regarding ontology (the nature of

reality and social reality) and epistemology (the nature of knowledge) have a

significant impact on the choice of methodology and the selected methods

employed in educational research (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2011; Creswell,

2009; Crotty, 2003). Educational research approaches, also called worldviews

(Creswell, 2009) or paradigms (Grix, 2010; Guba & Lincoln, 1994) are mainly

divided into three different types: scientific (positivist), interpretive and critical.

Each paradigm has its own ontological and epistemological assumptions. This

study was informed by the interpretive and the critical paradigm.

4.1.1 The interpretive paradigm

The interpretive paradigm stems from the assumption that the social and natural

worlds are distinct. Therefore the social world has to be studied from within a

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certain social context and cannot be observed objectively from the outside. The

ultimate aim is to understand a phenomenon in a particular context.

Interpretivism is also referred to as constructivism (Grix, 2010). Richards (2003:

38) explains that “The fundamental tenet of this position is that reality is socially

constructed, so the focus of research should be on an understanding of this

construction and the multiple perspectives it implies”. Therefore, interpretivism

assumes the ontology of social constructivism. It assumes that there is no single

reality but multiple realities, which have been constructed through conscious

interaction between individuals and the world (Crotty, 2003; Grix, 2010). Realities

are mediated by our senses and the context. The epistemological position of

interpretivism is subjectivism. Knowledge and truth are not discovered but are

constructed. In order to explore the social world, the researcher has to get

involved with the participants in a certain context to grasp their viewpoints.

Therefore, interpretive research is seen as value-laden and its main aim is to

describe and understand “the richness of the world that is socially determined”

(Richards, 2003: 39).

4.1.2 The critical paradigm

The critical paradigm, on the other hand, originates from critical theory which was

developed by Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse and Fromme at the Frankfurt school

in the 1930s and was heavily influenced by the works of Habermas (1972) and

Freire (1972). Critical researchers assume the ontological position of historical

realism (Guba & Lincoln, 1994). This view of reality differs from the positivist view

in that it has been shaped by social, historical, cultural, political and economic

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forces and is therefore not fixed or stable. The epistemological position of the

critical paradigm is subjectivism. However, critical researchers assume that

knowledge is not only socially constructed but is also influenced by power

relations that exist in society. A liberal view of education assumes that equal

opportunities of knowledge are provided to all. From a critical perspective,

schools are seen as agents of social reproduction rather than of social change.

Freire (1972), one of the most influential critical educators, argues that schools

do not exist in isolation from society but embody the collective attitudes that

permeate every aspect in that society. Giroux (1983) points out that it is

necessary to investigate the actual means by which schooling reproduces social

relations and how it could be resisted. He further argues that “schools are not

merely instructional sites but are also sites where the culture of the dominant

society is learned and where students experience the difference between those

status and class distinction that exist in the larger society” (Giroux, 1988: 5/6).

Moreover, he maintains that it is essential to realize that knowledge gained from

schools is neither neutral nor objective, instead embodies particular interests and

assumptions (ibid). Therefore, knowledge must be linked to issues of power

which necessitates raising questions about truth claims and the interests which

are served by such knowledge. Evidence for such a claim can be seen in

contexts where refugees are educated for work in low-paying jobs which offer

little opportunities for advancement (Tollefson, 1991). In Oman, graduate

students might not be able to compete with foreign graduates with equal

specialisations who are linguistically and professionally more advanced than

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those who studied in a second language. This might benefit foreign companies to

keep the upper hand in the Omani society. The view that knowledge is a pure

intellectual act has been contested by Habermas (1972) who argues that

knowledge is constituted on the basis of interests that have been shaped by

historical and social relations. According to Habermas, research knowledge can

serve different interests: technical interest to control and predict (positivism),

practical interest to understand a phenomenon through the eyes of the

participants (interpretivism) and emancipatory interest to bring about social

justice (critical paradigm), which is seen as the highest level of knowledge.

Critical researchers reject the objectivist/subjectivist dichotomy and believe that

they should rely on objective and subjective knowledge in their search for truth.

The main aim of critical research is to emancipate individuals and groups in a

society to improve social institutions and conditions. Critical research focuses

mainly on marginalised groups and is designed to address issues such as

empowerment, inequality, oppression, domination, suppression and alienation

(Creswell, 2009). This could be achieved through critiquing current power

structures. The participants and the researcher both share the task of critically

analysing power structures and creating knowledge. The researcher does not

find solutions for the participants but with the participants (Freire, 1972 in Crotty,

2003). However, this requires first that participants are made aware that there is

a problem through awakening their consciousness. This reflection should further

lead to action in order to change the status quo.

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4.1.3 Paradigmatic position of this study

This research is a combination of the interpretive and the critical paradigm. It

seeks to understand students‟ views in regard to the EMI policy and to critically

explore its effects on their learning experiences. The ontological position that

underpins this study is that reality is socially constructed and affected by power

structures in society. There is no single reality on the effects of EMI on students‟

learning experiences but rather multiple realities. Although students share the

experience of learning through English in college, they construct and interpret

their reality differently. One of the aims of this research is to uncover these

multiple realities and meanings which the participants have constructed through

their own experiences in a particular context. I support the view that the social

world cannot be studied objectively from the outside but can only be understood

from the viewpoints of the individuals and their direct experience with it (Cohen et

al., 2011). Knowledge is not discovered but constructed through the interaction of

the individual within a certain context. This suggests that the epistemological

stance that informs this study is that of subjectivism. Therefore, the interpretive

paradigm seems to be appropriate for this study. However, I find that interpreting

and understanding the participants‟ perceptions and attitudes regarding EMI is

not sufficient. Language policies cannot be separated from issues such as

hegemony, ideology and power relations. Therefore, it is essential to take into

account the power structures that played a role in shaping the participants

perceptions to the language policy (Fairclough, 1989).

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The participants in this study are currently in a weak position in the educational

system because they have no voice regarding language policy in education. After

studying in school through Arabic, they have to adapt their learning to meet the

requirements to study in English. Providing students with a voice to express their

perceptions and attitudes and to critically reflect on their experiences with EMI

could raise their consciousness to the critical issue of learning in English. This

study also attempts to empower students for their voices to be heard in future

educational reform. My own position is that I view the current language policy as

problematic and that it should be investigated from a critical approach.

Nevertheless, the critical approach has not been adopted as a main research

framework because decisions regarding language policies are in the hand of the

government and usually outside the realm of the students. This thesis cannot

advocate an action to change the current educational system. However, raising

awareness among students and policy-makers to the critical issues of EMI could

be a step forward to improve students‟ learning conditions in the future.

Therefore, the critical paradigm is embedded in the interpretive paradigm

employed in the current study.

4.2 Research questions

In accordance with the research framework, this study aims to address the

following five research questions:

1. How do Omani students in content areas perceive EMI?

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2. Does the EMI policy have an impact on the quality of their academic

experience?

3. Do students in content areas face any difficulties in reading materials related

to their specialisation?

4. Do students face any difficulties in writing effectively in English?

5. Does the EMI policy have an impact on students‟ academic performance?

The research questions were mainly generated from my own experience

preparing students to study in an EMI context and from my concern about the

consequences of EMI on students‟ learning experiences, self-esteem, academic

performance and quality of education. Question 1 was designed to investigate

students‟ perceptions towards learning in English and Arabic and the rationale for

their attitudes. Question 2 explores how students‟ learning experiences are

influenced by EMI; an area that has been rarely addressed in the literature.

Question 3 and 4 focus on the challenges students might face in reading and

writing in content courses which are of utmost importance in studying in higher

education, but which have been neglected in research on EMI. Question 5

touches on the effects of EMI on students‟ academic performance and is

concerned with students‟ attitudes towards their academic performance. It is

anticipated that this thesis will raise participants‟ awareness to the critical issue of

learning in a foreign language which could lead to some suggestions how to

improve the current educational situation.

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4.3 Research design and justification

Troudi (2015: 92) clarifies that “methodological decisions are about the overall

strategy and design that will guide research in the whole process of the study”. In

this study, a critical exploratory methodology was adopted with a two-phase

sequential mixed methods approach of data collection and data analysis. The

first phase was quantitative and the second was qualitative. The adoption of a

critical exploratory methodology reflects the research agenda of the study that

seeks to understand the multiple perspectives of individuals in a certain social

and educational context regarding their learning experiences under the EMI

policy. It also seeks to problematize the effects of the EMI policy on the learning

experiences of these individuals. The rationale for using a sequential mixed

methods approach is that I support the view that “we can often learn more about

our research topic if we can combine the strength of methods focused on

quantitative data with the strength of methods focused on qualitative data, while

compensating at the same time for the weaknesses of each method” (Punch &

Oancea, 2014: 339). Quantitative data brings the strength of tracing general

trends adopted by a large and representative sample of the population whereas

the strength of qualitative data lies in its sensitivity to meaning and context and

in-depth study of smaller samples (ibid). In this study, the quantitative phase

consisted of a closed-ended questionnaire while the qualitative phase consisted

of classroom observations and semi-structured interviews. Such a design allows

the researcher “to elaborate on or expand on the findings of one method with

another method” (Creswell, 2009: 14). Although some might argue that the use of

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a quantitative research method such as a closed-ended questionnaire is

compatible with the positivist paradigm, this does not apply to this study. As

Troudi (2010) notes, using a research method does not reflect an epistemological

position or a research agenda. The paradigmatic nature of a study is reflected in

what the researcher intends to do with the data. Thus the adoption of a mixed

methods design has been chosen to gain in-depth understanding of the

phenomenon under investigation, which is the purpose of the study.

4.4 Research methods and justification

Several researchers have stressed on the importance of providing a clear

account of the research methods as part of displaying the credibility of the

evidence (Ritchie, Lewis, Nicholls & Ormston, 2014). Adopting a mixed methods

approach in which each method precedes and informs the design of the other

would allow for the triangulation of the methods to enhance the credibility and

consistency of the data (Grbich, 2010; Richards, 2003). In the sections below a

detailed description and justification of the methods employed is provided.

4.4.1 Closed - ended questionnaire

The questionnaire has become one of the most popular research methods

adopted in social sciences (Brown, 2001; Dörnyei, 2003). Questionnaires can be

easily constructed and have the advantage of collecting large amount of

information about a population through a representative sample. However, they

also have serious limitations because they usually provide rather superficial data

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and are therefore not suitable for in-depth investigation into a phenomenon

(Dörnyei, 2007). Pring (2004: 38) notes that “those being researched bring their

own understanding to answering a question”. Nevertheless, the questionnaire is

the data collection method mostly used in studies related to EMI (Al-Mashikhi et

al., 2014; Belhiah & Elhami, 2014; Chapple, 2015; Kym & Kym, 2014; Sert,

2008). In this study, a self-constructed closed-ended questionnaire was

employed. The quantitative data gained from the statistical analysis of the

questionnaire served as a starting point to show the general tendencies of the

participants regarding EMI. It also provided some background information about

the study population and who were willing to participate in the second phase of

the study. Most importantly, it supported in the preparation of the classroom

observation agenda and the formulation of the interview questions used in the

second phase.

4.4.2 Semi-structured classroom observations

Observation is a research method that is rarely used as a central form of data

collection method but is often used in combination with other research methods

(Ritchie et al., 2014). The main merit of observational data is that it allows

researchers to gain direct information about what people do rather than relying

on what they say they do (Dörnyei, 2007). Observation can offer insight into

interactions and behaviour, processes and communications, whether verbal or

non-verbal, that could not be grasped through verbal accounts (Ritchie et al.,

2014). Although some might argue that “such data can provide a more objective

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account of events and behaviours than second-hand self-report data” (Dörnyei,

2007: 185) and see this as an advantage, others argue that the capture of what

is being observed is rather partial and selective and the collected data are the

result of the subjective interpretation of what is being observed which is seen as

a potential weakness (Ritchie et al., 2014). I support the view that “the very

presence of the researcher within the data is also where the richness of

observation lies” (ibid: 246). Still, it is necessary to acknowledge some limitations

of observations: only observable behaviour can be observed; processes that are

mental cannot be observed. In addition, observation does not lead to

understanding the reasons behind certain behaviour. However, when observation

is used in combination with other research methods, the scope of investigation

can be broadened which supports the researcher to better draw conclusions. The

adoption of classroom observation as a research method in studies on EMI,

however, is rather limited. A study by Brock-Utne (2006) in Tanzania on the use

of English to learn content in secondary schools shows that classroom

observations can provide a vivid picture of the real life settings of students and

can reveal the emotional state of students and teachers. This study aimed to

carry out non-participatory observations since I was an outsider, entering each

class only once without being involved in the setting. Hammersley and Atkinson

(2007: 144 in Ritchie et al., 2014: 253) point out that “one can never record

everything; social sciences are truly inexhaustible in this sense. Some selection

has to be made”. Keeping this in mind, semi-structured classroom observations

were carried out which was an opportunity to gain insight into the natural learning

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contexts of students studying in different faculties in different levels. It gained

direct information about students‟ behaviour in class such as interaction, note-

taking and participation. It also provided insight into the overall atmosphere of an

EMI classroom as well as the emotional state of the students. Moreover, the

classroom observation data illuminated some issues that have been identified

through the questionnaire and supported in generating the interview questions

needed in the final data collection stage.

4.4.3 Semi-structured interviews

The interview is the most prominent research method in qualitative research

(Dörnyei, 2007; Kvale, 2007; Punch & Oancea, 2014). Regarding studies on EMI,

interviews are sometimes used in combination with questionnaires (Chang, 2010;

Evans & Morrison, 2011a; Troudi & Jendli, 2011). Interviews were chosen as the

main research method in this study because they allow the researcher to explore

the participants‟ views and perceptions and how they construct their reality and

make meaning of their experiences (Punch & Oancea, 2014). Since there is

interaction between the researcher and the interviewee, knowledge is socially

constructed rather than transmitted (Kvale, 2007). This is in line with the

epistemological stance that informs this study. Moreover, interviews aim to give

the participants a voice to make their viewpoints heard which could eventually

empower them (Wellington, 2015). For this study, semi-structured interviews with

students were found to be most appropriate. The interviews explored more in

depth issues that had been identified through the questionnaire and the

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classroom observations and led to a holistic understanding of students‟ views,

behaviours and emotions. It also revealed the reasons behind their views and

actions, something which the former data collection methods were not designed

to explore. Most importantly, the interviews revealed not only the participants‟

common views but also revealed the ones that are not shared by the majority.

The interview data were triangulated with the data collected from the other two

research methods that allowed best to answer the research questions.

4.5 Sampling

The main sampling approach employed for the three research methods was

purposive sampling where the participants were identified according to specific

criteria and characteristics (Dörnyei, 2007; Punch & Oancea, 2014; Ritchie et al.,

2014). The aim was to ensure that the sample is as diverse as possible to be

able to identify a full range of perceptions and behaviours that are associated

with issues on EMI. One of the criteria for selecting the sample from the target

population was that it should include male and female students studying in all the

different faculties in the college regardless of how large/limited the number of

registered students in each faculty is. The faculties included: Applied sciences

, Engineering, Information Technology, Business Studies, Pharmacy, Fashion

Design and Photography. I hoped that this would provide a comprehensive

picture of the issue under investigation and would allow participants who belong

to very small departments such as Fashion Design (24 female students) and

Photography (110 students) to express their views and experiences regarding

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EMI. Another criterion was that the sample should include students who are in

different years of study: Certificate, Diploma, Higher diploma and Bachelor

degree.

In order to select the questionnaire sample, I administered the questionnaire in

classes that met the above mentioned criteria. The classes were identified with

the support of the heads of the different departments after receiving consent from

the teachers. In fact, 340 students were present during the questionnaire

distribution. However, two students (each in a different class) chose not to

participate in the study since I mentioned that participation is voluntarily. During

the analysis stage, I had to exclude the questionnaires of 10 participants

because they were either incomplete or contained identical responses to almost

all items. This left a final questionnaire sample of 328 participants, where the

female students (n=209) outnumbered the male students (n=119). Although this

is considered to be a large number for a purposive sample, not all the students

participated in the later stage of the study. The descriptive analysis of the

questionnaire revealed that most of the participants were between 18-25 years

old although few were above 25. All the participants but two were Omani

nationals and the majority studied in public schools through Arabic. Therefore, it

can be noted that the sample was heterogeneous in more than one way. The

background information of the questionnaire sample is provided in Appendix 1

whereas the breakdown of the questionnaire sample according to faculties and

level of study is provided in Appendix 2.

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For the classroom observations, participants were selected based on the same

criteria as that employed for the questionnaire (Appendix 3). The arrangement for

classroom observations was also done through the coordination with the heads

of the departments after receiving consent from the teachers. I managed to

observe 14 classes in different faculties but I was not able to observe a class in

Fashion Design faculty because classes were only practical during this time.

Overall, classes of four different levels were observed: Certificate (3), Diploma

(4), Higher diploma (4), Bachelor degree (3). The teachers were mostly non-

native speakers of English and Arabic (9) while two were native speakers of

English and three were native speakers of Arabic. The sample of the classroom

observation consisted of 254 students (79 male and 175 female).

The questionnaire and classroom observation stage helped in selecting the

participants for the semi-structured interviews (Appendix 4). Out of the 328

students who completed the questionnaire, 61 provided their consent to be

interviewed and wrote their contact details at the end of the questionnaire. Some

students during classroom observations expressed their interest in being

interviewed and provided me with their contact details. Through purposive

sampling, 14 students were selected for the interviews although an element of

convenience sampling was also adopted. The aim was to select a group that is

as diverse as possible to be able to gather a wide range of information about

different views and experiences regarding EMI. Therefore, 6 male and 8 female

participants from different faculties and years of study were selected. However, in

addition to the criteria employed for the selection of the other two research

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methods, the participants‟ responses to issues regarding EMI were also taken

into consideration whenever possible.

4.6 Data collection procedures

For this research, quantitative and qualitative data were collected over a period

of 4 months. Quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire that was

administered to students in November, 2015. Qualitative data were collected

through classroom observations conducted in January/February, 2016 and semi-

structured interviews which I held in March, 2016. In this section I will provide a

detailed account of the data collection procedures in order to increase the

trustworthiness of the collected data.

4.6.1 Quantitative data collection

4.6.1.1 Construction of the questionnaire

In order to construct a well-designed 5-point Likert-scale closed-ended

questionnaire (Appendix 5), I followed the guidelines provided by Dörnyei (2003,

2007) and Wellington (2015). The questionnaire items were formulated in

accordance to the research questions, the relevant literature on EMI and my own

knowledge and experience of teaching students in an EMI setting. This helped

me to establish content and construct validity of my research tools. The initial

version of the questionnaire consisted of two parts. The first part included 12

items and was designed to obtain background information of the participants

while the second part consisted of 50 items that explored students‟ attitudes

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towards EMI and their learning experiences. Items 1-9, 10-20, 21-31, 32-43, 44-

50 corresponded to Research questions 1-5 respectively. For part 1, students

were instructed to complete the information about them. For part 2, students

were asked to circle a number from 1-5 that reflects the extend they agree with

the following variants: strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), undecided (3), agree

(4), strongly agree (5). At the end of the questionnaire, there was a special part

for them to write their contact details, were they interested in participating in

interviews. The questionnaire concluded with thanking the students for

completing it. In order to ensure the comprehensibility of the questionnaire

(Wellington, 2015), I requested three of my colleagues to review it. According to

the feedback, I provided the students with options for their responses in part 1

that could easily be answered through putting a tick in a box. I also revised the

wording of some items. For example, the wording of the item “I believe Arabic

should be the language of instruction at this college” was changed into “I believe

that all subjects should be taught in Arabic in this college” in order to avoid the

use of “language of instruction” which could be ambiguous for some students.

Then, I translated the English version of the questionnaire into Arabic to ensure

that students would understand all the statements clearly. The Arabic version

(Appendix 6) was edited by a colleague who is an Arabic native speaker and has

extensive experience in writing in MSA. The questionnaire (Arabic) was then

given to the piloting group (n=110) that consisted of 4 different post-foundation

English classes of which two of them were my own classes. The students in

these classes study in different specialisations and are in different levels in their

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studies. Therefore, the piloting sample was similar to the target sample. The

data obtained from the piloting group was entered into SPSS v. 22 programme

(Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) to calculate the internal consistency

of the items. Chronbach‟s alpha for all 50 items showed high internal consistency

(α=0.817). Nevertheless, I deleted the item “Students who study in English are

more successful in life than students who study in Arabic”, because some

students found this statement to be confusing; several students asked me to

clarify the meaning of “successful in life”. In addition, I deleted the item “Studying

in English does not have a negative impact on my grades”, because I realized

that the item was repeated in the following question but in a reversed mode

(“Because my English is weak, I get low grades”). Instead, I added the item

“Because my technical vocabulary is weak I find it difficult to do a writing

assignment in my specialisation”. The reason is to differentiate between general

and technical English vocabulary, something that was missing in the

questionnaire items. The final version of the closed-ended questionnaire

consisted of 49 items. Items 1-8, 9-19, 20-30, 31-43, 44-50 corresponded to

Research questions 1-5 respectively.

4.6.1.2 Administration of the questionnaire

Dörnyei (2007: 113) points out that “questionnaire administration procedures play

a significant role in affecting the quality of the elicited responses”. To ensure that

the data be as good as possible I considered the following points: I administered

the questionnaire in 20 classes by myself in order to stay in control of the data

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collection procedure (Punch & Oancea, 2014). According to the convenience of

the teacher, the questionnaire was distributed at the beginning or towards the

end of the class. The students were given an information sheet in Arabic

(Appendix 7) about the purpose of the questionnaire and what their involvement

entails. Two participants who were non-native Arabic speakers were given the

English version of the information sheet (Appendix 8). I also informed them orally

about its purpose and I conveyed to them the possible significance of the results.

I assured confidentiality and anonymity and that completing the questionnaire is

voluntarily. However, I mentioned that this study will not be possible without their

cooperation. After students provided their consent, they were asked to fill in the

questionnaire to ensure a high rate of return results. The administration of the

questionnaire took about 20-25 minutes. At the end, I thanked all the participants

and the teacher for their cooperation.

4.6.2. Qualitative data collection

4.6.2.1 Semi-structured classroom observation procedures

In order to carry out semi-structured classroom observations, I prepared an

observation guide (Appendix 9) that would allow me to take field notes during

and after the observation as suggested by Ritchie et al. (2014) and Newby

(2010). This included accurate information about the duration of the classroom

observation and the number of the participants in addition to some information

about the setting, actions, atmosphere and my own personal reflection. I also

noted down the origin and gender of the teacher. Prior to conducting the

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classroom observations, I made sure that teachers are well informed about its

purpose through providing them with an information sheet (Appendix 10) and

their consent was sought. Each department sent me a schedule with the relevant

information such as the teacher‟s name, the time, the venue and the level of

study. In most cases I observed the classroom for a whole session which varied

between 50-100 minutes. In one department, however, I received permission to

observe the classes for one hour only instead of the whole period (100 minutes).

Whenever I attended a class, I introduced myself to the students and I explained

the purpose of the study. I also gave them an information sheet about the study

(Appendix 11). I assured confidentiality and anonymity to all participants and I

asked for their consent for being observed. All students welcomed me to attend

the class. However, in order to minimize the “obtrusive researcher effect”

(Dörnyei, 2007: 190), I usually chose a place that best allowed me to observe the

students without being a distraction. I took field notes about the general

atmosphere of the class and I focused my observation on students‟ behaviour.

After leaving the class, I also reflected on my own feelings during the

observation. This might have significance during later stages of the analysis and

could help me critique and understand my own interpretation of what was being

observed (Merriam, 2009 in Ritchie et al., 2014). Two samples of field notes can

be found in Appendix 12.

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4.6.2.2 Semi-structured interview procedures

Forming the interview schedule was mainly guided by the research questions but

was also informed by the preliminary analysis of the data collected in the

previous two phases. In order to formulate interview questions that could achieve

the coverage of breath of key issues and depth of content I considered the

guidelines provided by Wellington (2015) and Ritchie et al. (2014). Although the

interview questions were predetermined, the format of the interview was semi-

structured. The focus was to cover the topics or themes of the questions and to

allow the participant to elaborate on emergent issues as they unfold during the

interview. The interview was piloted with one male student to identify ambiguous

or confusing questions in order to revise them before their actual use. It was also

needed to get an idea about the possible length of the interview. As a result I

revised some of the items and others were deleted. For example, I deleted a

question about the usefulness of the post-foundation courses. My initial aim was

to see whether students found these courses to be supportive but I deleted it

because I realized that being a post-foundation teacher could lead the students

to provide a biased answer rather than expressing their own opinion. Other

questions were deleted because I noticed that they were answered through the

conversation and do not need to be asked again. Overall, with fewer items (25

instead of 31) the interview schedule became more focused and manageable. In

fact, the schedule was refined several times starting with the feedback that I

received from my supervisor, after the pilot interview and from my own reflection

on the appropriateness of the research questions. I was also flexible with the

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wording and the order of the questions because they depended on the flow of

each individual interview. The schedule therefore served as a reference rather

than a closed-ended format of questions that have to be strictly followed

(Appendix 13). The interviews were all conducted in Arabic for the participants

who are all still learners of English to feel comfortable and to be able to express

themselves as clearly as possible.

The 14 interview participants were invited for an interview per email or per mobile

message. Inviting the participants for the interview was not a straightforward

process. In fact, I had to contact over 30 participants before I finally managed to

make appointments with 14 of them. All participants were briefly informed about

the purpose of the interview, the duration, the venue and that it will be conducted

in Arabic. Those who were invited through email were sent an information sheet

about the study (Appendix 14). If interested, they were asked to provide their free

times during the week in order to fix an appointment. I received permission from

my institution to conduct the interviews in a room which is usually used for

meeting with students during office hours. Before the interview, I briefed the

students about the aim of the research and the interview and they were assured

confidentiality and anonymity. I also explained that the interview is not

judgemental and that there are no right and wrong answers. I also asked for their

permission to audio record the interview. Finally, I asked them to sign two copies

of the consent form (Appendix 15), one for themselves and the other for me. In

order to audio record the interviews, I used a small digital device which can be

barely noticed and therefore did not distract or confuse the participants. During

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the interview I tried to listen carefully to the meaning of what has been said in

order to ask relevant follow up questions (Kvale, 2007; Ritchie et al., 2014). I also

made an effort to stay calm, friendly and neutral as possible and to show interest

in what the participants are saying. As in-depth responses were sought, I used

probes for clarification and prompts when necessary. Before ending the

interview, I asked the participants to add any final thought or comment to ensure

that important issues have not been left out. Finally I thanked them for their

participation and I briefly informed them about what happens next to the data.

After each interview that lasted between 38-60 minutes, I wrote a brief reflection

on its mood.

4.7 Data analysis

4.7.1 Quantitative data analysis

In order to prepare the questionnaire data for statistical analysis, I first coded the

questionnaires from 1-328 and indicated the faculty and level of study. Then I

highlighted the codes that included the participants‟ contact details, to ease the

selection of interview participants for the later stage of the study. For part 1, the

data had to be converted into numerical form. For example, the participant‟s

gender “male” was converted into the number “1” whereas “female” was

converted into the number “2”, which is a usual practice (Dörnyei, 2007: 199). For

the age of the participants, a range of ages was converted into a number to

facilitate data analysis. Then, all data for both parts of the questionnaires were

entered into the SPSS v. 22 programme. The analysis operations included

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reliability and descriptive statistics. Chronbach‟s alpha value for items 1-49

showed a reliable internal consistency (α=0.773). Although this value is lower

than the Chronbach alpha of the piloting stage (α=0.817), it shows an acceptable

reliability in social sciences (Cohen et al., 2011; Dörnyei, 2007). Frequency and

percentages of agreement and disagreement among participants for each item

were also calculated (Appendix 16) while descriptive statistics were computed to

ease the reporting of the data.

4.7.2 Qualitative data analysis

Ritchie et al. (2014: 270) argue that “Unlike quantitative analysis, there are no

clearly agreed rules or procedures for analysing qualitative data, but many

different possible approaches”. In order to analyse the collected qualitative data, I

adopted the thematic analysis approach as described by Braun and Clarke

(2006) because it “can be a method that works both to reflect reality and to

unpick or unravel the surface of „reality‟” (ibid: 81) which is compatible with the

theoretical framework of this study. In addition, such a method allows for rich,

detailed and complex descriptions of the data (ibid).

4.7.2.1 Data management

First, the handwritten field notes of the 14 classroom observations and my

reflections were written on Word documents on my laptop. The word count for

the field notes ranged between 206-557 words each. Overall, the data set from

the classroom observations mounted to 5436 words. In regard to interviews,

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Kvale (2007: 92) notes that recording interviews involves a first abstraction from

the “lived bodily presence of the conversing persons, with a loss of body

language as posture and gestures” and the transcription of the oral interview into

a written form involves a second abstraction. In this study, all 14 interviews were

conducted in vernacular Arabic. Transcribing the interviews into written Arabic

which differs from oral Arabic and then translating them into English would add a

third level of abstraction. In order to avoid this all interviews were transcribed

immediately in English whereby every effort was made to represent the oral

language with e.g. run on sentences and sentence fragments with the aim to

keep the original spirit and meanings of the message (Braun & Clarke, 2006;

Richards, 2003). In order to ensure the participants‟ anonymity, pseudonyms

were used in the transcripts (see Appendix 17 for an example of transcription).

Overall, eleven hours and twenty minutes of data were audio recorded from

which around 35 000 words of raw data were transcribed. The qualitative data

set from the field notes and the interview transcripts amounted to around 40 500

words. All Word documents were uploaded on Nvivo 11, a qualitative research

analysis software tool that would speed up the analysis process and would allow

for easy access to data.

4.7.2.2 Data analysis procedure

In order to analyse the data I followed the six phases of thematic analysis

suggested by Braun and Clarke (2006) that consists of familiarizing oneself with

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the data, generating initial codes, searching for themes and reviewing them,

defining and naming these themes and finally producing the results.

First, I familiarized myself with the data through careful reading of the written

texts. I also took notes of possible codes relevant to the literature and the

research questions (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Ritchie et al., 2014). The analysis of

the classroom observation data was conducted in two stages. The first stage of

analysis was a preliminary analysis that I conducted during the process of the

classroom observations and which consisted of manual coding of the data

available at that stage. The main themes that were identified (Table 2) were

incorporated in the interview questions.

Number Themes
1 Classroom atmosphere
2 Student language proficiency
3 Preparation for class
4 Classroom activities
5 Peer support
6 Comprehension
7 Confidence
8 Delivery of content
9 Teacher voice
10 Teacher feedback

Table 2: Classroom observation themes that informed interview questions

The second phase of data analysis was conducted after I finished collecting all

qualitative data. I digitally coded the data, which is a way to gather data extracts

to a specific category, through creating nodes in Nvivo 11. This is a process

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called tagging the data (Newby, 2010). Throughout the coding process, attention

was given to specific aspects that are interesting and relevant to the aim of the

study. Overall, coding was conducted inductively through assigning text extracts

to single and sometimes to multiple codes. For the first text I had to create new

nodes most of the time, but I was able to assign some of the following data

extracts to existing nodes, besides creating new ones whenever a new category

emerged. At this stage the coding was rather at the level of description. The aim

was to get sense of the data in order to identify and develop themes at the

interpretation stage of the analysis. For the classroom observations 37 nodes

were initially identified which were tagged 274 times (Appendix 18). Prior to

coding the interview data, I searched for the most frequent words (n=50) that

occurred in the data to inform possible codes. I also conducted text searches for

specific words such as “translate” to find all the references where that word

occurred. This facilitated assigning text extracts to a particular node. For the

interviews 48 nodes were initially created which were tagged 576 times. Data

were also downloaded from Nvivo 11 into Excel sheets to facilitate further

analysis. The initial coding of the interview transcripts is shown in figure 1. After

the first round of coding, I reviewed the nodes several times through reading the

code summary sheets to ensure that the extracts were significantly assigned. An

example is shown in figure 2. This resulted in renaming some of the nodes to

better describe the category, assigning some references to a new node for

further refinement or merging some nodes with an already existing node.

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Figure 1: Initial coding of the interview transcripts

Figure 2: Snippet of code summary sheet

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Then I moved to the latent/interpretive level of analysis. Initially I organised the

nodes according to their relevance to the research question areas. Then I

collated the nodes to potential themes keeping in mind the research questions.

During this process some initial nodes formed main themes such as “Reading

difficulty” while others formed sub-themes such as “Focus on content”. This stage

also involved renaming some themes and sub-themes which were then

organised in hierarchies to answer the concepts of the research questions. Full

analysis of interview data is provided in Appendix 19. For the final analysis

phase, the data from all research methods were synthesized. Throughout the

analysis I constantly checked for similarities and differences among the

quantitative and qualitative data. Moreover, data were also linked to the literature

review for discussion. At this stage I realized that I had to increase the literature

review in some areas that are relevant to my study but which I had not thoroughly

explored before such as the notion of plagiarism among EFL students. A full

account of the synthesized analysis is given in Appendix 20.

4.8 Quality criteria of the research

Considering that this research used a mixed methods approach, issues over

reliability and validity vary between the quantitative and qualitative part of the

study. For the quantitative part, I ensured that my research instrument was

reliable through the calculation of Cronbach alpha which is a method to measure

the internal consistency among all items of the questionnaire. The resulting score

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of Cronbach alpha for all items amounted to 0.773 which demonstrates the

reliability of the instrument (see Table 3 below).

Cronbach's Alpha
Based on
Cronbach's Standardized
Alpha Items N of Items

.773 .753 49

Table 3: Reliability Statistics

I also ensured construct and face validity of the questionnaire. Construct validity

of this research was enhanced through the use of multiple measures for one

construct (Dörnyei, 2007). For example, issues related to reading in an EMI

context were measured through 10 items; similarly writing in English was

measured through 12 items. Face validity is related to the realm of research

participants and refers to the extent the participants are able to recognise the

instrument as measuring what it is intended to measure (Gass, 2010). This is

necessary for the participants to take their participation in the research project

seriously. Face validity was examined through the piloting stage when the

questionnaire was revised, translated, piloted and initially analysed before its

actual use. Furthermore, validity might be ensured through careful sampling

(Cohen et al., 2011). For this study, I tried to choose a sample that was as

representative as possible of the target population of the college. However, since

my research is exploratory in nature, it does not claim the sample to be

representative of all students studying in higher education institutions in Oman.

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There is consensus among researchers that qualitative research cannot be

judged according to the same quality criteria as quantitative research due to the

different ontological and epistemological assumptions that underpin both

approaches. However, there is disagreement about the components of these

criteria (Dörnyei, 2007). In general, “qualitative data validity might be addressed

through the honesty, depth, richness and scope of the data achieved, the

participants approached, the extend of triangulation and the disinterestedness or

objectivity of the researcher” (Winter, 2000 in Cohen et al., 2011: 179). In regard

to the objectivity of the researcher, I support the view that researchers cannot be

completely objective since they are part of the world they are researching. I also

support the argument that it is impossible for research to be valid 100 per cent

since the subjectivity of the participants and the researchers contribute to a

degree of bias. Therefore “validity should be seen as a matter of degree rather

than as an absolute state” (Cohen et al., 2011: 180). For the qualitative part of

this research, I adopted the quality criteria proposed by Lincoln and Guba (1985,

in Cohen et al., 2011). The “trustworthiness” of a research study, a concept

suggested by Lincoln and Guba (1985) as an equivalent to the concept of

validity, can be established by four major components: credibility (internal

validity), transferability (external validity), dependability or consistency (reliability)

and confirmability (objectivity).

Credibility is the “truth value” of a study (Dörnyei, 2007: 57) and can be achieved

through long-term engagement of the researcher in the field and triangulation of

methods. First, I had several years teaching experience in an EMI context in

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Oman. Through my engagement in this field and my own observation of the in

general low English proficiency of students, I became personally interested in

investigating students‟ perceptions on the appropriateness of the EMI policy in

this particular context. In order to enhance the credibility of the study, I

triangulated the data collected from three different methods and I presented

perspectives of participants that have been marginalised by powerful discourses

(Grbich, 2010). I also believe that the truth value in this research has been

enhanced through the detailed description of the research design and the step by

step description of the data collection method procedures and data analysis. This

included detailed information about the challenges encountered in conducting

this research.

Transferability is concerned with the extent to which the results of a study could

be applied to populations or settings beyond the sample of the study. Although

the issue of generalisability in qualitative research is contested in the literature, I

support Ritchie et al. (2014: 23) in their belief that “qualitative research can be

generalised in terms of the nature and diversity of phenomena, though not in

relation to their prevalence”. However, Lincoln and Guba (1985 in Cohen et al.,

2011) argue that it is not the researcher‟ task to generalise but to provide detailed

description of the participants and the setting in which the research took place in

order to help others to determine whether transferability is possible or not. In this

study, I provided a detailed description of the participants and the context.

Although the participants share similar Arab cultural and religious background

with students studying in higher education institutions in Oman and even in the

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Gulf area, it cannot be claimed that their learning experiences under the EMI

policy is similar, since there are factors that make a particular setting unique.

Dependability and confirmability can be established through documentation of

research design, methods and data analysis for other researchers to judge the

soundness of the research (Richards, 2003). This has been achieved through the

thick description of the context, the participants, the data collection methods,

procedures and analysis. I also provided a full transcription of an interview so

that the soundness of the research will be open to others. In addition, the

employment of a mixed methods design also enhanced the internal validity of the

research because “it offers a potentially more comprehensive means of

legitimizing findings” (Dörnyei, 2007: 62) by allowing the researchers to assess

information from two different data types.

4.9 Ethical dimensions

Ethics should be “at the heart of research from the early design stages right

through to reporting and beyond” (Ritchie et al., 2014: 78). I made an effort to

follow the eight rules regarding ethics provided in Table 5.2 by Wellington (2015:

115). There is consensus in the literature that research should be worthwhile and

should not have any harmful consequences on the participants. Participation

should be voluntary and free from any pressure and should be based on

informed consent. Participants should be aware that they have the right to refrain

from participation and to withdraw at any stage. Moreover, confidentiality and

anonymity should be maintained at any stage. Research ethics also involves

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legal and institutional requirements. The researcher‟s integrity also plays a key

role in research ethics. Ethics is not only related to legal issues but concerns

“basic human honesty and trust” (Dörnyei, 2007: 66).

Prior to conducting the research it was necessary to apply for permission from

University of Exeter to conduct the research. After completing a research ethics

form which is based on the guidelines provided by the British Educational

Research Association, permission was granted by the Graduate School of

Education at University of Exeter (Appendix 21). I also received permission from

my institution to conduct the study in all faculties of the college. All teacher

participants in the quantitative and qualitative stages were chosen by the

faculties. However, each participant was given an information sheet about the

study and their consent was sought prior to the questionnaire distribution or the

classroom observation. Moreover, I respected their preferences for the

distribution of the questionnaire. Prior to completing the questionnaire, the

student participants were given an information sheet about the study but they

were also briefly informed about the aim of the research and clear instructions

were given about the procedures. I clearly explained that their participation is

voluntarily and that they have the right not to participate. If they choose to

participate they also have the right to withdraw at any time. In order to protect

their identity the participants were not required to write their personal details.

Only those who agreed to be interviewed were asked to give their names and

contact details. However, during interview transcription pseudonyms were

assigned to them to ensure anonymity. I treated all participants with respect and

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thanked them for their participation. Similarly, all interview participants were

informed about the aim of the interview and were encouraged to ask any

question they have prior to the interview. They were informed that the interview

could last for 45 to maximum 60 minutes and their consent was sought for the

interview to be recorded. All participants signed two consent forms where one

copy was kept with the participant and the other with the researcher and they

were ensured that their responses are respected and not judged. During the

interview I maintained a professional but friendly behaviour and I attempted to

minimise my reactions to their responses. At the end of the interview I made it

clear that their participation in this research project is of great importance and

that I appreciate their feedback. After each interview, I downloaded the audio file

into my computer and deleted it from the recording device. In regard to storage,

all hard copies (questionnaire, interview schedules, data analysis, etc.) were kept

under locked storage and soft copies and audio files were password protected.

All participants were provided with my contact details and were informed that

they can receive a copy of the results of the study if they are interested. I also

intend to share the findings of my research with my institution once I finish the

thesis.

4.10 Challenges and limitations

Collecting data from three sources in a sequential order and from seven different

faculties could not be accomplished without some challenges. Data collection

was interrupted by periods of mid-semester and final exams in addition to a

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period of one month semester break. This resulted in challenges regarding

finding interview participants. Although initially over 60 students expressed an

interest in being interviewed, I was not able to make arrangements with all the

students that I had purposively selected since some of them got busy preparing

for the exams. Therefore, the interview participants were sometimes chosen out

of convenience rather than purposively which could be seen as a limitation of the

study. Another challenge that I faced was related to investigating the challenges

that students face in writing assignments. I wanted to explore this issue in depth

through real writing samples that students were asked to bring along for the

interview. However, out of 14 students only four brought a writing sample. The

participants explained that the teachers do not return the assignment once they

hand it in and that they usually do not keep a copy of them. Some students who

were still in the first or even second year of their study mentioned that so far they

were not asked to write any assignment. Even those who brought a sample were

not able to articulate what challenges in particular they faced while writing it.

Therefore, I was not able to collect in-depth data as I intended through the

examination of numerous writing samples but I mostly had to rely on students‟

self-report and the analysis of only 4 writing samples which can be seen as a

limitation of the study.

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CHAPTER FIVE – FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter is designed to report and discuss the findings collected from the

thematic analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data in order to respond to

the research questions posed in section 4.2. The findings are organised in five

main sections in correspondence to the five research questions. The data

collected from the three data collection methods are synthesized depending on

the main themes that emerged from the data. In the first section, students‟

perspectives on EMI will be investigated. Then the effect of EMI on the quality of

students‟ academic experiences will be explored. This is followed by the

discussion of the difficulties students face in reading and writing in content

courses. The final section deals with the impact of the EMI policy on students‟

academic performance.

5.1 Students’ perceptions on EMI

5.1.1 EMI enhances English language proficiency - “I kill 2 birds with one

stone”

The findings reveal that 74.1% (n=243) of the questionnaire participants (n=328)

believed that scientific subjects should be taught in English in contrast to only

17.4% (n=28) who agreed that all subjects should be taught in Arabic. A striking

finding is that 78.4% (n=257) of them believed that it is necessary to study in

English even if this had a negative impact on their grades. Of the 14 interview

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participants, 11 expressed their support for EMI. Regarding this issue, Safaa

described her feelings:

It‟s a beautiful feeling that we‟re learning a new language which we

can later use in our jobs so that we do not only have one language.
True, Arabic is our mother tongue, but it‟s nice if we have another
language that helps us when we travel and so.

The evidence of participants‟ support for the EMI policy also included a sense of

acceptance as the interview excerpt by Amer shows:

At the beginning I couldn‟t accept the reality that I have to study in

English because for 12 years at school we studied in Arabic and we
studied English only as a subject. So after 12 years studying in
Arabic the student has to study in English at college. It was hard for
me to accept this but when I started the foundation programme – I
studied for a year and a semester – I had the basics which I could
depend on. With time and practice I tried to adapt myself.

Hussam clarified why students have no other choice than to accept:

I was one of the people who couldn‟t accept to study in English, but
I wanted to get a certificate. I need it for my future so I became
determined to overcome the difficulties of studying in English.

The support or acceptance of EMI could be related to the participants‟

assumption that learning in English could help them learn English. In fact, 98.2%

(n=322) of the questionnaire participants and all interview participants believed

that learning content through English can improve their English proficiency

similar to the findings by Chapple (2015) and Belhiah and Elhami (2015). For

example, Muzna explained:

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 It [Studying in English] is a beautiful feeling. When I study my
specialisation in English, my English will improve at the same time
because I use it in all situations. One can say I kill 2 birds with one
stone.

Muzna‟s view echoes the participants‟ views in Becket and Li‟s (2012) study and

policy-makers (Shohamy, 2013). An interesting observation is that two

participants (Muzna and Safaa) used the adjective “beautiful” to describe their

feelings about EMI. Fairclough (1989) argues that language use is not only an

individual choice but also socially determined and has social effects. Since the

college adopted EMI, the participants unquestioningly believe that this is for their

own benefit, unaware that institutional practices often embody assumptions

which legitimize existing power relations such as the power of English. In regard

to how EMI could enhance students‟ English language skills, Aref mentioned that

“It has to improve with time because I use English every day and I translate

words and learn new vocabulary” while Hussam noted “if we practice every day,

after a while English will become easy”. This implies that the participants

assumed that language improvement occurs as a by-product of EMI. In fact, one

of the reasons for the implementation of EMI at tertiary level by policy makers is

based on the assumption that learning content through English could

automatically lead to English improvement as indicated in the literature (3.3.1).

Chapple (2015) warns from the danger of this naïve and simplistic assumption

because of the risk that neither content nor language learning happens. Overall,

it seems that the participants mainly supported EMI due to the assumed

language gain and were less concerned about how much content they will be

able to comprehend in a language they are still trying to learn. This raises the

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question as to why English learning was seen as the main goal of learning at

college instead of learning the required specialised content. This issue will be

discussed in the sub-section below.

5.1.2 The need for English – “we have a lot of foreigners so we need this

language”

The participants attached high value to English which was referred to as the

“global language, the common language, the world language and the language of

the world” similar to Findlow‟s (2006) findings. For example, Basil pointed out

that “English is the global language. It‟s a necessity. It‟s in general important in

our society. Here in Oman we have a lot of foreigners so we need this language”.

It seems that these participants uncritically embraced the uncontested view

common in the Gulf that English is a key for development, progress,

modernisation, success, superior social and economic status (Abdel-Jawad &

Abu Radwan, 2011; Al-Issa, 2002; Al-Mahrooqi, 2012a). Although Hussam was

the only participant who bluntly mentioned that “English is dominant over the

Arabic language”, most other participants alluded that English plays a more

important role in their society than Arabic as Huda noted:

My specialisation is pharmacy. Pharmacy makes new drugs and

things like that. I have to study in English because the drugs come
from other countries so how are we going to tell them that we need
a certain drug? They won‟t understand in Arabic. Also, pharmacy is
full of terminology that is all in English.

Amer pointed out that “when someone doesn‟t know English, it is as if this person

is ignorant” thereby associating the knowledge of English with being well

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educated. In regard to education, Safaa stated that “Perhaps the student could

learn in Arabic in school but I don‟t feel that it‟s possible at college” a view that

was shared by Manal. This seems to imply that these participants associated

higher education with a superior language which is English. Shohamy (2006)

asserts that through language policy decisions are made about which languages

should gain status in society such as legitimizing the languages which society

sees as important for its economic and social status. Since students have to

study through EMI instead of their mother tongue, it is not surprising that

students overvalue English and undervalue Arabic.

Students‟ support for EMI was also related to the assumed market needs.

English was seen as a basic requirement for future employment thereby

reflecting a common held view in the Gulf (Al-Balushi, 2001; Al-Busaidi, 1995; Al-

Mahrooqi et al., 2016) In fact, 88.1% (n=289) of the questionnaire participants

and all the interview participants shared the view that English is needed for

ensuring a good job. An example of such a view is provided by Manal:

Because the institutions that employ people to work for them look at
the English language proficiency of the person and the grade one
received … If it [the study] was in English and one has a good
grade and there is another person who studied in Arabic in the
same specialisation and also has a good grade they will choose the
one who studied in English.

In contrast, Salim pointed out “When we graduate and want to work with the

ministry we don‟t need English because all ministries are run in Arabic. This is

the official language of all employees. Most of them are Omanis”. In addition,

English is seen as necessary for effective communication with the wider

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community at work or in their daily lives and while travelling. For example, Safaa

noted: “Now we notice that most of the people who work in companies or

ministries are foreigners, so when we graduate and get a job we need to have

some knowledge in English in order to communicate with them”. Huda shared

her view and added that “We need English when we travel”.

The support for EMI was based on the assumption that it is the best approach to

prepare them for their professional lives. However, Arabic is also needed

especially in the public sector which is predominately occupied by Omanis where

the official language is Arabic. Al-Shmeli (2009 in Buckingham, 2015) notes that

unlike the UAE, administrative and managerial positions in the private and public

sector are mostly restricted to Omanis in support for the country‟s Omanisation

policy (Al-Hamadi et al., 2007). In fact, 78.7% (n=258) of the questionnaire

participants confirmed that they need Arabic beside English in their future jobs.

The question that arises is how well can studying through English prepare

students for their future jobs which require efficient knowledge of English and

Arabic. In addition, English is seen as a lingua franca in Oman, a view that has

been established in the literature (Al-Issa & Al-Bulushi, 2011; Al-Mahrooqi et al.,

2016). Troudi (2009) and some teachers in King‟s (2014) study question whether

academic English is needed for effective communication in the UAE society, an

argument that is worth considering in the Omani context. For communication in

daily life situations or travelling it is expected that functional English rather than

academic English competence is needed, something that could best be achieved

through a well-designed EFL programme (Troudi, 2009).

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Overall, the findings suggest that the participants accept Crystal‟s (1997) view

that the spread of English is neutral, natural and beneficial. Their support for the

need of English is pragmatic, accepting that English is needed to join the

workforce and to communicate with foreigners. The view that English is a lingua

franca indicates that they see the spread of English as neutral and assume that

the international status of English is detached from agendas of the powerful

(Phillipson, 2009a). It seems that most participants unquestionably embrace the

state‟s ideology and accept the hegemony of English. Through perpetuating its

supreme role in society they unintentionally devalue the role of Arabic as a

language of academia and employment in their own society.

5.1.3 Views on AMI – “It’s possible but in our society they don’t accept it”

The questionnaire findings indicate that 36.3% (n=119) disagreed with the

statement that English is more important than Arabic in education in contrast to

33.8% (n=111) who agreed, while 27.1% (n=89) were undecided about this issue

and nine participants did not respond to this statement. Most interview

participants reported that Arabic could be the language of instruction for all

courses such as business, medicine, pharmacy, information technology or

applied sciences similar to the participants‟ views in Troudi and Jendli‟s (2011)

study. Salem noted that “in other countries such as Syria, they study medicine in

Arabic” while Huda assured that “In Jordan, for example, they study pharmacy in

Arabic”. Basil referred to the richness of Arabic by saying “The Arabic language

has a lot of vocabulary – some of them we don‟t even know”. This seems to

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contradict earlier findings about EMI. For example, Huda in her quote above

asserted that it is necessary to study pharmacy in English because it has a lot of

terminology in English. At the same time she acknowledges that other countries

teach pharmacy in Arabic. This is an example that her views are affected by the

power of English and its high status. Overall, the findings suggest that the

participants did not see Arabic as academically inferior to English unlike findings

by Al-Jarf (2008) and Habbash and Troudi (2015). Nevertheless, most

participants were reserved towards the possibility of AMI at the college. For

example, Hussam explained that “it [teaching in Arabic] is possible but in our

society they don‟t accept it. They don‟t want the Arabic language now, they want

English”. Basil thought that Arabic instruction would not match the socio-

economic situation in Oman:

I don‟t know about the college – if it is possible. If we had started

from zero point with Arabic, it would be possible; but in this current
situation – impossible. All the hospitals are in English – we would
face difficulties. The staff in hospitals consists of foreigners. It
would be difficult to deal with them.

Basil‟s quote above shows that socio-economic factors can have a great

influence on people‟s view regarding EMI. In fact, 59.1% (n=194) of the

questionnaire participants found that Arabic should not be the language of

instruction, which is in contrast to some findings in the Gulf where the majority of

participants favoured AMI over EMI (Al-Mashikhi et al., 2014 in Oman; Ellili-

Cherif & Alkhateeb, 2015 in Qatar). It is assumed that AMI would be an obstacle

for future employment and would hinder them from developing their English

language competence needed for effective communication with foreigners. Their

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views regarding the role of Arabic in education and society were not shaped in a

vacuum but were mainly constructed as a result of media rhetoric and

educational institutions that promote English as a global language and that the

knowledge of this language ensures economic success. Their views were also

shaped by the implementation of the EMI policy since language policies are not

ideological free but reflect the ideologies behind their implementation (Tollefson,

2013, 2015; Johnson, 2013). Through the imposition of EMI at tertiary education

by higher authorities, the power of English and its speakers is perpetuated while

the role of Arabic in society is marginalised. This could explain why students

undervalued the role of Arabic in providing equal opportunities for students to

comprehend the subject matter, unlike studying through English, where

comprehension is also related to students‟ English language ability. An ethical

concern that arises here is the promotion of a language policy in response to

assumed market needs at the expense of providing students with equal

opportunities to access profound knowledge and to feel comfortable through

studying in their own language. Findlow (2006: 34) argues that whether or not the

requirement for students to learn English can be seen as a violation or

enrichment of human rights depends on how these rights are defined and “what

is considered to be a more valid higher educational ideal: providing equality of

educational opportunity, subsequent career opportunities, collective cultural

heritage or collective capability to take part in a global economy”. I support

Skutnabb-Kangas (2000, 2006) in her argument that all students should have the

right to receive education in their mother-tongue mainly because this would allow

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students to receive quality education which should be the aim of higher

education. This is inevitability compromised if education is provided in a second

language. From an economic perspective, policy makers should consider

whether the cost of depriving students from receiving quality education that

would allow them to participate in the local market is worth the benefit of

providing an elite (those who are proficient in English) with global economic

opportunities.

5.1.4 Negative attitude towards EMI – “studying in Arabic is better”

A small number of questionnaire participants (17.4%; n= 57) agreed with the

statement that Arabic should be the language of instruction at college. An

elaboration on such a view was provided by few interview participants (n=3) who

questioned the EMI policy such as Aref:

From my point of view I think that studying in Arabic is better for

students. The student doesn‟t have to spend a lot of time
translating the sentences to understand. When he reads in Arabic
he can understand much better. In Arabic is better.

Azhaar explained that studying in English impedes profound comprehension

because “before we understand the content we have to learn the language. In

English we understand some parts – but others we won‟t understand”. Her

comment echoes Troudi‟s (2009) observation that studying in English is an extra

cognitive burden that students have to deal with when studying in a second

language in which they are not proficient yet. Moreover, Azhaar and Aref

questioned the quality of education gained through EMI. For example, Aref

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indicated “Now here we all study in English - and which level are we”? Studying

in English was seen as a factor that hinders students from gaining high

professional status and even inhibits their country from development. Azhaar‟s

rather long quote in this regard is worth mentioning:

When someone compares between us and other students in other

countries and says that they‟re more advanced than Arab students
or Omani students in particular, this is because in other countries
students study in their own language. So for sure they don‟t face
any difficulties in their study or life. They don‟t have to learn a new
language. Not only that, in China or Japan for example, when
someone wants to study in their country they have to learn their
language first. Here, in our own country we have to learn in a
different language – they don‟t let us study in our own language.
This is why other students have outperformed us – they reach high
positions.

Her view echoes the views of few participants in Solloway‟s (2017) study who

pointed out that countries could only rise if they use their own language such as

Japan. A similar view was also expressed by a large number of participants in Al-

Mashikhi et al.‟s (2014: 110) study in Oman who justified their support for AMI

that “no nation can improve its status economically, politically, educationally and

culturally unless it strives to maintain or improve the status of its mother tongue

across all domains”. Azhaar in her interview excerpt above also alluded that the

EMI policy is unfair because Omani students do not have the right to study in

their own language unlike students in other countries who are not deprived of this

right. Although this was only pointed out by one participant, it is worth presenting.

In fact, Skutnabb-Kangas (2000, 2006) strongly argues that it is one of the

human rights to receive an education in the mother-tongue. Language is not only

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a means of communication but also a symbol of identity and heritage. Depriving

students of their right to study at tertiary level through their mother tongue does

not only affect the individual but affects the nations‟ linguistic and cultural

heritage. Therefore, I support Skutnabb-Kangas (1999: 10) in her argument that

educational language rights are most important human rights “for the

maintenance of linguistic and cultural diversity on our planet and the

development of languages”. In fact, some participants were concerned about the

effect the EMI policy has on their ability to use MSA and that its status and role in

the society were marginalised. Aref rejected the view that English is seen as

more appropriate for education in Arabic. A sense of pride in Arabic which he

sees as part of his religious and cultural identity could be noted from his interview

excerpt below:

I don‟t think that English is better than Arabic. Arabic is the

language of the Koran and it existed before the English language
which is derived from other languages. Also, people in the past,
studied medicine and other specialisations in Arabic and then
translated them into English, so the origin is Arabic.

Azhaar felt frustrated that studying in English deteriorated her ability to use MSA,

a concern that was shared by 25.3% (n=83) of the questionnaire participants:

I feel that studying in English – and there is not even one subject in
Arabic – first, makes us forget the Arabic language. When we were
at school, when we were studying in Arabic, if someone asked us to
write a report in Arabic, we could do that. We were good at writing
in standard Arabic. But after we joined the college, honestly, we
cannot write anything in Arabic – a letter – we don‟t know the
standard Arabic words; we cannot express ourselves correctly,
unlike when we were at school. This annoys me a lot because I
love the Arabic language.

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The concern about the effect of EMI on students‟ ability to use MSA has been

expressed by other participants in studies by Troudi and Jendli (2011) and

Pessoa and Rajakumar (2011). Although in this study these concerns were

raised by only a small number of participants they should be taken seriously.

Through studying in English, students will not have the opportunity to develop

their academic and professional use of MSA. This could have a negative impact

on students‟ professional lives where the knowledge of sound spoken and written

MSA is expected. In addition, students who study through English at tertiary level

and are interested in publishing research in Arabic will not be able to do so if they

lag behind in their Arabic linguistic competence. In fact, students‟ low

competence in Arabic was one of the reasons why Qatar University decided to

return to Arabic instruction for some courses in 2012 (Belhiah & Elhami, 2015). In

addition, Azhaar touched on her concern that the Arabs are marginalising their

own language by pointing out the following: “We need to strengthen our Arabic

language because it‟s our mother tongue. If we‟re not interested in improving our

Arabic language, how can we make the West want to learn this language”?

Although the issue of marginalisation of Arabic was only brought up by one

participant, it has been a major concern of researchers and academics in the

Gulf as discussed in section 3.4.1. Arabic is the official language in Oman and

the language of instruction in public and most private schools where students

receive their education for twelve years. One of the main objectives of the basic

and post-basic education system (grade 1-12) in Oman is to raise learners‟ pride

in Arabic, to develop their ability to use it diligently and to consolidate Islamic

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values (World Data on Education, 2010/2011). However, the same government

that is responsible for raising students‟ pride for their national language Arabic,

the symbol of their cultural and religious heritage, found that Arabic was not

appropriate for education at higher institutions and therefore opted for English,

the “global” language as a language of instruction in all public and private higher

education institutions. Since Arabic is not used in education at tertiary level and

is used in a restricted way in business, media, and economic affairs, its role in

society is being marginalised. This could be confusing and even disturbing to

students who are raised to be proud of their Arabic language and identity.

Foucault (1991 in Pennycook, 2001: 80) in his vision of power argues that “where

there is power there is resistance”. However, in this context no resistance to EMI

is evident since none of the participants stated that they have done anything to

resist it. Although the decision to implement the EMI policy was not imposed by

outside forces on the ministry of higher education in Oman, it is imposed on

students who believe they have no other choice than to accept the policy.

5.2 Quality of students’ academic experience

5.2.1. Readiness for EMI – “I expected difficulties but not to that degree”

The majority of interview participants reported that studying English at school did

not prepare them well for their study in English at college supporting the literature

in this regard (Al-Issa, 2011; Al-Mahrooqi, 2012a; Baporikar & Shah, 2012).

Therefore, 93.9% (n=308) of the participants had to study in the GFP before they

were able to join their specialisations. In fact, it has been noted by Baporikar and

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Shah (2012) that 80% of students in Oman have to study in GFPs in Oman.

Table 4 below shows the students‟ beginning English levels when they first joined

the college.

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent

Valid Level 1 52 15.9 15.9 15.9

Level 2 204 62.2 62.2 78.0

Level 3 46 14.0 14.0 92.1

Level 4 6 1.8 1.8 93.9

no foundation 20 6.1 6.1 100.0

Total 328 100.0 100.0

Table 4: Beginning English levels of students in foundation programme

As the table indicates, 62.2% of the questionnaire participants had to start with

level 2 which means the majority of students had to study for three semesters

general English before being able to study in their specialised courses. In fact, all

interview participants had to study in the GFP; three of them started level 1, nine

started level 2 and two started level 3. Nevertheless, 39.9% (n= 131) of the

questionnaire participants agreed with the statement “I feel that my English level

is not good enough to study in English” in contrast to 37.2% (n=122) who

disagreed with this statement. The interview participants elaborated on this issue.

Azhaar was the only participant who mentioned she was not ready to study in

English because “learning [English] in the foundation is not enough”. All other

participants stated that they felt ready for studying in English although they

expected to face some difficulties. Several participants reported that the

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difficulties they faced at the beginning were above their expectations. For

example, Huda stated: “I didn‟t expect that it would be that difficult. I even asked

myself how I can continue pharmacy”. I believe that students studying in their

own language would not be asking such a question. The interview excerpt by

Basil provides an explanation for the difficulties students faced when they joined

their specialised courses:

When I started my specialisation, there were things that we didn‟t

cover. There were new things. They didn‟t teach us terminology
related to pharmacy or medical terms so we faced this problem; a
lot of new terminology, a lot of new vocabulary, a lot of information
about pharmacy – all in English. This is the problem that we faced. I
expected difficulties but not to that degree. I expected around 20%
difficulties but it turned out to be around 70%.

During my 14 classroom observations I felt that most students are not ready to study

in English. Students never used a full sentence when asking a question but rather

fragments such as “What meaning of …” or “What we do” and did not respond to

questions in full sentences. In classes where the teacher was an Arab, few students

were not able to form a question in English and asked in Arabic and occasionally

responded in Arabic to a question the teacher posed. In general, I noticed that

students made language mistakes even with basic English grammar as is evident in

the comment “Teacher, it is not work” and “Teacher, not connecting” that some

students made to indicate that they are unable to log into the system the teacher has

asked them to.

Since all these students passed the required exams (Level 4 and exist exam)

which allowed them to study in their specialised courses, it is natural that they

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assumed to be ready for EMI. What the participants are unaware of is that unless

they passed the exit exam with a band score of minimum 5.5 they are still

considered “limited users” of English as already discussed (2.4.3) who have

problems in understanding and expressing themselves. In addition, in the

foundation courses they study general English. However, it has been argued that

the development of BICS is not sufficient for students to cope with the demands

of higher education in English (3.5.3). The reason is that in their content courses

they come across academic English which they are not familiar with. While

students would also come across new terms and concepts if they were studying

in Arabic, their comprehension would be easier given their linguistic background

and possible ways of figuring out the meaning of unknown words because their

schemata in Arabic is far superior to that in English. Bielenberg (2004) clarifies

that academic English, unlike general English, depends on interpretation on the

text rather than on context, include items that are Latin or Greek originally and

are more complex syntactically. This means that beside learning content and

English students also have to learn academic English which is full of technical

vocabulary each depending on a specialised field. Especially students who are

weak in English might not be able to cope with these challenges. In fact, Hussam

reported that he was one of the students who was about to drop out of college

due to the linguistic challenge of studying in English. While he was determined to

defy these challenges, he mentioned that many of his friends at college actually

dropped out of college. His interview excerpt highlights this issue:

I know many of them – more than 10 people. I know them very well.
They are very good friends and we go out together but they

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 dropped out. Not because the subjects were difficult – because the
study in English was too difficult. They wanted to have a certificate
but they just couldn‟t cope with the English language.

It is worth mentioning that Azhaar studied business administration for one year

but had to change her specialisation because she could not cope with the

linguistic challenges of studying business in English which depends on

“memorisation in English” in contrast to fashion design which is based on

“drawing”. She also believed that this disadvantaged her because “there are

more job opportunities for business”.

The findings suggest that the majority of students are not linguistically ready to

study through EMI after studying in the GFP which supports Sivaraman et al.‟s

(2014) findings that “even after such foundation program training, it is observed

that the students are not comfortable in classes taught in English”. This raises

concerns whether the exit exam which is based on an in house version of IELTS

is in fact effective in evaluating students‟ readiness to study in their degree

programmes. Macaro (2015) notes, that entry to post-graduate education in most

Anglophone countries is mainly based on international qualifications such as

IELTS. He questions whether IELTS is sufficiently academically oriented in order

to predict success on a post-graduate study. A similar concern can be raised in

regard to the use of IELTS as an entry requirement for undergraduate studies.

Therefore, it seems that the current system does not provide all students with

equal opportunities to study at tertiary level which might have detrimental effects

on their future carriers and the national development of the country.

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5.2.2 Improvement of language – “Speaking - now I can speak”

Most questionnaire participants reported an improvement in their language skills

as a result of studying in English at college. In regard to listening, 88.4% (n=290)

of them noticed an improvement while 89% (n=292) found that their reading skills

have improved. Writing skills have also improved as reported by 73.2% (n=221)

of the participants. The interview participants provided more in-depth information

regarding their language skills improvement. For example, Safaa explained: “For

sure it [English level] has improved in comparison to school. At school we only

studied English as a subject. Here at college all subjects are in English so it‟s

normal that my language has improved”. Huda, like Safaa also compared her

language improvement to her English level at school by saying:

Yes, it has improved a lot. Speaking - now I can speak. Reading - if

I compare to before at school it was very difficult but with practice
and speaking - all the time we speak English - there is no Arabic.
Writing also - in comparison to before it has improved a lot.

While all interview participants reported that their English level has increased

after studying in the foundation and to some extent in the post-foundation

courses their views regarding their language improvement in their content

courses varied. There was a widespread belief among most interview

participants that their speaking skills have improved most as a result of EMI

similar to findings by Rogier (2012) and Belhiah and Elhami (2014) in the UAE.

Lamia‟s perception regarding her speaking skills has been echoed by almost all

participants:

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 Mostly speaking. In school we didn‟t speak but here we have to talk
to the teachers. As you know not all teachers are Arabs. Some of
them are foreigners I mean they speak in English so I have to talk
in English.

Although few interview participants noted a slight improvement in reading and/or

listening skills, most of them mentioned that their writing skills did not improve as

a result of EMI. Manal explained “There is no writing” a view shared by Lamia

who indicated: “About writing, not really. In the foundation I was better I think.

Now we don‟t write a lot”. Moreover, four participants reported that their language

has only improved in the foundation but has become worse after they joined the

specialised courses. This issue is highlighted by Mariam‟s interview excerpt:

I started with level 2. I benefitted a lot, much more than from school
but when we joined our specialisation, our [English] language has
deteriorated. Public speaking was useful but it‟s only a subject.
Also, the subjects that teach writing like TW1 and TW2 were useful.
Studying in my specialisation depends on memorisation. There is
no focus on the English language.

Salim explained that language improvement in the specialised courses is mostly

related to “learning new words”. He continued saying “we don‟t focus on the

English grammar; the focus is on the content of the subject”.

Research findings that investigated language improvement through EMI are so

far inconclusive (3.3.1). The findings in this study indicate that learning in English

can increase students‟ English level at least in some skills. Overall, the findings

suggest that students‟ speaking skills have more improved than their writing

skills, a view shared by the teachers in King‟s (2014) study who believed that

their students felt more comfortable in speaking than in writing. However, an

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interesting finding is that language improvement according to the participants

happened mostly as a result of studying in the foundation or post-foundation

courses rather than through EMI courses. Foundation and post-foundation

courses are taught by English teachers and are designed for the purpose of

English learning. In contrast, content courses are taught by teachers who are

mainly concerned about the content which was confirmed during classroom

observations. The interview findings also suggest that at least some students did

not achieve what they expected in regard to language improvement through EMI

thereby supporting findings in Chapple‟s (2015) study where 24% of the

participants did not indicate an improvement in English language proficiency.

According to Chapple (2015) language improvement through EMI has been

reported in cases where students have already linguistic competence. In this

context, most students started their study with limited linguistic competence.

Taking Chapple‟s (2015) argument into consideration, this could explain why only

limited language improvement has been noted through EMI. In fact, a study by

Al-Mahrooqi and Tuzlukova (2014) that was conducted in 14 tertiary institutions

in Oman found that students graduate from higher education with weak English

skills that are not adequate for the job market. This raises the question whether

the EMI policy is appropriate to achieve the purpose of raising students‟ English

level.

5.2.3 Comprehending lectures – “most of it I don’t understand”

The questionnaire results show that 50.6% (n= 166) of the students agreed with

the statement that “Sometimes I do not understand what the teacher says in

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class”. The interview findings indicate that students face difficulties in

comprehending their lectures at all levels in their study although this issue was

more serious at the beginning of their study which supports findings in the

literature in this regard (van Wyk, 2014 and Kagwasage, 2012 in South Africa;

Evans & Morrison, 2011a in China, Chang, 2010 in Taiwan; Al-Bakri, 2013; Al-

Mashikhi et al., 2014; Sivaraman et al., 2014 in Oman). Several interview

participants reported that they are able to comprehend only the main parts of a

topic but not the details as Hussam asserted: “No, I don‟t understand everything.

When the lecturer speaks I understand some parts, the easy ones, but not all

and it happens that most of it I don‟t understand”. Nadia noted “Not only

sometimes - more than that. It depends on the teacher. I feel that it‟s even better

not to attend. I can study on my own”. Students‟ language proficiency is

considered to play a major role in students‟ success in EMI classes (Kym & Kym,

2014). However, most of the interview participants found that beside their own

linguistic competence, comprehending a lecture is also related to the teacher as

Nadia‟s comment above shows. The view that comprehension is affected by the

teacher will be discussed in relation to teacher origin and delivery of content in

the sub-sections below.

5.2.3.1 Teacher origin –“I feel more comfortable when the teacher is of my

nationality”

The teachers in this college come from different places such as India, Pakistan,

Philippines, Oman and other Arab countries. While the majority of these teachers

come from India, the minority come from Oman or Arab countries. Very few

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teachers in the photography department come originally from English speaking

countries. Therefore, students are exposed to a variety of English accents which

was seen as a major obstacle for comprehending the lectures as Hussam‟s

quote shows:

The first reason is the English language. This is the main reason.
Also the teacher plays a role - when the teacher speaks fast. As
you know we‟re beginners in English so it‟s difficult to understand.
Also, teachers with certain nationalities pronounce words
differently. You think they‟re new words but they just pronounce
them differently and this makes it more difficult to understand the
lecture.

Most participants indicated that Indian teachers‟ accents were the most difficult to

understand as noted by Amer:

We have a big problem here at college with the accent of Indian

teachers. Their accent is weak. They mispronounce many words.
This is a common problem in our department. There are a lot of
Indian teachers. Also, they speak very fast. Only some make an
effort to slow down.

Several participants felt that because some teachers have “poor” or “weak”

pronunciation they are not able to learn the correct pronunciation of words as

Lamia contemplated:

The problem is that sometimes teachers teach us something

wrong. For example, they pronounce words differently and then,
when we use them, another teacher asks us, who taught you this?
In foundation especially teachers taught us wrong pronunciation but
also here in our specialisation. This shouldn‟t happen because we
need to learn the correct pronunciation not the wrong one.

Ali thought that some teachers lack the linguistic competence to teach in English

which he saw as a “disadvantage of learning in English at this college”. He

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complained that “When they want to teach us in English at least the teacher

should be competent to teach in correct English. The problem is that the teacher

doesn‟t know that he‟s wrong”. Speaking fast was also seen as problematic

regarding comprehension as pointed out by Hussam and Amer above. Aref

further explained that “Some [teachers] make an effort and speak slowly and

clearly but others not. I think they assume that we should know English after

studying English all these years at school”.

The participants‟ concerns regarding teachers‟ accents, fast speech and

language competence were confirmed during my classroom observations. On

several occasions the teachers spoke very fast, in particular Indian teachers and

some of them had a low voice and I questioned whether students are able to

comprehend. I could also sense that occasionally some students were confused

and felt disconnected. Students at public schools are mainly exposed to accents

of teachers from Arabic-speaking countries and are therefore familiar with them

(Al-Issa & Al-Bulushi, 2012). In addition, students at secondary school are

exposed to the British or US-accented English through listening texts which are

presented as the correct model of English (Al-Issa, 2005). This could explain why

students are not familiar with other accents of English and see any deviation in

pronunciation of words in English from the norm that they are used to hear as

incorrect. I believe that students could be better prepared for their study at

tertiary level through the use of listening texts at schools that reflect the English

accents of speakers in their immediate environment.

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The linguistic and pedagogic competence of teachers is one of the main

concerns regarding EMI (Barnard, 2015; Ibrahim, 2001; Williams, 2015.) It has

been reported in the literature that teachers, especially in Asia, do not have

adequate linguistic competence to teach in English (Barnard, 2015; Hamid et al.,

2013; Zacharias, 2013) although this feature is not restricted to Asia but is

similarly evident in Europe (Airey & Linder, 2006; Wilkinson, 2015). During my 14

classroom observations I noticed that few teachers mispronounced some words

and some teachers made few grammatical errors but overall I felt that most of

them were rather competent speakers of English. Therefore, I would argue that

the linguistic competence of most teachers was acceptable but their pedagogic

competence to teach in English lagged behind. Shohamy (2013) asserts that it is

essential to take certain measures to support students to acquire academic

knowledge through EMI one of these could be speaking slowly and clearly. I

noticed during classroom observations that most teachers did not take the

students‟ English level into consideration because they did not try to

accommodate their speech to a slower pace to make it more comprehensible for

students. On several occasions I noted down my concern whether students are

able to comprehend with such speed in teacher talk. It seems that this affected

the ability of the students to comprehend the lecture. In this context, teachers do

not receive any guidance on how to teach their EMI courses. It might be that

some teachers, especially those who are new to the context are not even aware

of the students‟ limited linguistic abilities. The concern about the lack of

professional development programmes that include EMI specific pedagogical

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components has been raised in the literature (Dearden, 2015; Vu & Burns, 2014;

Zacharias, 2013) and should be considered by policy makers in this context.

Several students, with the exception of one, expressed their preference for

having teachers of Arab origins because they sometimes could support them to

comprehend better through providing explanations in Arabic. An example is

Manal who explained: “We have a subject and the teacher is Arabic. When he

notices that we don‟t understand something he explains it in Arabic”. The

preference for Arab teachers is also evident in Hussam‟s quote:

In my situation I feel more comfortable when the teacher is of my

nationality or explains in Arabic because if I don‟t understand
something and I want to ask the teacher then the non-Arab teacher
will explain in English but the Arab teacher can explain in Arabic so
I can understand.

The findings indicate that some Arab teachers did not strictly apply the EMI policy

but took steps to enact the policy in a way which they thought works best in this

context. It could be that they found that the implementation of the policy would be

impractical considering the English level of the students. This is not unique to this

context as the findings by Griffiths (2013) in Norway show that teachers

occasionally used Norwegian instead of English to support students‟

comprehension. Since some students and teachers found that the use of some

Arabic in class could help students gain academic knowledge and make them

feel more comfortable, it might be worth if the college would consider hiring more

teachers from Arab countries and reduce the number of teachers from non-Arab

countries. Since students are allowed to choose their sections, then the ones

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who prefer having an Arab teacher would be able to register in the section taught

by an Arab teacher. In addition, Arab teachers are culturally better able to create

a bond with their students which could have a positive impact on students‟

morale (King, 2014).

5.2.3.2 Delivery of content – “They just read”

The participants also noted that comprehension was affected by the difficulty of

the content and the ability of the teacher to deliver the content. Several

participants pointed out that the teachers delivered the content mainly though

“reading the slides”. In fact, Muzna complained that “Some of the teachers –

some have a doctor degree – enter the class and then read the slides from the

power point. They just read. But we need explanation, especially in our

specialisation – Applied sciences, which is full of practical issues”. She continued

saying “I feel very bored when the teacher talks in class and I don‟t understand”.

During my classroom observation I noticed that in 9 classes out of 14, the

delivery of the content was mainly restricted to the teachers reading the handout

which they displayed as a power point presentation. Occasionally they stopped

reading to ask students if everything is clear. Few of them asked students a

question about the meaning of a word such as “trend” or “cognitive” and then

explained the meaning since in most cases students did not know the meaning of

these words. Only in one of these classes (Business class) did the teacher

elaborate on certain issues which he related to the Omani context and his own

experience. Moreover, Safaa reported that “Some teachers are specialised in

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electronic management but they teach subjects related to human resources.

They have general information about business, but are not qualified to teach a

special subject. We notice that they don‟t have profound information”. Salim

believed that this has a negative impact on students‟ comprehension of the

subject and the grades they receive in their exams. His interview excerpt

highlights this point:

Last term – our specialisation is human resources – we had a

difficult subject but the lecturer was specialised in something
different. He was not specialised in human resources but in
calculation. Most of his explanation was restricted to reading the
handout. This makes it more difficult for the students to understand.
This is why we got low marks in this subject. We could have got
higher marks if the teacher were specialised in this subject.

In addition, all the participants had the impression that the main concern of

teachers was to deliver the content regardless whether students have

understood or not. Basil‟s quote reflects this view: “They explain the lesson and

that‟s it; if the student understood or not is the responsibility of the student”. In

addition, Amer pointed out that “We have a problem in this college that there isn‟t

enough time. The time of the lecture is short and the semester is short. The

student is always under pressure” a point referred to by several participants. The

classroom observations revealed that teachers‟ focus in class was covering the

material of the handout because they were constantly reading or talking without

leaving any opportunity for students to interact. In particular, in applied sciences

and pharmacy classes, students were provided with a lot of information during

one session. In one of these classes, the teacher explained that she was going

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over the material quickly because exams are approaching and that classes would

continue until one day before the exam. This resulted in an uproar where

students complained about not being given enough time to revise the great

amount of material for the exam.

In regard to the new vocabulary that students encounter while studying in

English, only 18.9% (n=62) of the questionnaire participants agreed with the

statement that teachers spend a lot of time explaining vocabulary in class, in

contrast to 50.3% (n=165) who disagreed. Amer noted that he sometimes does

not understand the lecture because of the vocabulary the teachers use:

In class the lecturer uses difficult or new vocabulary. I write them

down in order to check the meaning or to ask someone after class
about the meaning of the word. Also the teacher sometimes uses
specialised vocabulary. I personally don‟t understand sometimes.
Like when you attended the class of Engineering. Sometimes the
students don‟t understand the whole lecture.

The classroom observation showed that only two teachers spent some time on

explaining vocabulary, one was an Omani teacher who tried to make sure that

students understood the meaning of technical and general vocabulary through

asking if they know the meaning of words such as “drug tolerance” and

“addicted”. If the students did not know them she would explain the meaning of

the words in English and on few occasions in Arabic such as “inflammation”. The

other teacher was an American who told me that he was an English teacher for

some time. He also explained the meaning of key words such as “animation”. In

addition, I noticed that students rarely asked about the meaning of a word.

Instead, they used their mobiles to check the meaning of words and sometimes

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they asked their classroom mates. Bielenberg (2004) argues that it is essential

that teachers receive training on how to facilitate students‟ access to the meaning

of academic English. The findings indicate that teachers in this college do not

receive any kind of training in this regard as already discussed.

Spolsky (2004) argues that real language policy can most likely be found in its

practices than in its management. It seems that the teachers in this context

adopted the use of practices such as staying closely to the textbook and/or using

power-point slides to teach content thereby focusing on the simple transfer of

knowledge instead of constructing knowledge through interaction with the

students. These practices are common in an EMI context (Airey & Linder, 2006;

Hu et al., 2014; Zacharias, 2013) and are usually adopted as a strategy to

overcome the language difficulties encountered by students and to a lesser

degree by teachers (Hu et al., 2014). Another rationale for the adoption of this

strategy was provided by Airey and Linder (2006: 557) where teachers adopted a

“walking through the landscape” strategy to support the students in learning

which the researchers found a “boring and unproductive lecturing strategy” but

was appreciated by all students. While it is not clear why the teachers in this

study adopted this strategy, it is clear that most students found it boring unlike

the participants in the above mentioned study who found it helpful. The fact that

EMI classes of this kind can become technical and lack sparks and humour has

also been documented in the literature (Barnard, 2015; Sert, 2008) which has an

effect on the quality of students‟ learning experiences. The classroom

observations showed that none of the teachers got critically engaged with the

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content or tried to engage the students in any kind of discussion whether as a

whole class, group or pair work that could support in the acquisition of academic

knowledge. Considering the students‟ reports above and the classroom

observations it is evident that students are provided with shallow content

knowledge thus supporting findings in the literature (Becket & Li, 2011; Hu et al.,

2014; Wilkinson, 2015). This raises concerns about the quality of education that

these students receive and whether the disciplinary knowledge gained would

allow them to perform well in their future jobs.

5.2.4 Interaction in the EMI classroom– “I usually listen”

The classroom observations showed that the interaction between the students

and the teachers or among the students was very limited which is a common

feature in the EMI classroom (3.5.3). The students‟ participation in class was

restricted to taking notes (either in English or Arabic), highlighting or underlining

some sentences in the handout and nodding to show understanding of a certain

concept. Interaction with the teacher was almost restricted to responding to

comprehension check questions which few students answered collectively while

others remained silent. Very few students stood out and responded individually to

some questions although very briefly. In one of the classes the teacher asked 15

questions; some were related to the meaning of vocabulary such as “sedation”

and “tolerance” while others were related to questions about their general

knowledge regarding addiction to alcohol. Most responses were very brief and

grammatically incorrect while other responses consisted of one word and one

student answered in Arabic. However, I noticed that in other classes few students

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stood out and were able to respond to a question in rather fluent English. I also

noticed that when the teacher asked the students if they understood, they almost

always nodded or said yes and occasionally they did not say anything. Only in

one class, one female student said that she did not understand so the teacher

repeated the point.

In relation to asking questions in class, 61% (n=200) of the questionnaire

participants stated that they ask the teacher questions in class if they do not

understand. However, this did not become evident during the 14 classroom

observations since only 11 questions were asked. Very few questions were

about the meaning of a word such as “substance”, but most of the students

asked clarification questions such as “Why 4”, “What meaning of r” or “what we

do”. In one class a student asked a question in Arabic but the teacher responded

in English. In two classes a student asked the teacher to repeat a point. On few

occasions some students grabbed the opportunity to call the teacher to their

place to ask him/her a question when s/he gave them some time to copy

something from the board. I also noticed that occasionally the students turned to

their peers to seek an explanation most probably in Arabic. Some interview

participants mentioned that they ask the teachers questions in class in case they

do not understand but most of them stated that they ask their friends in class

first. They also provided several reasons for not asking questions. Safaa

mentioned that “usually there is no time because then the teacher needs to re-

explain” a view that has been echoed by other participants. Mariam explained

that “When the teacher asks us „Are you understand‟ we tell him „we do‟ because

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if we don‟t understand the first time we won‟t understand the second time when

he re-explains in the same way”. In addition, Huda pointed out that this is a

cultural issue among students:

We‟re not used to ask questions. Not because it‟s in English. Even
in school in Arabic we never ask questions. Because sometimes we
don‟t understand in class but when we revise it becomes clear later.

Few participants mentioned that they do not ask questions because they lack

confidence asking in English. The psychological effects that EMI can have on

students will be further discussed in section 5.2.6. The findings indicate that

education in this context is delivered through a teacher-centred approach which

seems to be common in Asian Universities (Barnard, 2015) in contrast to the

mission of the college to deliver high quality education through a student-centred

approach in order to prepare students for the labour market with confidence

(College Vision and Mission, 2015). One of the goals of the implementation of the

EMI policy is to enhance the students‟ communicative competence which is

needed in the workplace. It seems that the current teacher-centred approach

adopted by the teachers will not lead to the successful achievement of this goal.

5.2.5 Extra effort – “The extra effort is mostly related to learning every new

word”

The participants reported that in order to compensate for their partial

comprehension in class, they need to make an extra effort such as preparing the

lesson before-hand, taking notes in class, asking friends, consulting the teacher

during office hours, memorising or self-study as Amer clarified:

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 Before entering the classroom, the student has to be prepared. He
has to translate all the words – there are always many new words
especially in my specialisation, chemical engineering, into Arabic in
order to understand them. Also, I need to translate the words of
problem solving activities.

Translation of new words in order to comprehend the material was an

unavoidable extra effort employed by all participants and will be discussed more

in detail in section 5.3.4. Considering the effort students need to make in the

classroom, Muzna reported:

I usually listen and at the same time I follow the handout and take
notes. Even when the teacher asks us to close the handout I can‟t
because I need to follow closely the power point and the handout.
Any point mentioned outside the handout I note down.

During the classroom observations I could see that most students highlighted

some sentences and occasionally wrote something in English or Arabic

(Appendix 22). In fact, 71% (n=233) of the questionnaire participants stated that

they can easily take notes in English. As for the interview participants, only Ali

and Basil acknowledged that they rarely take notes. The interview excerpt by

Salim is an example of what students take notes of:

When he [the teacher] explains the meaning of a word or a

sentence – I need to write that down. I underline the important
sentences and sometimes I even explain them in my own way. I
summarise them in my own way.

Salim also noted that he needs to learn the meaning of every new word “because

this new word might come in an exam”. Huda added that “when I learn a word I

have to learn the spelling; especially in pharmacy the spelling is very specific.

One letter can change the name of the drug completely”. Salim further

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maintained that “It happens that I‟m writing something, meanwhile he [the

teacher] moves to another point but I couldn‟t follow because I was busy writing”

confirming the participants‟ experience in Airey and Linder‟s (2006) study that

during the process of note-taking students are unable to concentrate on the

lecture, which is an obvious learning struggle. Huda stated that “If I don‟t

understand it [a word] in English, I translate it in Arabic”, a strategy adopted by

Lamia who added “I also sometimes write in Arabic how to pronounce a word”.

While note-taking is a common strategy adopted by college students in other

contexts, it seems that the main reason for taking-notes in this EMI context is to

make meaning of the written text. This is another reason to question the

readiness of students for the rigour of academic reading.

All participants but Ali mentioned that they consult their friends first before

consulting the teacher in case something is not clear as Huda noted: “In most

cases I ask my roommates who are 1 year ahead of us. They always help us

because they have the experience. If they don‟t have time then it‟s ok. I ask the

teachers”. Some students mentioned that they would ask the teachers during

office hours to re-explain something. Overall, I noticed during classroom

observations that students would depend first on their friends and then on their

teachers. It could be that they feel more comfortable talking to their peers

although 62.8% (n=206) of the questionnaire participants mentioned that they

feel comfortable asking their non-native Arabic teachers questions outside class.

Hussam further pointed out that it might be problematic for students whose

English language is weak to consult the teacher. He stated that “If my friend also

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doesn‟t know then I ask a friend who is good in English to go and ask the teacher

and then he explains to me in Arabic”. Few participants reported on the extra

effort they need to do on their own. For example, Muzna clarified: “I consult

google or youtube to understand issues that I couldn‟t understand from the

teacher in class. Perhaps they‟re not great efforts but for me I think they‟re great

efforts that I do” while Nadia reported: “Sometimes I borrow school books in

physics from grade 12 [in Arabic] and I revise from them and compare it with our

study”.

More than half of the interview participants indicated that they have to memorise

the content written in the handout. The need to memorise was related to the

limited ability to express ideas in English, especially during exams. Huda

asserted that “When I study, I memorise what‟s in the handout. In Arabic you can

express the idea in your own words so it‟s easier, but in English it has to be the

same as the book”. Manal provided another reason for memorisation by stating:

“In my specialisation there are issues that can‟t be understood. They‟re not clear.

You just need to memorise”. It seems that memorising is a strategy employed by

a large number of students because 62.8% (n=206) of the questionnaire

participants agreed with the item “I memorise the content in order to pass

quizzes and exams”. In particular, the participants mentioned: “But if it‟s a

definition, you have to write the exact words as the book - word for word. This is

the problem” (Basil). Amer explained that students will lose marks if the spelling

of definitions is not correct.

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Research on EMI has found that students need to make an extra effort and

employ certain strategies in order to cope with the challenges they face in their

study (Airey & Linder, 2006; Al-Bakri, 2013; Evans & Green, 2007; Evans &

Morrison, 2011a; Troudi & Jendli, 2011). Although it seems that the participants

are able to cope with these challenges, it is worth considering that translating

takes a lot of time and effort. In addition, memorising and copying from teachers

and from peers are surface level learning strategies that might meet immediate

needs such as passing tests but do not foster a profound understanding of

concepts (Brock-Utne & Alidou, 2011; Kagwasage, 2012). Consulting peers and

teachers are also time consuming activities not to forget the emotional impact

this has on students‟ self-esteem. Some students might not be able to cope well

with the burden to study in a language they are not proficient yet as already

discussed. This could lead to low academic achievement and might lead to drop-

out of college (Marsh, 2006; Troudi, 2009).

5.2.6 Psychological impact – “No, I don’t ask. I get afraid”

The interview findings indicate that EMI can have a psychological impact on

students especially those who are less proficient in English. Azhaar was one of

the students who has been emotionally affected most by the EMI policy. She

reported that she was interested in participating in this study because she felt

that “through this study I could express the feelings that are repressed inside me”

and she explained that “for the first time in my life I filled in a questionnaire in an

honest way”. Azhaar mentioned that she was “one of the top students in Arabic”

at school but she was the only interview participant who self-evaluated her

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English level as “very weak”. Consequently she is suffering to study in English.

She felt frustrated because she failed in all subjects in business and had

therefore to change her specialisation. The sense of frustration is evident in her

quote: “This delayed me for a year. One year of my life lost – in vain. Students at

my age are now in their second year of study”. In addition, she reported how her

low English level makes her feel embarrassed during a lecture and that

sometimes she feels humiliated in class by the teacher when she does not

understand:

Sometimes I feel embarrassed when the teacher speaks in English

and is not an Arab - when I don‟t understand. Sometimes I feel that
she embarrasses me. For example, she asks some of the girls to
explain to me because I didn‟t understand; those girls who are
better in English than me. This upsets me sometimes.

Similarly, Lamia stated that sometimes she feels embarrassed to ask a teacher

to repeat a point because the teacher becomes impatient and confuses her

inability to understand with being “slow” as her interview excerpt shows: “I notice

that they become upset and I can see from their face that they think I‟m slow. I

don‟t like this and then I ask my friends”. Jewels and Albon (2012: 3) in the UAE

addressed this issue:

Teachers who have been accustomed to teaching mainly NES

[native English speaker] students in Western universities might
easily perceive non-NES students, such as the Gulf students in this
research, as being either „lazy‟ or „not at a high enough intellectual
standard for university life‟, simply because of the difficulties they
face with the language of instruction.

From my own experience in this college I noticed that unfortunately some

teachers confuse the low English level of the students with being lazy or stupid.

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This attitude is not restricted to teachers who have been accustomed to teaching

NES students from Western universities as Jewels and Albon (ibid) maintain, but

is also prevalent among teachers who have experience with teaching non-NES

students in contexts other than the Gulf. The relation between language

proficiency and success in studying has been established in the literature

(McLaren, 2011; Troudi & Jendli, 2011) and can lead to othering of students with

low English language proficiency. Moreover, the findings show that some

students suffer from low self-esteem as found in Brock-Utne‟s (2006) study in

Tanzania. An interview excerpt by Hussam highlights this point:

No, I don‟t ask. I get afraid; only if the teacher is an Arab. I had a
Syrian teacher. I used to ask her in Arabic and she used to respond
in Arabic. But if the teacher doesn‟t speak Arabic I find it difficult to
ask. I imagine how he‟ll respond in English and I don‟t understand.
If the student knows English then no problem but in my case – I
don‟t understand English well – it‟s difficult.

Another example is Nadia, who admitted that she feels afraid to ask or respond

to a question as her quote indicates:

In English, when I respond I feel afraid because my sentence

structure might be weak but in Arabic I would respond fluently
because it‟s my mother tongue and I know how to arrange the
words in a sentence. In English I‟m afraid. I‟m afraid to use one
word before another – I„m afraid. Especially when the class is
crowded – I feel afraid.

There is evidence in the literature that emotions play a major role in learning

(Dirkx, 2008; Dumont et al. 2010; Pekrun, 2014). For example, Boekaerts (2010:

91 in Dumant et al., 2010) asserts that students “turn away from learning when

they experience negative emotions”. Moreover, they lose face when they fail

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despite the effort to succeed. However, the issues of fear and other negative

feelings have basically been ignored by EMI protagonists. The emotional

experience of the learner does not seem to be on the agenda of those who see

the EMI policy as key to economic development and prosperity.

In regard to students‟ feelings during a lecture Hussam stated: “I feel 100%

comfortable when the teacher speaks Arabic but if the teacher speaks only

English I feel confused. I feel afraid”. This feeling was shared by other

participants such as Azhaar while Huda noted: “I become headache just because

of thinking how I can complete my study. But sometimes I have the willpower to

revise and study”. In addition, when students feel that attending does not benefit

them, then they are inclined to skip classes. An example is Azhaar who stated: “I

didn‟t understand anything [during a lecture in business]. This is why I was

absent very often. I felt that attending the lectures was a waste of time”. Similar

feelings have been reported by the participants in Al-Mashikhi et al.‟s (2014)

study in Oman. In fact, Mariam‟s interview excerpt below shows that students‟

attendance is related to students‟ perceptions of getting benefit from attending

classes and their feeling of comfort:

In the lecture „Oman civilization‟ we all participate. The teacher

asks and we all respond. This teacher isn‟t text bound. She has a
lot of information so it‟s interesting and nobody is absent. We enjoy
the class a lot.

This class is taught in Arabic by an Omani teacher. While Mariam believes that

the reason that students feel more comfortable in this particular class is related to

the content delivery style of the teacher, is could be that the teacher was better

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able to elaborate and improvise in class and interact with the students because it

was in Arabic. In fact, Brock-Utne (2006) and Alidou and Brock-Utne (2011)

observed that students and teachers felt more relaxed when the language of

instruction was the mother tongue and that students‟ participation in these

classes was much higher compared to classes conducted in English. In addition,

some students felt alone in their struggle to study in English and that the college

does not provide the students with sufficient support. Azhaar was one of the

students who believed that “So far I haven‟t seen that there is any kind of support

[provided by the college]”.

Several participants found that the support for students to learn in English

provided by the college is restricted to the GFP and to some extent to the PFP.

Ali thought “I think that the English language centre is the only support for

students”. Salim further noted that “after the foundation year the student has to

depend on himself. There is no support at all. He has to make an effort on his

own. He has to improve his own language” while Nadia thought “They just gave

us the subjects without being concerned about us”.

Although it might be argued that these are individual perceptions reported by only

few participants, it is nevertheless important to highlight these negative feelings

because of the negative impact they can have on the participants‟ morale and

passion to continue their study. Wilkinson (2015) argues that it is necessary to

see if there are losers in an EMI context and what they are losing. The findings

indicate that studying in English in this context is a plight for some students.

There are students who lost their self-esteem because they got delayed in their

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study due to failure. Some students lost the chance to specialise in a major of

their interest and some students lost the opportunity to receive a college degree

since they had to drop out from college. This is a major educational issue that

has to be addressed at national level. Students who drop their study cause the

country financial loss among others. In line with the theoretical framework of this

study based on critical applied linguistics, the aim of raising awareness among

policy makers and teachers to these issues is not merely the alleviation of

students‟ plight but also the possibility of change to a more egalitarian language

policy (Pennycook, 2001; Tollefson, 2013; Johnson, 2013).

5.3 The challenges of reading in content courses

5.3.1 Reading materials – “We just have to read the handout”

A large number of the questionnaire participants (86.0%; n=282) agreed with the

statement “I have to do a lot of reading in English for my study”. However, the

participants‟ views regarding the reading requirement varied among participants

enrolled in different faculties (table 5 below).

20. I have to do a lot of reading in English for strongly

my study. agree/agree
Pharmacy 93.8%
Fashion design 85.7%
Applied sciences 92.1%
IT 89.1%
Engineering 82.3%
Business studies 78.0%
Photography 70.4%

Table 5: Participants’ perceptions on the reading load according to

disciplines

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According to the findings, it seems that more Pharmacy (93.8%) than

Photography students (70.4%) believe that they have to read a lot in their

specialisation. In regard to the reading requirement, the interview participants

clarified that the core reading for each subject consisted of a course book which

they referred to as a handout, which is similar to the reading requirement in

King‟s (2014) study in the UAE. This means that the students in this college are

not provided with a reading list that they have to read over a specific period of

time as common for college students. In addition, some participants mentioned

that they have to read the power-point slides that the teacher prepares for a

subject and uploads on the e-learning portal that all students have access to.

However, Lamia (fashion design) explained that “we don‟t have any course

books. But the teachers give us some papers to read” and Ali (photography)

stated “We only have to read in one subject, in History”. This could explain the

difference between students‟ perceptions regarding the reading requirement.

During the classroom observations and the interviews I had the chance to look at

the handout that students have to read. Some handouts consisted in average of

about 50-55 pages and were either prepared by the department or by the

teacher. The material was compiled from different sources such as online

resources, journals and books. Each student received a photocopy of it in black

and white so it did not have any coloured pictures or graphs. In average,

students have 4-5 subjects each semester which means they have to read about

4-5 handouts of about 50-55 pages. During the period of one semester (14

weeks), the teacher has to cover the material of the handout because students‟

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assessment is based on the information provided in it. However, Basil explained

“Sometimes they [teachers] give us a summary of the handout. This is in the form

of a power point. This is easier. They print it out and give it to us”. Providing

students with simplified materials such as summaries of the text and lecture

notes have been reported by Cobb and Horst (2001) and Al-Mahrooqi and

Tuzlukova (2014) in Oman. Therefore, some students might see that reading the

handout is redundant. In regard to reading other resources such as books, few

participants stated that occasionally the teachers ask them to check a certain

book which is available in the library.

Overall, the findings indicate that the reading load for each subject is rather

limited. Shen (2013) points out that most Taiwanese students who study at

tertiary education in English, complain about the huge amount of reading

assignment during a week. None of the participants in this study raised any

complaint about the amount of reading they have to do for a course. Reducing

the reading load in content courses could be related to the claims that Arab

students in general and Gulf students in particular lack reading culture (Al-

Mahrooqi & Tuzlukova, 2014; O‟Sullivan, 2010) or out of concern about the

English language deficiency that most of the students suffer from. King (2014)

questions whether the degree the students receive in his context in the UAE

would meet international standards since accreditation and validation bodies of a

degree in regard to reading is dependent on the reading loads in candidate

programmes. I would argue that this concern is valid for the context of this study

for the same reasons.

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5.3.2 Reading online resources – “For an assignment we need to read from

the net”

All interview participants mentioned “when we have to do an assignment we have

to read from the net” (Huda). In addition, some participants reported that they

search for information on the internet in order to support their comprehension of

a particular concept. For example, Nadia explained: “I have a subject called

Graphics. It‟s about drawing. If I don‟t understand how to draw, I can just type the

name of the drawing and I get a whole explanation of how to draw – step-by-

step”. Manal affirmed that “In some subjects we need the internet. There isn‟t

enough practice in the handout” but she continued explaining “If there is time I

read but if I don‟t have time I just stick to the handout”. In relation to reading in

English or Arabic, Lamia noted that “I often read in Arabic and sometimes in

English” while Ali and Aref stated that they read in Arabic but that it is not related

to their specialisation. None of the participants mentioned that they read any

books or journals related to their field of study if it is not required by the

department.

One of the reasons for the implementation of EMI is that students need to learn

in English because most academic resources are in English. In fact, 58.8%

(n=193) of the questionnaire participants agreed with the statement “I try to

expand my knowledge through reading resources related to my study in English”.

Although some participants read beyond the required text it seems that their

reading in most cases is restricted to understanding the content of the textbook

rather than expanding their knowledge in their specialised field. This can be

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related to lack of time available but could also be related to students‟ English

language deficiency as later findings reveal (5.3.3). This shows that the

knowledge that students gain in a particular field of study is mainly restricted to

the information in the handout which is rather suitable for studying at school than

college.

5.3.3 Reading difficulties – “I don’t understand all the words”

All participants acknowledged that they encounter great difficulties reading in

English whether it is the handout, an online text or a book. While Basil remarked

“I understand half of it [English written text]”, Azhaar admitted that “most of the

time I don‟t understand”. Mariam was the only interview participant who stated

that sometimes she does not understand when she reads from the internet “but

the problem is mostly related to content rather than language”. In regard to the

questionnaire participants, 46.6% (n=153) found reading to be difficult because of

the technical vocabulary in a text, in contrast to 20.4 % (n=67) who stated that

reading is difficult because their grammar is weak. Overall, the interview

participants related the difficulties they face while reading to unknown vocabulary

in the text which is in line with findings of research studies (Al-Barashdi, 2012;

Bielenberg, 2004; Cheng, 2010; Evans & Green, 2007; Shen, 2013), where

vocabulary was reported as being the main reason for students‟ difficulty of

understanding English written texts. Most interview participants were not specific

about the kind of vocabulary they find challenging. For example, Ali noted

“Sometimes I face a problem when I read. I don‟t understand all the words”.

Amer was more specific and explained “I face a lot of difficulties - mostly the

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vocabulary of the lesson because each lesson has a different topic”. Aref was the

only participant who mentioned that he had problems with “technical terms

related to my specialisation. General English vocabulary I don‟t have a problem

with”. In contrast, Safaa stated that the words can be “related to my

specialisation or long words or just words that are new to me so they can be

general or specialised vocabulary”. Nadia also admitted that she finds it difficult

to understand “long words” and that “These words I need to translate”. In relation

to reading long texts, 48.2% (n=158) of the questionnaire participants agreed

with the statement “I find it difficult to understand long English texts”. Mariam

acknowledged that “sometimes I read from the internet and I find it difficult

because it‟s often too long and not specific” while Huda explained:

Honestly, when I search in the net and I find a long text I usually
don‟t read it. I try to find a text that is written in points. When there
are points it becomes easier for us. But when it‟s a long paragraph
it‟s difficult to concentrate on a long text.

Most students reported that reading online texts are more difficult to understand

mainly because they might come across words they “have not seen before at all”

(Huda). None of the students noted that they do not understand a text because of

their limited knowledge in grammar, the sentence structure, background

knowledge or organisation of the text as observed by the participants in Al-

Barashdi‟s (2012) study in Oman. This is also in contrast to the findings in Shen‟s

(2013) study where the participants found that beside vocabulary, sentence

structure and background knowledge affected their reading comprehension.

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The findings suggest that the participants face problems in understanding

general and technical vocabulary which can hamper their reading

comprehension, a problem that has been identified by Cobb and Horst (2001) in

Oman and seems to be still persistent until now. This raises the question how

efficiently students can learn from their reading text. A closer analysis of the

questionnaire findings revealed that the participants‟ views regarding their

difficulties in understanding technical vocabulary varied according to the

disciplines as table 6 below shows.

22. I find it difficult to understand technical strongly

vocabulary. agree/agree
Pharmacy 60.4%
Fashion design 57.1%
Applied sciences 47.6%
IT 47.3%
Engineering 46.8%
Business studies 37.3%
Photography 29.6%

Table 6: Participants’ perceptions on understanding technical vocabulary

according to disciplines

It is worth mentioning that the pharmacy department is the only department in the

college that teaches terminology as a separate subject. Nevertheless, the

findings showed that pharmacy students face much greater difficulties in

comprehending specialised vocabulary than students who study in other fields. It

seems that difficulty in comprehending specialised vocabulary is also related to

the disciplines. Therefore, it might be argued that EMI suits some disciplines

better than other ones a point that has also been noted by some teachers in

King‟s (2014) study and might be worth considering by EMI policy planners.

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5.3.4 Reading strategies – “I have to translate many words”

All participants reported that the main strategy which they used in order to

comprehend a text is the use of translation which is in line with research in this

regard (Al-Barashdi, 2012; Chang, 2010; Shen, 2013). In fact 69.2% (n=227) of

the questionnaire participants studying in all levels acknowledged that they need

to translate many words in order to understand the course material. The interview

participants provided information that students use different devices for

translation: mobiles or other electronic devices, online translation such a google

translate and in rare cases a dictionary. In addition, the findings showed that

students apply different translation strategies in order to understand a text. One

of the translation strategies was to translate the whole text as Hussam explained:

“This can be done with the mobile. I take a picture of the text and translate the

whole text with google translate into Arabic. Like this I get a clearer picture”. Few

participants noted that online translation is not always accurate and therefore

they have to employ a different strategy as Salim explains:

Sometimes, although I translate all the words, I don‟t understand

the sentence because sometimes the translation is not accurate.
The word in the text has another meaning than in the book. It
doesn‟t match with the translation. So I don‟t understand what is
meant in this sentence. In this case I need to find another solution
and have to ask my friend or the teacher.

Basil, who also uses online translation for a whole text noted that “If some

sentences are not accurate, then I translate the sentence on my own with a

dictionary”. In addition, Basil referred to a point highlighted by Bielenberg (2004)

that “the medical terms are mostly in Latin, not English. Even if you want to

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translate them you don‟t get an answer” an issue that was confirmed by Huda,

another pharmacy student. In fact, half of the participants followed the strategy to

translate the whole text. It seems that these students try to understand globally

and do not try to understand the meaning of the words in order to revise them.

Basil for example admitted that “I don‟t have time to memorise them [new words].

For me the most important thing is comprehension. When I understand then

that‟s it”. This can explain why most of the interview participants could only notice

a slight improvement in their reading skills through learning in their content

courses.

Few participants followed the strategy to translate every word that they do not

understand. The importance of knowing every word has been clarified by Nadia:

“I try to understand every single word because every word that I don‟t know now

might be useful for me later on”. In addition, Amer mentioned that he checks the

pronunciation of the word. Other students were more pragmatic in their approach

and reported that they only translate some words such as Safaa:

No, not every word, not at all. It depends on the text. If I translate
every word I feel that this takes a lot of time. I just read the text, try
to understand in general and what I think is important and if
necessary I translate some words.

The findings regarding these translation strategies show that the majority of

participants try to understand the text globally and do not insist on knowing each

and every word which is seen as a characteristic of Omani students (Al-Barashdi,

2012; Al-Mahrooqi, 2012b). However, all participants mentioned that translating

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takes a lot of time and effort especially if there is no internet connection as

Hussam noted:

When I read I come across new words so I need to translate. This

needs effort and time. I also need the internet but sometimes the
net is down so I need to check with a dictionary and this takes a lot
of time – it takes time to find the meaning of the word in a
dictionary.

Muzna‟s comment below shows that translating can be tiring:

I think I translate about 50%. I usually translate the scientific words.

Sometimes if I understand the text in general I don‟t translate each
and every word even if I don‟t know them because I get tired of
translating.

Guessing the meaning from the context was also a strategy employed by some

participants. For example, Ali reported that he is selective in his approach to

translating words because “sometimes I understand from the context”. This

strategy was also employed by the participant‟s in Al-Barashdi‟s (2012) study in

Oman. In regard to peer support, 72.3% (n=237) of the questionnaire participants

stated that their friends help them to comprehend the course material. Some

interview participants mentioned that peer support is useful and might even

compensate for translation as reported in Kagwesage (2012). For example, Amer

noted “Sometimes I work with a friend whose language is better than mine. This

is helpful because it makes understanding faster. He can explain instead of

translating”. Another strategy was the use of writing a summary, a strategy

adopted by participants in Shen‟s (2013) study. For example, Muzna noted that

“Sometimes I need to read sentence after sentence. I summarise the idea and

then I go on”. In order to reduce the effort made to understand a text, Aref

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admitted that “I read the whole text and try to understand the important points but

I ignore most of what I think is not relevant for the exam”.

The findings indicate that students use various reading strategies in order to

comprehend their reading materials. Translation strategies was by far the most

used strategy followed by peer support, teacher support, guessing meaning from

context, avoiding reading long texts and writing a summary. It seems that that

students have to make a great effort in order to comprehend a text although their

teachers read the texts in class and explain part of it. Troudi (2009) referred to

the negative effects of the extra burden when students first have to make sense

of the text before they are able to understand the content. Therefore one can

understand why some students would adopt a strategy that reduces the effort

such as trying to comprehend what is necessary to pass exams. However, the

specialised knowledge gained through reading is questionable. First, as already

mentioned online translation from English to Arabic is not always accurate and

can lead to misunderstanding. In fact, some of their teachers complained that

students rely on online translation and quiet often misunderstand concepts. In

addition, students who try to understand the general points only, will only gain

superficial comprehension of the specialised knowledge. The strategies

employed by the participants also raise concerns regarding their English

language skills improvement. When students translate the whole text into Arabic,

they might not be able to learn the meaning of specific words. In addition, when

students concentrate on comprehending the text, they are less able to look

closely at the syntax of the sentence. These issues should be considered by

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policy makers to evaluate the effectiveness of EMI in graduating students who

are linguistically and academically competent for the job market or for conducting

post-graduate studies.

5.4 Challenges of writing in content courses

5.4.1 Writing assignments

Writing was perceived as an important skill by 67.4% (n=221) of the

questionnaire participants. However, their perceptions regarding the importance

of writing varied among participants enrolled in different faculties. While 81.3% of

Pharmacy students believed writing to be an important skill in their specialisation,

only 42.9% of Fashion design students and 51.9% of Photography students

believed so. The interview participants explained that writing was mostly needed

for reports, projects and power-point presentations similar to the findings in

Evans and Green‟s (2007) study. The reports were of different kinds. Some

students mentioned that they had to write a report about a project they did or

about the results of an experiment they conducted. The type and length of the

reports differ according to the specialisation and the level of study. For example,

Ali (photography) noted that “we had to write a report about pictures we saw. We

had to critique a picture or compare between two pictures”. He further explained

that he had to write about 5-6 lines for each picture. Huda (pharmacy) explained

that the students have to write two reports for each subject per semester. Basil

provided an example of such a report when he noted: “I had to write about a

drug; everything like ingredients and so on, many things”. Mariam (IT) explained

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that “It depends on the teacher and the subject. Sometimes there are 3

assignments. She added that “One assignment is 3-4 pages long and there is a

grade”! Nadia (engineering) clarified that sometimes they just have to write a

report about the results of an experiment. However, Aref (engineering) in his last

year of study mentioned that “At the end of each semester we have to make a

project. We have to write a report about the project – about 30 pages”. In regard

to the participants who study business, Safaa explained that they have to write “4

assignments per semester”. Salim maintained that “If we have to write an

assignment, we need to read from outside resources such as the internet”. He

further noted that “in other assignments we need to visit companies and make an

interview with the employees about certain issues related to the topic”. During my

classroom observations I noticed that students from the IT department have to

write a research paper on a topic of their choice. Students were asked to use the

internet in order to collect information, but the teacher noted “do paraphrasing; do

not do lazy writing”. He also provided them with links to what he called

“plagiarism tracker” in order to check their papers for plagiarism.

The participants also mentioned that for some assignments they have to write on

their own while for others they have to write in groups. None of the participants

reported that they ask someone from outside the college to support them in their

writing assignments while 29.0% (n=95) of the questionnaire participants stated

that they seek such kind of support. In addition, all students stated that they were

provided with clear information about the requirement for each writing

assignment unlike the participants in Al-Badwawi‟s (2011) study. Aref for

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example mentioned that “Sometimes the teacher gives us a report that has been

previously written – as a sample – and we just fill in the information about our

project. We divide the work because we are a group so everybody writes a part”.

Few participants noted that their teachers warned them about plagiarism. For

example, Muzna stated: “He [the teacher] asked us to borrow books but not to

copy/paste the information but to summarise it”.

Overall, the findings show that students are required to write different kinds of

assignments that are included in the overall assessment of the students. From

my own teaching experience with teaching foundation and post-foundation

courses, I noticed that these assignments differ completely from the assignments

students had to write before which did not require research and the use of

references. In contrast, for most of the writing assignments in their specialisation,

students need to search for information from resources such as the internet or

books. This implies that students have the linguistic ability to comprehend these

written texts, and are familiar with academic writing conventions of summarising,

paraphrasing and referencing to avoid plagiarism (Li & Casanave, 2012). In fact,

the post-foundation courses such as TW1 and TW2 which I used to teach are

designed to prepare students for academic writing purposes. However, there is

only very limited practice for students in this regard, especially for referencing

from online resources. I also noticed that the majority of the students regardless

of their English level found paraphrasing very challenging. Teaching technical

skills such as paraphrasing and referencing does not necessarily mean the

students learned them well especially when there is not sufficient practice and

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students lack the adequate language proficiency in the first place. Considering

the limited linguistic ability of the students and their limited knowledge of

academic writing conventions raises concerns whether these students are able to

avoid plagiarism when writing their assignments, an issue that will be further

discussed in section 5.4.3.2. The findings also indicate that students are merely

asked to put together information collected from a source or various sources

rather than critically integrating information to support an argument or to critically

evaluate the gathered information. Criticality was also an element that was not

required in writing assignments in Al-Badwawi‟s (2011) study in Oman. In

addition, students do not have to write lengthy term-papers which are a common

requirement in undergraduate studies. The reduction of writing requirements in

an EMI context in particular in the Gulf seems to be a common practice (Al-

Badwawi, 2011; King, 2014; Mouhanna, 2016). While this could support students

in their study, it means that the quality of students‟ tertiary education has been

compromised. If students are to be prepared for the increasingly international job

market, then the quality of education they receive should match the quality

standards of international undergraduate programmes.

5.4.1.1 Focus on content – “If the content is correct, you get a good grade”

Concerning assessment of writing assignments, 50.6% (n=166) of the

questionnaire participants agreed with the statement “My content teacher is more

concerned about the content of my assignment than the correctness of my

English language” while 29.3% (n=96) were undecided and only 19.8% (n=65)

disagreed with the statement. In one of the classroom observations, students had

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to do a power-point presentation on a topic related to photography. I noticed that

all power-point slides contained grammatical and spelling mistakes. It seemed to

me that the teacher did not mind them because he did not make any comment

regarding these mistakes. Also, the interview participants clarified that the

majority of teachers do not consider the students‟ language mistakes in their

evaluation of their written assignments. For example, Ali noted: “She [the

teacher] tells us this is not a writing class; this is a criticism class, so I don‟t

evaluate your language when you write - what your mistakes in spelling or

grammar are”. He further explained:

In writing I know that I‟m weak, but I got a good grade in most
subjects; in particular in the subject „critique‟ I got an A. What I
mean is that if the content is correct, you get a good grade. If the
content is wrong, you get a low grade.

Mariam pointed out that such a practice leads students to become careless about

their language:

In writing we should pay attention to our language such as past

tense or present tense but we don‟t pay attention to that. We just
respond to the question and don‟t care about the language. The
teachers don‟t care about the language. They just look at the
content and ignore the language. But there is one teacher who
cares about the language.

Ali found that students continue to make spelling mistakes because teachers do

not consider the accuracy of the spelling in students‟ writing. In contrast, Amer

explained that some teachers check the language which has a negative impact

on the grades as also reported by Mariam:

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 Some teachers check the assignments carefully like content or
spelling and grammar. Others just look at general ideas and don‟t
check carefully. I personally don‟t like the teacher to check the
mistakes because then we get lower grades because there are
always many mistakes. When the teacher overlooks the mistakes,
the grade will be better.

It seems that there is not a clear policy whether teachers should include

language accuracy into the assessment of the written assignments or not and

that teachers handle these issues individually which might be confusing for

students. Overall, the findings reveal that the majority of teachers were more

concerned about the quality of the content than the language in regard to

students‟ written assignments similar to other research results in this regard (Al-

Badwawi, 2011; Evans & Green, 2007; Evans & Morrison, 2011b; Zhu, 2004).

While such an approach is justified in order not to disadvantage students with low

English language proficiency, it has also a negative impact on students‟

willingness to consider the accuracy of their language when writing their

assignments. In fact, only very few participants reported to check their spelling

mistakes such as Nadia who stated “I make spelling mistakes but I check the

spelling with the dictionary to correct them”. In contrast, Manal reported that “the

spelling mistakes, any teacher can correct them for me”. In addition, while Evans

and Green (2007) relate students‟ ability to proof-read and revise assignments to

language proficiency, I would argue that students‟ willingness to revise is also

related to teachers‟ practices. If students are aware that teachers do not focus on

language issues in their assessment of writing assignments, they might not see it

as necessary to check them for accuracy. This can explain why only few

participants reported that they revise their assignments whether by themselves of

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with the support of their friends. The questionnaire analysis showed that only

22.0% (n=72) of the participants ask their friends to check their writings for

mistakes. If teachers believe that students should be responsible for their

language development as reported by Dearden (2015), then such an approach

does not encourage students to work hard to improve their English language

competence. Moreover, the focus of content teachers on content, regardless of

the quality of the language, suggests that these teachers adopt the “writing to

learn” approach which emphasises the learning of content rather than the

“learning to write” approach that emphasises writing development (Zhu, 2004:

43). This indicates that content classes are not appropriate for the development

of writing skills, as already noted by the participants. This suggests that there is a

gap between the goal of the EMI policy at the macro level to enhance students‟

English language proficiency and its implementation at the micro level where

content classrooms are seen as sites to enhance the learning of content, an

issue that should be considered by policy planners.

5.4.2 Writing difficulties – “I find it very difficult to write”

The questionnaire and interview findings reveal that almost all participants face

problems in writing mainly in regard to language rather than content. In relation to

grammar, 61.9% (n=203) of the questionnaire participants and all interview

participants stated that they make grammar mistakes when they write in English.

For example, Ali asserted “I find it very difficult to write. I have many problems.

The main problem is how to write in a proper way. When someone revises it then

there are always many mistakes – grammar – is a complete mess”. That Ali

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faces some grammar problems is evident in the writing sample he provided

(Appendix 23). In addition, he faces some problems with punctuation, something

he did not mention. Most importantly, the sample shows that he lacks the ability

to use an academic style in writing, something he does not seem to be aware of.

In addition, he did not give his assignment a title and did not mention the source

of the pictures, which are basic requirements for writing academic assignments.

Considering spelling, 59.1% (n=194) of the questionnaire participants agreed

with the statement “I always make spelling mistakes when I write in English”, a

problem that has been shared by most interview participants. Salim explained

that spelling is important because “if we make a mistake in one letter the

meaning of the word might change”. The knowledge of technical vocabulary and

general vocabulary seem to cause fewer problems for students‟ ability to write

since only 33.8% (n=111) of the questionnaire participants agreed with the

statement “because my technical vocabulary is weak I find it difficult to do a

writing assignment in my specialisation. Similarly, only 34.5% (n=113) of them

indicated to face problems in writing due to weakness in their knowledge of

general vocabulary. Lamia explained that “When I don‟t know some words, then I

translate them or I check with the internet”. Aref was the only participant who

reported that “Most [writing] problems are related to vocabulary that I have to use

in English and how to put them in a sentence” a problem also faced by

participants in Evans and Morrison‟s (2011b) study.

The participants perceived difficulties with grammatical and lexical aspects of

academic writing are consistent with tertiary students‟ perceptions in other EMI

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contexts (Al-Badwawi, 2011; Evans & Green, 2007; Hammad, 2014; Tahaineh,

2010). However, none of the participants reported to face problems with using an

academic appropriate style, a concern raised by participants in other EMI

contexts or to face any difficulty with academic writing conventions which is

common for students in an EMI tertiary context (Al-Badwawi, 2011; Evans &

Green, 2007). While it is expected that students with weak English language

competence make linguistic errors, only few participants expressed their

concerns about the effect of their language deficiencies on their ability to write

assignments related to their majors as Lamia‟s quote shows: “I have problems in

grammar I think, but I manage to write”. This could be related to students‟ belief

that language mistakes do not have a great impact on the grade they receive, as

already discussed. It seems that what is expected from these students is below

what is expected from students at Bachelor‟s level. This might be problematic for

students who intend to continue their post-graduate studies at universities of an

international standard where language accuracy is required. In addition, if

students are not able to write assignments in accurate English, one has to

question the efficiency of these students in their future jobs where accuracy in

writing in English is expected.

5.4.3 Writing strategies

5.4.3.1 The use of L1 – “I know how to write the sentence in Arabic”

Writing the assignment in Arabic first and then to translate it into English was a

survival strategy followed by 23.5% (n=77) of the questionnaire participants. Two

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of the interview participants admitted that they sometimes write first in Arabic and

then google translate what they have written into English. Amer in the following

interview excerpt explained why he applies this strategy:

The problems are mostly related to how to write a complete

sentence. I know how to write the sentence in Arabic. I understand,
all the ideas are clear, but when I want to write them in English I
find it very difficult. It takes a lot of time. So first I write them in
Arabic and then I translate them into English – sentence by
sentence.

Aref pointed out that the translation process is not straightforward and still needs

further effort:

Sometimes we write immediately in Arabic in google translate and

immediately it gives us the translation in English. Sometimes the
translation is not accurate so we try to replace some words. When I
write I usually write on the computer and there has to be internet.

This suggests that some students do not have the linguistic ability to write in

English about a topic related to their specialisation and therefore resort to the use

of their L1 in order to write, a strategy that has been employed by students in a

similar context in Oman (Al-Badwawi, 2011). The use of L1 to reduce overload in

L2 writing has been addressed in the literature (Kim & Yoon, 2014). Such a

strategy requires not only effort but also time and might have a negative impact

on students‟ learning experiences. In addition, as Aref pointed out, the use of

online translation applications do not provide accurate translation. In fact,

teachers in Mouhanna‟s (2016) study in the UAE were concerned about students

inappropriate use of translation applications such as google translate for text

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productions because students translate word by word and as a result produce a

text that is not correct.

5.4.3.2 Copy and paste – “I read and copy/paste the information”

The analysis of the questionnaire data showed that 28.0% (n=92) of the

participants admitted that they sometimes copy and paste sentences and

paragraphs from the internet because their language is weak. However, the

interview findings revealed that almost all students adopted at least occasionally

this surviving strategy as Amer explained: “I copy the information. But this

depends on the teacher. Some teachers don‟t mind, for others this is not

accepted. You have to read the information and then rewrite it in your own

words”. Basil noted that he does not face any difficulties in writing his

assignments “because everything is there on the net. There is a website, you just

need to write the name of the drug and you get a detailed description of the drug.

So I read and copy/paste the information”. Huda explained that “Sometimes I

write my own sentences but sometimes there are sentences that cannot be

changed so I copy/paste these sentences”. Safaa provided another explanation

for the copy and paste strategy:

When I collect the information, I don‟t face any difficulties in writing.

For one of my assignments, all the information I copied/pasted from
the net. We copy/paste because last time we had to write about e-
bay. We don‟t know anything about e-bay – where should we get
the information from? From the net, so we copy/paste.

Salim‟s writing sample (Appendix 24) is an example of the adoption of the

copy/paste strategy and inappropriate referencing. First, he partially copied

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sentences directly from online resources instead of paraphrasing sentences

(Appendix 25). In addition, he did not reference the source inside the text and

used incorrect end of text referencing style although these issues have been

taught in the post-foundation courses.

It has been discussed in the literature that plagiarism is a common feature in L2

writing at tertiary level, an issue that has been noted in the Gulf as discussed in

section 3.5.5. It seems that the participants in this study do not see that this

strategy is an academically unacceptable practice and therefore unintentionally

resort to plagiarism supporting the literature in this regard (Li & Casanave, 2012;

Pecorari, 2003). There are several reasons why students adopt the copy and

paste strategy beside their inadequate English level. First, some teachers do not

mind if students copy and paste the information from a source. In fact, during my

classroom observation a teacher told me that she does not assess students‟

language in their written assignments because “they copy everything from the

net”. Another reason is that such a strategy reduces the effort and time to write

and could ensure that students receive good grades as Muzna highlighted: “The

teacher might ask for 3 side effects of a drug. So it‟s clear, you get them from the

net; so no worries about losing grades”.

With respect to referencing the source, Amer maintained that “Some teachers

ask for the reference, others don‟t ask for them” which has been confirmed by the

participants. The participants also noted that in order to reference the source

they “need to mention the link” (Azhaar). While Safaa assumed that “There is no

way for referencing. We mention the link and that‟s it”, Salim clarified:

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 Yes, we need to mention the source. It‟s a bit difficult because
there‟re certain rules how to write the reference according to last
name, then first name and then date. But it‟s not that difficult. I can
manage.

Although students in their post-foundation courses learn the APA referencing

style for different kinds of resources such as books, journals, newspapers and

online resources, it seems that not all teachers in the specialised departments

ask the students to apply this referencing style and suffice with mentioning the

link. Some teachers do not even require students to reference the source. This

shows that there is inconsistency between what students learn in their post-

foundation classes and what they have to apply in their content classes. In fact,

according to the Quality Assurance Manual (2014: 68) available on the college

website, “Staff and students must be encouraged to use proper citations and

acknowledgements to the work of others in respect of the principle of intellectual

property” in order to “keep up with the highest standards of academic integrity

and honesty”. The quote by Safaa clearly reveals that students are aware that

plagiarism is a way of cheating and has to be avoided:

As you know in writing there can be cheating. Some students

cheat. They copy and then paste information. But the college has a
programme and knows if there‟s cheating. I don‟t copy but I get the
idea and then I write it in my own way.

While the ELC takes plagiarism seriously, it seems that other departments are

rather relaxed in this regard which indicates that there is inconsistency between

applying the rules on plagiarism between the ELC and other departments. It

seems that the threat to adopt programmes that detect plagiarism in students‟

writing is rather a lip-service which is not applied in reality. It could be that these

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teachers are aware of their students‟ linguistic weaknesses and therefore do not

penalise them for the offence of plagiarism similar to teachers‟ attitudes in Al-

Badwawi‟s (2011) study. This is a serious issue and raises several concerns.

First, the benefit of these writings assignments regarding the enhancement of

content knowledge has to be questioned. When students just copy and paste

information from the internet into their assignments, there is no guarantee that

the students in fact understood what they have written and thereby enhance their

comprehension of a certain issue. Second, when students do not rewrite what

they have understood using their own language, then the benefit of these writing

assignments regarding their writing skills improvement has to be questioned.

Moreover, students who intend to continue their study in international higher

institutions might find it difficult to comply with the rules and regulations regarding

plagiarism because in their own context it was considered an academically

acceptable practice. From an institutional perspective, Alhinai and Al-Mahrooqi

(2015) argue that “The validity of the assessment can be threatened”. I would

argue that this could not only jeopardize the reputation of the institution but also

the credibility of the educational system in a country which might have a negative

impact on students‟ future employment opportunities.

Overall, it seems that the writing assignments in this context serve assessment

purposes and are therefore not seen by the students as learning opportunities in

relation to content or language. In fact, Alaa was the only student who

questioned the benefit of such kinds of assignments: “The point of the

assignment is to clarify certain issues in our study but for some teachers the

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requirement of the assignment seems to be pointless. Just some questions to

answer that doesn‟t support in understanding a certain concept”. This can also

explain why most students did not notice an improvement in their writing skills as

a result of studying in their degree programmes. Therefore, the students‟

participation in the writing process can be referred to as passing or procedural

participation instead of deep participation as argued by Prior (1998 in Li &

Casavane, 2012).

5.4.4 Teacher feedback – “We don’t see the paper again”

Feedback is widely seen as a potential tool for learning (Hattie & Timperley,

2007) since the provision of feedback on students‟ writing could contribute to the

acquisition of content knowledge and writing conventions (Hyland, 2013; Ng,

2015). In fact, 46.3% (n=152) of the questionnaire participants agreed with the

statement “My content teachers help me improve my writing skills through

correcting my mistakes”. However, this did not become evident in the interview

findings. For example, Safaa explained that “We just submit the paper and then

we don‟t see it again”, a practice that all interview participants confirmed. Lamia

added that “They [teachers] don‟t tell us anything about the language”. Muzna‟s

interview excerpt below is a clear account of what happens after students write

their assignments:

I print it and I give it to the teacher and he evaluates it. Not that he
takes the report and tells me where my mistakes are. No, he just
collects them and then gives us a grade. We don‟t see the report
again. The teacher doesn‟t return the report.

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Muzna expressed her disappointment by stating “This is wrong. We need to see

the report again. Why? To see our mistakes”. In line with her view Safaa noted:

Another problem is that we don‟t understand where our mistakes

are when we do an assignment. Only when we keep asking, then
the teacher checks carefully and provides us with some feedback.
The teachers should always provide us with feedback about our
mistakes.

Absence of teacher feedback supports previous research findings (Al-Badwawi,

2011; Hyland, 2013) in particular in relation to language issues. That content

teachers do not see themselves as language teachers has been established in

the literature (Airey, 2012; Ali, 2013; Costa & Coleman, 2013; Dearden, 2015;

Doiz et al., 2013; King, 2014; Wilkinson, 2013). If the rationale for the

implementation of the EMI policy is to enhance the students‟ English level, then

teachers should have a clear understanding of what their role entails. It seems

that the college did not take this into consideration when the EMI policy was

adopted.

5.5 Effect of EMI on students’ academic performance

5.5.1. Performance in exams - “There are many problems during exams”

The questionnaire findings indicate that 46.3% (n=152) of the participants agreed

with the statement “Sometimes I do not answer correctly in the exam because I

do not understand the question in English” while 33.8% (n=111) disagreed.

Almost all interview participants acknowledged that they face difficulties in

comprehending exam questions which is in line with the findings in a previous

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study that I conducted in Oman (Al-Bakri, 2013). Some participants referred to

the problems they faced due to the use of new words in exam questions. The

interview excerpt by Amer highlights this point:

There are many problems during exams. Sometimes the teacher

uses new vocabulary in the mid-semester or final exam; vocabulary
that hasn‟t been mentioned in the class during a lecture or in the
handout. This happens in particular in multiple choice questions or
a long question… Every semester this happens. I misunderstand a
word and I give a wrong answer.

Muzna pointed out: “Sometimes I face difficulties with the question – the

beginning of the question – like „identify‟ or so. I have to read the question

several times and this is usually related to multiple choice questions” while Aref

reported that he often writes a wrong response as a result of misunderstanding

an exam question:

This happened many times. I misunderstand the question and I

write a response that is related to another question. Just a week
ago I wrote a response to a question and the teacher gave me a
zero and he explained that I wrote a response that is related to
another question. So he told me that I need to understand the
question in a better way.

Overall, 12 participants reported that they often write a wrong response due to

misunderstanding a question in the exam. Lamia complained that “When we ask

the teachers in the exam they don‟t explain the question”. Nadia elaborated on

this issue and stated:

When I don‟t understand a question in the exam I call the teacher

but he just reads the question – he doesn‟t explain. But I can read, I
don‟t want him to give me an answer, I just want to understand

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 what I should do. No, he just reads the question and goes. But I
want to understand! I can read.

According to the college regulations, teachers are not allowed to respond to

students‟ questions regardless of the kind of question asked. The rationale is to

ensure that there is complete silence in the exam room for students to be able to

concentrate on their exams. While most teachers unquestioningly follow this

order and can therefore be seen as servants to the system (Shohamy, 2006), few

teachers seem to question the appropriateness of this rule because Huda

assured that “If there is a word I don‟t understand I can ask the teacher” an

observation that was shared by Manal who simply stated that “If I have a problem

I ask the teacher - finish”.

Few participants mentioned that they sometimes understood the question but

faced difficulties in expressing themselves in English. A similar observation has

been made by Sert (2008) and Brock-Utne and Alidou (2011). For example,

Hussam explained: “I understand the question but how to write the answer in

English. In Arabic I would know how to answer but how to formulate it in

English”? In this case he stated “I leave it blank and hand in my paper”. Azhaar

also had great problems expressing herself in English as the following quote

shows: “When I was studying business, we had to write in English in the exams.

We had to write explanations. I used to fail. I failed in all the subjects in

business”.

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5.5.2 Satisfaction with academic performance –“I never get a grade that

satisfies me”

Most participants stated that they are content with the effort they make to study in

English. For example, Hussam noted:

Yes, I‟m content. Because I was at a stage where I didn‟t know

anything in English, zero, but if I want to evaluate myself I would
say 4 out of 10. A little bit and I‟ll reach a good level. Today I got 7
out of 10 in a quiz. This isn‟t a top grade but I made an effort and
studied and I‟m content.

Similarly, Mariam indicated “Honestly I‟m pleased because I make an effort. Even

if my grades aren‟t very high but I make an effort on a daily basis”. Manal was

one of the students who felt that she got what she deserves: “I‟m content. I know

this is my ability”. However, most participants were not content in relation to their

exam results because their hard efforts to study in English did not bear the

deserved results. An example is provided by Muzna who stated:

We‟re frustrated with the exams this semester. I don‟t know if the
college has applied new rules or it‟s the teacher. We study,
memorise and do what we have to do but in the exam we get
surprised because the teacher penalises us for trivial things. This
happened this semester. And we face problems with spelling. One
letter wrong and half the mark is deducted – for one letter!

The feeling of disappointment was also expressed by Nadia when she stated: “I

remember that in one of the subjects I revised for 3 days before the exam, not to

mention that I revise the subject after each lesson. Still, I never get a grade that

satisfies me. Always”! Mariam alluded to the issue of injustice in her quote: “I

think that teachers don‟t always correct the papers and I feel that students don‟t

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always receive the grade they deserve”. Salim raised the issue that the low

performance of students at the early stage of studying through EMI has a

negative effect on students‟ overall performance when they graduate:

Honestly I‟m not very content because when I finished foundation I

wasn‟t very good and I faced great difficulties. I didn‟t understand
the system about the GPA. In most subjects I got a poor grade. But
after a while my grades got better. Now, when I reached the BA
level I‟m content about my performance but my poor performance
in the past affected my overall GPA.

The findings indicate that the participants felt that their low achievement is not

related to lack of effort from their side. Instead, most participants blamed the

teacher for their unexpected low academic performance, similar to students‟

attitudes in King‟s (2014) study in the UAE. As already discussed, most

participants reported that often they do not know where their mistakes are due to

lack of feedback from teachers, therefore they felt unable to improve their

performance. It also seems that there is no clarity in terms of what is expected

from the students in regard to content and language. It seems that students

believe that they lost grades for language mistakes rather than content, an issue

they are not clear about. Some participants reported that asking the teachers

about the reasons for their low performance is not always possible as Lamia‟s

quote shows: “But when we ask the teacher they tell us that they are not allowed

to show us our mistakes. We don‟t know what we did wrong”. According to my

knowledge, teachers in this college are required to provide students with

feedback on their performance. However, meeting with teachers is not always

possible as Ali experienced: “When I went to see him the second time he gave

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me an appointment but today he travelled so I couldn‟t talk to him”. The belief

that teachers do not provide the students with the support they expected is also

evident in Nadia‟s comment: “She just gives us the papers, registers the grade

and collects the papers”.

The findings suggest that students do not feel that they are rewarded for their

efforts to study in English and feel that they are left alone in their struggle. This

could eventually have a negative impact on student‟s morale to continue working

hard in order to pass their exams since repeated failure “undermines self-

confidence and increases negative achievement emotions, such as anxiety of

failure, shame and hopelessness” (Pekrun, 2014: 24).

5.5.3 Expected academic performance through AMI – “In Arabic I would

have been one of the top students in class”

Regarding students‟ expected learning experiences through AMI, all but one

interview participant reported that studying through Arabic would be “easier and

clearer”. Ali was the only participant who stated: “I would find it more difficult to

understand in Arabic because I don‟t know the technical terms in Arabic. For

example I wouldn‟t understand the meaning of „exposure‟ in Arabic. For me, I

understand better in English”. That studying in Arabic would take less time was

believed by 48.8% (n=160) of the questionnaire participants in contrast to 30.2%

(n=99) who did not believe that. For example, Nadia explained that “there would

be a difference in the time it takes to study. It would take us much less time

because in English we need to translate. In Arabic we know the words so we can

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study easily”. In addition, Mariam assured that “When I leave the class I would

have much more information. Also, when I study in Arabic I would remember for

a long time. Now we study, do exams and then we forget. Also I would feel more

comfortable”. In fact, research has shown that investment in mother tongue

learning has long term benefits for overall academic performance (Tollefson &

Tsui, 2014). Moreover, Hussam stressed that studying in Arabic would be more

comfortable and relaxing:

First, I wouldn‟t need to make a great effort. I would feel much more
relaxed. If I have a question, I would feel comfortable to ask.
Whenever I go to college I would feel comfortable. If I meet a
person I would feel comfortable because if we talk, it would be in
Arabic, my own language. Another thing - it would save me a lot of
time and effort. I would understand much better without making a
great effort. Also revising for the exam would not be a problem. I
would be very happy.

Azhaar elaborated on the importance of feeling comfortable by stating: “When

one feels comfortable, one can study better. You don‟t do something because

you have to but because you like it”.

The questionnaire item “My GPA would be higher if the courses were taught in

Arabic” received 46.3% (n=152) agreement and 32.0% (n=105) disagreement

which is very similar to the participants‟ views in Al-Mashikhi et al.‟s (2014) study

where 48.3% of the participants felt that their GPA has deteriorated because the

courses use EMI. Most interview participants expected to receive higher or much

higher grades were their study in Arabic as Azhaar explained: “In Arabic I would

have been one of the top students in class. I would have got higher grades. Now

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I got B+ but if the subjects were in Arabic I would get for sure A+”. Amer provided

an explanation why he expects his grades to be higher: “I would have better

grades, much higher grades because there is a difference between learning in

your own language and English. I would understand much better in class and I

would perform better in quizzes and exams”. Lamia added that “I‟ m sure I would

get higher grades because everything would be clear and we can study easily.

Nothing would be difficult”. Few students were not sure whether learning in

Arabic would lead to higher grades. For example, Muzna pointed out that “It

could be that they were higher but this depends on me and the exam questions”

thereby showing awareness that the knowledge of language is not the only factor

that affects students‟ academic achievement. Aref thought that “there would be a

slight difference only because of the content which is mostly related to

mathematical equations”. Ali was the only participant who expected to receive

lower grades as shown in his interview excerpt below:

My specialisation? Arabic? Look, if my specialisation now decides

to teach in Arabic instead of English I expect my grades would
become worse 50, 60 or 70% because there is a change of
language. I‟ve already learned it in English before I joined the
college from the net. I learned it all in English, I understood it in
English.

Overall it seems that a large number of students believe that studying in Arabic

would enhance their academic achievement. In fact, language of instruction has

been found to be a major factor in educational performance (Kym & Kym, 2014;

Shohamy, 2006). Therefore, several researchers advocate the use of the mother-

tongue in education (Brock-Utne, 2006; Quorro, 2006, Troudi, 2009). This raises

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concerns whether students‟ belief has an impact on their motivation to study. It

also raises concerns whether these students who study through English are

disadvantaged in comparison to students who could study their degrees in their

native language when applying for a job. After all, the GPA is one of the factors

that hiring bodies will look at when graduates apply for a job. It might be worth

considering whether learning through English in fact provides students with better

job opportunities as claimed.

5.5.4. Students’ input to enhance academic performance – “The college

should focus on the student”

Overall, 12 participants provided suggestions for improvement of their learning

experiences. Since one of the aims of this study is to provide students with a

voice regarding their experiences with EMI, I will refer to all participants‟ views

regarding this issue. First, Ali was the only participant who believed that the

college “should get rid of all the Arab teachers or they should be forced to use

only one language not two”. He provides the following argument:

What is happening now is that if the student doesn‟t know a word in

English, the teacher immediately translates the word in Arabic. So I
feel that the student doesn‟t make any effort to understand or to
learn the word or to search for the meaning of a word. If the student
searches for himself it might stick to his mind other than when he
gets the meaning immediately. I feel if the teachers are all non-
native speakers [of Arabic] and the students learn in English in all
levels, the student has no other choice than to learn.

Ali was taught English in the GFP by foreign teachers who do not know Arabic,

so for him, the key to enhance academic achievement is having adequate

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English language skills which he believes is best achieved through a monolingual

approach of English teaching. This would support previous findings that the

monolingual fallacy (Phillipson, 1992) exists in Oman among students (Ismail,

2012; Al-Bakri, 2013). In contrast, Azhaar stated: “I wish the college would teach

some subjects in Arabic or employ teachers from Arab countries so that the

teacher could explain in Arabic in case we didn‟t understand a certain point in

English”. In line with her view, Salim noted: “I don‟t know if this is possible but

some subjects could be taught in Arabic. At least some subjects”! Nadia

suggested that “the college should reduce the number of Indian teachers and

instead bring teachers from Syria or Egypt” whereas Hussam believed that “the

college should create a centre for students to get support in Arabic”. Students

who face difficulties in their study could go there to ask questions in Arabic and

teachers could explain in Arabic”. For these students, the use of L1 was seen to

support the comprehension of the subject matter. Muzna thought that the college

“should open centers where students can get support from teachers and other

top students … Then students would be happy”. The belief that the college

should care about the psychological well-being of students has been expressed

by Hussam:

Also the college should follow the weak students. Perhaps the
students have family problems or health problems. When they
follow up this would provide the students with comfort because this
shows that the college supports them. If not, then the students feel
frustrated.

Most participants found that the quality of the teachers and the teaching methods

should be enhanced: “The college should focus on the student. They should

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make sure to transmit the information to the student. More than half of the

teachers don‟t do that” (Basil), while Mariam noted “the teachers should change

the teaching methods. They should be more flexible and studying should be less

stressful for students”. Her view was supported by Nadia, Safaa and Muzna. In

addition, Muzna, and Salim felt that the curriculum needs to be changed since

they found that some courses are “useless”. Amer believed that teachers could

simplify the material by using “simple” language whereas Aref thought it would be

best to provide students with more practice instead of overloading them with

theoretical issues. Only two participants, Huda and Manal thought that students

themselves are responsible for their learning outcomes. For example, Manal

explained: I don‟t think the college is responsible. It depends on the effort the

person makes a view shared by Huda who mentioned: “I don‟t think the college

should do anything. It depends on the student. If one is motivated then one can

manage. It has to come from the student himself”. Since students‟ prior

experience in schools are relatively teacher-centred (World Data on Education,

2010/2011), it is expected that students are rather dependent learners and

therefore assume that poor teaching rather than their own linguistic deficiency

jeopardizes their performance at college. However, it seems that some students

have intrinsic motivation to overcome the challenges of studying through EMI and

feel that they are responsible for their own learning.

Although the majority of the participants seem to accept the EMI policy, it seems

that they are less content with the implementation of the policy at the college.

Most importantly, the quality of the teachers and their teaching methods were

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questioned. Several participants found that the use of Arabic in class beside

English and in support centres could facilitate students‟ learning of the content.

Therefore some participants favoured the employment of Arabic-speaking

teachers, echoing the views of participants in studies by Ellili-Cherif and

Alkhateeb (2015) in Qatar and Ismail (2011) and Al-Mashikhi et al. (2014) in

Oman. An interesting finding is that even the students who did not support the

EMI policy and who strongly believed that the language of instruction should be

Arabic, did not suggest that Arabic should become the language of instruction at

this college. In fact only Azhaar and Salim hoped that the college would

reconsider its decision to teach all subjects through English and would decide to

teach some subjects in Arabic. Language education policies are usually imposed

in a top-down manner (Shohamy, 2006). Teachers who play an important role in

decision-making are often excluded from educational policy (Troudi, 2009;

Mouhanna, 2016). Similarly, students who are mostly affected by language

education policies are also excluded from educational policy decisions. That the

participants are aware of this issue becomes evident in Salim‟s note when he

questioned the possibility of teaching at least some subjects in Arabic. I would

argue that it is essential to include students‟ voices in any educational policy

decision since these decisions do not only affect what and how students learn

but also has an impact on their future lives.

5.6 Conclusion

The themes identified in the findings lead to the need to question the current EMI

policy whether it serves all students equally and whether it in fact best prepares

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them for their future jobs through which they could participate in the economic

development of the country. These concerns will be addressed in the last chapter

of the study where the implications and recommendations of the study will be

drawn from a critical perspective of the findings.

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CHAPTER SIX – CONCLUSION

This chapter aims to conclude the research process where I first provide a

summary of the main findings in regard to each research question before I outline

the implications of the study and present the recommendations that are mainly

directed at policy makers. Then I explain the theoretical and pedagogical

contribution of the study before providing suggestions for future research. The

chapter ends with my reflections on my personal experience with my thesis

journey.

6.1 Summary of the main findings

The first research question considered tertiary students‟ views on EMI in a public

college in Oman. Overall, the participants either supported or accepted the EMI

policy due to their strong belief that it would help them enhance their English

language proficiency which is seen as essential because of its important role in

the world and in Oman in particular. AMI was seen as possible but not desirable

as it might limit their job opportunities. Few participants were against EMI

because they believed it impeded profound comprehension of the subject matter

and had a negative impact on their ability to use MSA. One participant expressed

her concern that EMI leads to marginalisation of Arabic and is a violation against

students‟ right to study in their mother tongue.

Research question two intended to explore the effect of EMI on the quality of

students‟ learning experiences. The participants acknowledged that they faced

great difficulties studying in English although they felt ready after studying in the
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GFP. There was general agreement among participants that language

improvement was noticeable in speaking skills and that it happened mostly as a

result of studying in the GFP rather than in content classes. In fact, some

participants noted that their English language skills have deteriorated as a result

of EMI. All students reported to face difficulties in comprehending lectures which

was not only dependent on their linguistic competence but was also affected by

the teacher origin and delivery style. Some participants expressed their

preference for Arab teachers because they could provide explanations in Arabic.

The teacher-centred approach adopted by most teachers, restricted students‟

interaction in class. In order to cope with the challenges of EMI, the students had

to invest in extra effort such as preparing lessons beforehand, translating the

texts, consulting peers and teachers and self-study. Most importantly, EMI had a

negative psychological impact on students. Few participants felt frustrated

because they got delayed in their study and some felt that teachers embarrass

them because of their weak linguistic competence. Some suffered from low self-

esteem which hindered them from asking questions in class while others were

inclined not to attend classes regularly since they felt bored when they did not

understand.

Research question three considered the difficulties that students face in reading

in their content courses. The reading load in content courses consisted of

reading the handout, summaries or power-point slides and occasionally online

resources. All participants faced difficulties in reading especially online

resources. Unknown vocabulary was seen as the main obstacle that hampered

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comprehension but there was disagreement about the kind of vocabulary.

Moreover, comprehending the material was also related to the disciplines. In

order to cope with the demand of reading in their specialised fields, students

employed several strategies such as translating the text, guessing meaning from

the context, peer and teacher support and summarising the text which needed a

lot of effort and was time consuming.

The fourth research question was designed to explore the difficulties that

students encounter in writing in their specialised courses. The participants found

writing to be an important skill since they had to do a variety of writing

assignments. There was agreement among the participants that the assignments

were assessed according to the accuracy of the content rather than language.

Most students acknowledged facing difficulties in writing mainly because of their

weakness in grammar and spelling while vocabulary was not reported to be a

main challenge. One of the writing strategies was to write in Arabic first and then

to translate the text into English. Another strategy was to copy and paste material

from a source into their writing assignments. In respect to referencing the

sources, the participants indicated that only some teachers asked for the link of

the source. They also mentioned that most teachers did not provide them with

feedback on their writing assignments so they did not understand where their

mistakes are. Also, lack of feedback on language mistakes was seen as a reason

why students continue making the same language mistakes.

In respect to the fifth research question on the effect of EMI on students‟

academic performance, the participants acknowledged that they sometimes do

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not understand an exam question due to some words which are unknown to

them. As a result they provide a wrong answer to the question. Also, some

students mentioned that they are not able to respond to an exam question

because they do not know how to express themselves in English. While the

participants were in general content with the effort they made, they were less

satisfied with the grades they received and the support provided by the teacher

and college. Almost half of the participants expected that AMI would enhance

their academic performance because it would be easier to gain profound

comprehension while few students felt that it would be the same since some

subjects depend on mathematical equations rather than on language proficiency.

Overall, the participants felt that the college is responsible for the improvement of

their learning experiences which in turn would have an effect on their academic

performance. It was suggested that the college should hire more Arab teachers

and create a centre where students could get support in their study. Few

participants hoped that the college would decide to offer some courses in Arabic.

The participants also believed that the quality of the teaching staff and teaching

methods should be enhanced and that the curriculum should be revised since

some subjects are seen as useless. Only two interview participants felt that the

college has done its share and that the students should be responsible for their

own learning.

6.2 Implications

Reviewing students‟ views on the EMI policy and how they manage their learning

and considering the effects of the EMI policy on students‟ academic learning

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experiences and their academic achievement, several implications emerge. The

fact that students manage to study in English despite the challenges which they

face and eventually graduate from college suggests that EMI might be an

appropriate choice for equipping students with the necessary professional

knowledge and skills to function efficiently in the local and even global job

market. This would also facilitate the Omanisation process where Omani

graduates are expected to replace foreign employees who have been initially

hired to fill gaps in the labour market which Omanis were previously not able to

fill. However, adopting a critical perspective, the current EMI policy has to be

contested for several reasons.

The EMI policy which is imposed on students does not take into consideration

that they are linguistically not ready to study in English. The fact that students are

accepted to study in their degree programmes with an IELTS score of 4.0, which

is much lower than the suggested minimum IELTS score of 5.5 for linguistically

less demanding courses (IELTS, 2015) can be seen as an indicator that English

is an added burden for students. Further evidence is provided through the

accounts of students‟ learning experiences which show that they are only able to

comprehend the academic subjects after translating the content into Arabic. This

means that students‟ struggle to comprehend the content is rather related to the

language in which the content is presented than the academic content itself. The

dependence on translation into Arabic to comprehend reading texts and also to

write in English indicates that students‟ English level is not appropriate for

studying a degree programme in English. Moreover, students‟ inability to interact

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in the classroom and reluctance and fear to ask and respond to questions in

class indicates that English is a barrier for effective communication among

students and teachers (Al-Mashikhi et al, 2014; Baporikar & Shah, 2012;

Mouhanna, 2016) which in turn might have a negative impact on the quality of

education the students‟ receive (Quorro, 2006).

The findings also indicate that the EMI policy does not provide students with

equal opportunities to study in a degree programme of their choice. For example,

some students failed to succeed in their study due to language barrier and had to

drop out of college. Others had to change their specialisation to join one that was

linguistically less demanding but which they would not have chosen were their

study provided in their mother tongue. Overall, students‟ ability to succeed is not

only related to their ability to deal with academic content but also related to their

English language competence. Students who have weaker abilities in subject

knowledge might still outperform their peers who have greater abilities in subject

knowledge only because they are linguistically more proficient, a concern also

raised by McLaren (2011).

Considering the argument that both Arabic and English are needed for students‟

future employment, the suitability of the EMI policy has to be questioned. The

findings suggest that studying over several years through English has an impact

on students‟ ability to use MSA. Therefore, it is anticipated that students might

not be able to use professional Arabic efficiently in work situations which is

especially required in the public sector but might also be needed in the private

sector. An overemphasis on EMI might therefore not satisfy all students‟ needs

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regarding future employment (King, 2014; Mouhanna, 2016). In addition, the

suitability of EMI to raise students‟ English level is also questionable. As the

findings suggest, language improvement happened mostly as a result of learning

in the GFP and PFP. In contrast, language improvement due to EMI is rather

limited and mostly restricted to the enhancement of specialised vocabulary

knowledge. Content classes were students are often provided with

incomprehensible input and where interaction and output are limited do not

provide students with appropriate conditions for English language learning (Al-

Bakri, 2013). Students might therefore graduate from college just to realize that

Arabic and English language competence is of insufficient standard for

employment (King, 2014).

Some students expressed their preference to study in Arabic but have no other

choice than to study in English, a situation that Troudi and Jendli (2011: 41)

termed “choiceless choice”. This invokes Phillipson‟s theory (1992, 2009b) of

linguistic imperialism where he argues that the spread of the English diffusion

paradigm poses a threat to indigenous or native languages. While the adoption of

EMI was not directly imposed on the educational system in Oman from the

outside circle but rather self-imposed by local policy-makers (Troudi, 2009) one

of its effects is that agency to resist such a policy is taken away from students.

Considering Skutnabb-Kangas (2009) argument of students‟ human right to

receive education in their mother tongue, these students are deprived of their

human right, which should not be taken lightly. Students are raised to feel proud

of their Arabic language which is part of their identity and national pride.

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However, in order to continue higher education in their own country, students

have to study in a language that is foreign to them. This could not only pose a

threat on the status of Arabic in education, but could also have serious

psychological effects on students‟ self-esteem especially those who were

successful in their study in Arabic but who are now seen as losers due to their

weak English linguistic abilities.

Whether content teachers are linguistically and pedagogically competent to teach

in English is also worth considering. First, teachers come from different origins

and therefore students are exposed to a variety of accents which they find

difficult to comprehend especially since they are not exposed to these accents in

their previous study of English at schools (Al-Issa & Al-Bulushi, 2012). It seems

that teachers are not aware of the students‟ struggle and therefore rarely make

an effort to make their speech more comprehensible through speaking clearly

and slowly. This has a negative impact on students‟ comprehension of lectures

and requires them to make an extra effort to comprehend the subjects. The

delivery style adopted by teachers is teacher-centred and depends on

transmission of knowledge and does not provide students with opportunities to

create knowledge through discussion and interaction (Barnard, 2015).

The quality of academic knowledge gained through EMI has also to be

questioned since the reading load is reduced and core skills such as reading and

writing are almost avoided to facilitate learning as found by King (2014). For

example, teachers support their students by reading the handout in class and by

providing their students with simplified material. In addition, writing is reduced to

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an information gathering activity where students often just lift material from the

internet, an activity which is seen as acceptable considering the students‟ English

level (Al-Badwawi, 2011). I would argue that these measures support students to

pass their courses but do not allow them to gain academic knowledge

appropriate for undergraduate bachelor programmes. Overall, what is expected

from students in regard to reading and writing is below what is expected from

students who study in their L1, therefore the quality of academic content

knowledge gained has to be questioned (King, 2014; McLaren, 2011; Mouhanna,

2016).

6.3 Recommendations

Keeping in line with the critical agenda of this study, I would like to put forward

some recommendations that are hoped to improve the learning conditions of

students studying in higher education in this particular context in Oman. These

recommendations are based on the analysis of implications of the findings and

although they might challenge the status quo they should be realistically

achievable.

6.3.1 Enhancement of students’ English language proficiency

The findings suggest that the major obstacle of learning at tertiary level is

students‟ low English language proficiency. If Oman intends to continue to

implement the EMI policy at higher education institutions, then appropriate

measures need to be taken in order to better prepare the students for their study

in English. Since the findings showed that GFP are supportive in raising students‟

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English level but are not sufficient for developing students‟ language competence

to the adequate level for academic study, it is essential that schools enhance the

quality of English language teaching (Mouhanna, 2016; Sergon, 2011; Troudi,

2009). This does not necessarily mean increasing the number of English

teaching hours but could be achieved through revising the current curriculum,

pedagogy and teaching materials. For example, it would be useful to provide

students with listening materials where English is spoken by native and non-

native speakers, in particular by those who are present in the Omani society.

This would allow students to become familiar with the accents spoken by

teachers at tertiary level. If students are equipped with profound knowledge in

general English, then the acquisition of academic English would be easier. GFPs

could be designed for each faculty to further enhance the acquisition of

specialised terminology which students might encounter in their study. This

would allow a smoother transmission from foundation to disciplinary

programmes.

6.3.2 Revision of the EMI policy

Adopting a strict EMI policy is unfair to students especially to those with low

English language proficiency who struggle to cope with the challenges of

studying in English. This in turn might reflect on their real potentials and they

might even have to drop out of college. Arabic is unofficially used by teachers to

facilitate learning and plays an important role in students‟ learning strategies to

comprehend materials. In addition, Arabic is a source of comfort for students

which is essential for learning. Therefore, I would recommend the institutions to

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introduce AMI in all its faculties. If courses were offered in Arabic, then more

content could be covered over a course and students would be better able to

gain a deep understanding of the subject matter. They might also be more

encouraged to read in a language they understand. In addition, students would

be better able to ask and respond to questions and to express their ideas either

orally or in writing. Moreover, students would not need to resort to plagiarism in

order to write academic assignments. Overall, studying in Arabic would enhance

the quality of education the students receive. It would also regain students‟

confidence in the ability of Arabic to be the language of academia, an issue that

has been promoted by Raddawi & Meslem (2015). However, it cannot be ignored

that there is a demand for English in Oman. It is used as a lingua franca and

mastering English might maximize students‟ job opportunities. Adopting a

monolingual AMI policy would not necessarily fulfill students‟ needs regarding

future employment. Therefore, I would suggest that students‟ English level is

further enhanced through offering courses for English for academic purposes

(EAP) and for specific purposes (ESP) as suggested by Troudi (2009) while

students follow their specialised courses in Arabic. Also some courses should be

offered in English taking into consideration students‟ English proficiency. This

suggestion would be in line with other studies where a bilingual approach has

been promoted (Al-Mashikhi et al., 2014; Mouhanna, 2016; Raddawi & Meslem,

2015). What I have in mind is an additive bilingual approach where Arabic is

further developed and English is added but not at the expense of marginalising

Arabic as a language of academia. This would be in line with Phillipson (2008:1)

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who argues for “the maintenance of multilingualism, with English in balance with

other languages”. Preparing the curriculum in Arabic could be done in

consultation with universities and colleges in Arab countries that have experience

with AMI. This would also require hiring competent teachers who are specialised

in teaching disciplinary subjects in Arabic in addition to increasing the number of

bilingual teachers because they would be better able to interact with students in

Arabic and English. Due to their profound understanding of students‟ cultural,

social and religious background they would also be better able to bond with

students.

6.3.3 Enhancement of teacher competence

Institutions should make sure to hire teachers that are competent to teach at

tertiary level. This does not only include having a degree in a specialised field

and having the linguistic competence to teach especially EMI classes, but should

also include having the pedagogic competence to teach college students. The

latter could be promoted through the provision of professional development

sessions where teachers could also exchange their pedagogic experiences. Most

importantly, teachers have to replace the teacher-centred approach in teaching

where students sit silently and try to absorb the knowledge transmitted to them,

with a student-centred approach. Classes should become sites where students

learn to question, investigate, think critically, solve problems and make decisions

(Quorro, 2006). In regard to EMI courses, teachers should be provided with

ongoing support through professional development opportunities that are

designed to enhance teachers‟ pedagogic competence in a way that is

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appropriate for the students in this particular context. The institution should also

have clear assessment criteria which all teachers have to follow especially in

regard to language issues. This would avoid the current confusion that is

prevalent among students regarding assessment criteria.

6.3.4 Support for students

It is recommended to increase students‟ support during their study especially in

EMI courses. Institutions could create support centers where students could

resort to in case they face some difficulties in their study. Teachers and qualified

students could be of great help to low performers. This would not only support

these students academically but also psychologically, an aspect that is often

neglected at higher education institutions. Moreover, teachers should provide

students with feedback on their performance so that they could build on their

strength and weaknesses. In regard to writing assignments in English, students

should be able to receive support from English teachers. This could be achieved

through the coordination of the faculties with the ELC. To support students during

exams, it would be useful to present the questions in English and Arabic. Since

the aim of the test is to assess students‟ comprehension of the subject matter,

then the language of the question should not be part of the test (Shohamy,

2006). This would not only facilitate comprehension of the exam but would also

lead students to have more confidence. Overall, students should feel that the

institution is a place for learning in a supportive environment and not a place for

struggle where they find themselves being left alone.

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6.4 Theoretical and pedagogical contribution

My study investigated issues related to EMI from a consumer perspective whose

insights are excluded from language policy decisions. The value of my study is

that it is the first study in Oman that critically explored students‟ perceptions on

EMI and investigated how students studying in different faculties manage to

study disciplinary content in English especially in regard to reading and writing.

Through a focus on students‟ views on EMI and their accounts of their

experiences with EMI in content courses, the study gave a voice to otherwise

voiceless students. However, this study did not suffice to explore students‟ views

on EMI and their practices in order to understand what they believe regarding

EMI and what they do to manage to study content in English. Adopting a post-

modern problematizing stance as advocated by critical applied linguistics, these

voices were not merely presented as reflecting multiple realities but were

interpreted in light of the social and historical context that affected their views.

Through relating the micro with the macro environment of EMI I could focus on

critical issues in regard to EMI such as power, access, injustice, marginalsiation

and exclusion thereby adding an emancipatory dimension to the research

(Johnson, 2013; Pennycook, 2001; Tollefson, 2013). Therefore, this study

contributes to critical research on EMI which is rather scarce in Oman.

The value of this research also lies in its research design which consisted of

adopting a sequential mixed methods approach. The use of three research

methods to investigate issues related to EMI has so far rarely been employed. In

particular, the use of classroom observations is considered to be a valuable tool

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for investigating language education policies, but is the least used research

method in an EMI context. While students could express their opinions through

the questionnaire and the semi-structure interview, the classroom observations

were opportunities to gain first-hand insight into students‟ learning environments.

It also gave some insight into teachers‟ enactment of the policy which has so far

not been investigated in Oman. This study could be used by researchers as a

sample to further conduct qualitative studies adopting these three data collection

methods within an interpretive/critical paradigm.

Pedagogically, this study provided comprehensive insight into the strategies that

students use to manage their study and highlighted the psychological effects of

the EMI policy on students, which is an area that has not received much attention

in research on EMI. It also gave some insight into teachers‟ linguistic and

pedagogic abilities that are crucial aspects to consider in the EMI policy planning.

In order to consider the implications of the study, I made several

recommendations in an attempt to advocate a more egalitarian and comfortable

learning environment. I hope that these recommendations will be incorporated in

future language policy planning. While further studies are needed at the grass-

route level from students‟ and teachers‟ perspectives, this study is an attempt to

raise awareness among the stakeholders who are affected by the policy and

policy makers to the critical issues related to EMI. I also believe that the

recommendations of this study are not only of value for policy makers in Oman

but could be worth considering in other countries with similar conditions.

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Overall, I believe that the findings of this study contribute to existing knowledge

and research on EMI by providing further evidence on critical issues that have

arisen as a result of the adoption of the EMI policy in Oman based on students‟

perspective. I believe that the findings are significant in that they reinforced

outcomes of recent previous research in Oman, while some findings have been

identified for the first time whether in the Gulf in general or in Omani in particular.

6.5 Suggestions for further research

There has recently been a rise in exploratory studies on EMI in the Gulf (Belhiah

& Elhami, 2014 in the UAE; Ellili-Sherif & Alkhateeb, 2015 in Qatar) including few

critical studies (Al-Kahtany et al. 2016; Habbash & Troudi, 2015 in Saudi Arabia;

Troudi & Al Hafidh, 2017 in the UAE). However, research on EMI is still rare in

Oman in particular from a critical perspective. Since students are mainly affected

by the policy decision, more in depth critical studies are needed to challenge the

status quo. Only through raising awareness to the detrimental effects the EMI

policy can have on students‟ learning experiences, academic performance and

even Arabic it is possible to advocate change for the better. For example, further

research is needed to investigate the psychological effects of the EMI policy on

students‟ learning experiences since this is an area that has been largely ignored

in research on EMI especially in the Gulf region. Reading and writing in content

courses are also two research areas that need further investigation. Unlike the

current study, reading in content courses could be explored through the adoption

of a think-aloud method. Such a method would give first-hand information and

could be compared with the information gained from the current study. In regard

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to writing, research could further investigate how students manage to write in

content classes through more in-depths analysis of a variety of written texts,

something that I was not able to achieve in this study. In particular issues

regarding plagiarism need to be further investigated, since research on

plagiarism is still in its infancy in the Gulf. It would also be interesting to conduct

comparative studies on EMI in different departments which would complement

findings in this study. In Oman, most studies that have been conducted are rather

small-scale studies where either surveys are used as the sole research method

or occasionally combined with interviews. More illuminating findings regarding

EMI could be achieved through the employment of classroom observation as this

study showed. In addition, quantitative research in public and private institutions

could be used to further investigate the themes identified in my study. The

findings from small-scale exploratory studies and large-scale quantitative studies

could aid policy makers to make necessary changes. Teachers also play an

important role in EMI implementation. This study indirectly showed some aspects

of how teachers in Oman enact the EMI policy. Further research in this line is

needed so that a more solid body of research is provided that would include the

voices of students and teachers from which conclusions for possible change

could be drawn.

6.6 Personal reflection on thesis journey

Reflecting on my thesis journey, I can conclude that it was an empowering and

certainly a challenging experience. Conducting a qualitative study of such a

magnitude cannot be accomplished without the will power to stay focused on the

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research topic for a couple of years and the ability to overcome the challenges

that one is confronted with, especially at the data analysis stage. However,

overcoming these challenges not only gave me a push forward to continue my

thesis, but also equipped me with invaluable research skills, in particular in

regard to the use of computer software programmes such as SPSS and Nvivo

that facilitated data management and analysis, which will definitely be of support

in my further research projects.

My interest in the thesis topic arouse out of my concern about the unequal

learning opportunities that students are provided with under the EMI policy and

my hope that addressing issues related to EMI from a critical perspective would

advocate change for the better. As part of my doctoral study, I was introduced to

critical issues in language teaching which I see as an awakening call to

controversial and critical issues in the field of ELT. After I conducted a small-

scale critical study on EMI for one of my assignments, I became even more

interested in EMI and I was determined to further investigate the EMI policy in

Oman in my doctoral thesis. Reviewing the literature on EMI from different parts

of the world, the Gulf and Oman was very insightful and supported in finding

gaps in the literature. My interest in research on EMI was an ongoing process

and even at this stage where I am approaching the end of my thesis I engage

myself with reading literature on EMI. I believe that I am now better aware of

issues related to EMI that still need to be explored and that I would like to

consider in my future research projects.

211
Conducting this thesis has been an opportunity to question my own beliefs and

assumptions regarding EMI. While some findings are in line with my expectations

due to my previous experience with research on EMI in Oman, others were

unexpected. For example, I believed that students are victims of the EMI policy

adopted in Oman and I thought that the majority of students would share my

belief. I was rather surprised to realize that most participants believed that they

were favoured by the adoption of EMI due to their strong belief that EMI provides

them with the opportunity to improve their English skills although they

contradicted themselves by acknowledging that studying through EMI has in fact

not lead to the language improvement they expected. Only then I became aware

that students‟ views were not only shaped by local circumstances but also by the

power of English and globalisation. I also realized that my own views regarding

EMI have been affected by critical applied linguistics. Looking back, I also

uncritically embraced critical applied linguistics mainly because I believed that

adopting a critical stance would provide me with the opportunity to advocate

change. While at the beginning of my thesis journey I thought that implementing

AMI would be best for students in this particular context, I changed my view after

the data analysis and I recommended the adoption of a bilingual approach as

best serving students‟ needs.

As I am concluding this thesis I feel empowered since I became much more

informed about students‟ views and experiences of EMI in content courses,

something I was unaware of at the beginning. Observing how students learn in

content courses and interviewing them was very interesting and enlightening but

212
was also on few occasions emotionally challenging. I appreciate students‟

willingness and keenness to share their views and experiences with me and I

was impressed with their determination to succeed in their study despite the

great challenges they face.

While my own thesis journey has come to an end, my research journey regarding

EMI has just started. I hope that this thesis will encourage other researchers, in

particular in Oman, to further investigate EMI from a critical perspective so that a

more egalitarian language policy will be adopted in the future.

213
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APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Background information of questionnaire sample

Variable Sub-variable Number Percentage

Male 119 36.3
Gender
Female 209 63.7
18-21 158 48.2
22-25 147 44.8
Age 26 and above 13 3.0
Missing 13 4.0
information
Omani 326 36.3
Nationality
Other 2 0.6
public 271 82.6
School attended private 6 1.8
public and private 51 15.5
Level 1 52 15.9
Level 2 204 62.2
Foundation Level 3 46 14.0
programme Level 4 6 1.8
Total of all levels 308 93.9
No foundation 20 6.1
Certificate 85 25.9
Diploma 92 28.0
Level of study
Higher diploma 79 24.1
Bachelor degree 72 22.0
2007 2 0.6
2009 6 1.8
2010 41 12.7
2011 85 26.4
Registered at 2012 74 23.0
college 2013 49 15.2
2014 51 15.8
2015 14 4.3
Missing 6 1.8
information
Very weak 1 0.3
weak 15 4.6
Self-evaluation
average 171 52.2
of
Above average 68 20.7
language
good 70 21.3
proficiency
Missing 3 0.9
information

244
Appendix 2: Breakdown of questionnaire sample according to faculties and
level of study

Faculty Level of study Participants

male female All
Certificate 5 9 14
Diploma 6 15 21
Applied sciences Higher diploma 0 13 13
Bachelor degree 0 15 15
All levels 11 52 63
Certificate 6 3 9
Diploma 14 1 15
Engineering Higher diploma 18 0 18
Bachelor degree 20 0 20
All levels 58 4 62
Certificate 4 18 22
Information Technology Higher diploma 8 25 33
All levels 12 43 55
Certificate 0 2 2
Diploma 1 5 6
Business Studies Higher diploma 4 10 14
Bachelor degree 14 23 37
All levels 19 40 59
Certificate 0 11 11
Diploma 0 2 2
Fashion Design
Higher diploma 0 1 1
All levels 0 14 14
Pharmacy Certificate 4 14 18
Diploma 5 25 30
All levels 9 39 48
Certificate 5 4 9
Photography Diploma 5 13 18
All levels 10 17 27
All faculties All levels 119 209 328

245
Appendix 3: Breakdown of classroom observation sample

Faculty Level Participants

male female All
Certificate 2 24 26
Higher diploma 0 17 17
Applied sciences
Bachelor 4 17 21
All levels 6 58 64
Diploma 10 16 26
Engineering Higher diploma 17 0 17
All levels 27 16 43
Higher diploma 6 8 14
Information
Bachelor 1 19 20
Technology
All levels 7 27 34
Diploma 9 13 22
Higher diploma 12 17 29
Business Studies
Bachelor 3 15 18
All levels 24 45 69
Pharmacy Certificate 6 5 11
Diploma 2 14 16
All levels 8 19 27
Certificate 3 2 5
Photography Diploma 4 8 12
All levels 7 10 17
All faculties All levels 79 175 254

246
 Appendix 4: Background information of interview sample

Faculty Participant Age Gender Level of Year GFP Self-

pseudonym study registered evaluation of
at college English
language
proficiency
Applied Hussam 21 male Certificate 2013 Level 1 very weak
sciences Muzna 20 female Diploma 2013 Level 2 average
Aref 23 male Bachelor 2011 Level 2 above average
Eng. Amer 22 male Diploma 2013 Level 1 average
Nadia 20 female Certificate 2014 Level 2 average
Manal 20 female Diploma 2013 Level 2 average
IT
Mariam 22 female Higher d. 2011 Level 2 above average
Business Salim 23 male Bachelor 2009 Level 2 above average
studies Safa 21 female Higher d. 2012 Level 2 average
Fashion Azhaar 21 female Certificate 2013 Level 1 weak
design Lamia 22 female Higher d. 2012 Level 2 average
Basil 20 male Certificate 2015 Level 3 above average
Pharm.
Huda 20 female Diploma 2014 Level 2 average
Photog. Ali 19 male Certificate 2014 Level 3 good

247
Appendix 5: Student questionnaire (English version)

Student questionnaire

Effects of English medium instruction (EMI) on students’ learning experiences and

quality of education in content courses in a public college in Oman

Part 1
Dear Student
Please complete the information about yourself.

1. Age __________
2. Gender: male female
3. Nationality: Omani Other: ____________
4. Which type of school did you attend?
Government Private Government and Private
5. How long did you attend the government and/or private school(s)?
Government ______ years Private ______ years
6. When did you register at this college? 20____
7. Did you study English in the Foundation programme? Yes No
8. If yes to 7, which level did you first study?
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
9. In which department are you studying now?
Applied sciences Engineering IT Business
Fashion design Pharmacy Photography
10. At which stage are you in your study now?
Certificate Diploma Higher diploma Bachelor
11. How would you rate your English language proficiency?
Very weak weak average above average good
12. What is your current GPA? ________

Part 2
Please read the statements on the following pages and circle the number which best
reflects your learning experience in this college. There are no right/wrong answers. The
numbers 1 2 3 4 5 refer to the following responses:
(1) strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3)undecided, (4) agree, (5) strongly agree.

248
 strongly un- strongly
Statements 1-18 disagree agree
disagree decided agree
1. Learning through English can improve my
English language proficiency.
2. Scientific subjects should be taught in
English.
3. I believe that all subjects should be taught in
Arabic at this college.
4. English is more important than Arabic in
education.
5. I need to study in English to get a good job.

6. Learning through English will affect my ability

to use standard Arabic (fus’ha).
7. Beside English, I need Arabic in my future
job.
8. Some subjects should be taught in Arabic at
this college.
9. I feel comfortable speaking English in class.

10. I rarely participate in class out of fear to

make mistakes in speaking English in front of
my classmates.
11. Sometimes I do not understand what the
teachers say in class.
12. I usually ask questions in class when I do
not understand.
13. I can easily take notes in English during the
class.
14. I feel comfortable asking my content
teachers (non-Arabic speakers) questions
outside class.
15. My English listening skills have improved
because all classes are in English.
16. I feel that my English language is not good
enough to study in English.
17. I ask my friends to explain if I do not
understand what the teacher says.
18. My content teachers re-explain if students
do not understand.

249
 Statements 19-37 strongly disagree un- agree strongly
disagree decided agree
19. I need to translate many words into Arabic
to understand the course material.
20. I have to do a lot of reading in English for
my study.
21. My reading skills have improved because I
study in English.
22. I find it difficult to understand technical
vocabulary.
23. My friends help me to understand the
course material.
24. Our content teachers spend a lot of time
explaining vocabulary.
25. I try to expand my knowledge through
reading resources related to my study in
English.
26. I stop reading when I do not understand the
text.
27. I find it difficult to understand long English
texts.
28. Reading in English is difficult because my
grammar is weak.
29. I try to guess the meaning of words from
the context without translating them into the
Arabic language.
30. I make sure I understand every word in the
text.
31. Writing is an important skill in my
specialisation.
32. Because my technical vocabulary is weak I
find it difficult to do a writing assignment in my
specialisation.
33. When I write in English I make grammar
mistakes.
34. My content teacher is more concerned
about the content of my assignment than the
correctness of my English language.
35. When I have to write an assignment in my
specialisation, I often copy
sentences/paragraphs from the internet
because my English language is weak.
36. My writing skills have improved because I
have to write a lot of assignments in my
specialisation.
37. My content teachers help me improve my
writing skills through correcting my mistakes.

250
 Statements 38-49 strongly disagree un- agree strongly
disagree decided agree
38. I always make spelling mistakes when I
write in English.
39. I can express myself clearly in writing in
English.
40. I find it difficult to write in English because I
do not know a lot of vocabulary.
41. I always ask my friends to check my written
assignments for mistakes.
42. I ask someone from outside the college to
support me in my writing projects.
43. Because my writing is weak, I first write in
Arabic and then translate it into English.
44. Because my English is weak, I get low
grades.
45. My GPA would be higher if the courses
were taught in Arabic.
46. Sometimes I do not answer correctly in the
exam because I do not understand the question
in English.
47. It is important to study in English even if I
get low grades.
48. I would spend less time studying the
content if it were in Arabic.
49. I memorise the content in order to pass
quizzes and exams.

Thank you for completing the questionnaire

Dear student

If you would like to participate in a further stage of the research, an interview, please provide
your contact details below.

Name: ………………………………………………………………..

Mobile number: ………………………………………………….

Email: …………………………………………………………………

251
‫)‪Appendix 6: Student questionnaire (Arabic version‬‬

‫األوه‬

‫عزٌزي اىطاىة‬

‫اىرجاء امَاه اىثٍاّاخ عِ ّفسل‪.‬‬

‫‪ .1‬اٌؼّش‪____________ :‬‬

‫أٔض‪ٝ‬‬ ‫‪ .2‬اٌغٕظ‪ :‬روش‬

‫‪ .3‬اٌغٕغ‪١‬خ‪___________ :‬‬

‫خبطخ‬ ‫ؽى‪١ِٛ‬خ‬ ‫‪ .4‬ف‪ ٟ‬أ‪ٛٔ ٞ‬ع ِٓ اٌّذاسط دسعذ؟‬

‫‪ .5‬وُ عٕخ دسعذ ف‪ ٟ‬اٌّذسعخ اٌؾى‪١ِٛ‬خ _________ ‪/ٚ‬أ‪ ٚ‬اٌخبطخ ____________‬

‫‪ .6‬ف‪ ٟ‬أ‪ ٞ‬ػبَ عغٍذ ف‪٘ ٟ‬زٖ اٌىٍ‪١‬خ؟ ____‪22‬‬

‫‪ ً٘ .7‬دسعذ ف‪ ٟ‬لغُ اٌجشٔبِظ اٌزأع‪١‬غ‪ٌٍ ٟ‬غخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ؟ ) ‪(English Foundation Programme‬‬

‫ال‬ ‫ٔؼُ‬

‫‪ .8‬إرا وبْ ع‪ٛ‬اثه ٔؼُ إلٌغؤاي سلُ ‪ ،7‬ف‪ ٟ‬أ‪ِ ٞ‬غز‪ ٜٛ‬تذأخ؟‬

‫اٌّغز‪ ٜٛ‬اٌشاثغ‬ ‫اٌّغز‪ ٜٛ‬اٌضبٌش‬ ‫اٌّغز‪ ٜٛ‬اٌضبٔ‪ٟ‬‬ ‫اٌّغز‪ ٜٛ‬األ‪ٚ‬ي‬

‫‪ .9‬ف‪ ٟ‬أ‪ ٞ‬لغُ رذسط ؽبٌ‪١‬ب؟ _______________‬

‫‪ .12‬ف‪ ٟ‬أ‪ِ ٞ‬شؽٍخ دساع‪١‬خ أٔذ ا‪ْ٢‬؟‬

‫دثٍ‪ َٛ‬عٕخ صبٔ‪١‬خ )‪(diploma‬‬ ‫دثٍ‪ َٛ‬عٕخ أ‪(certificate) ٌٝٚ‬‬

‫اإلعبصح )‪(bachelor‬‬ ‫دثٍ‪ َٛ‬ػبي )‪(higher diploma‬‬

‫‪ .11‬و‪١‬ف رمذس وفبءره اٌٍغ‪٠ٛ‬خ ف‪ ٟ‬اٌٍغخ االٔىٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ؟‬

‫ع‪١‬ذ‬ ‫أػٍ‪ ِٓ ٝ‬اٌّز‪ٛ‬عظ‬ ‫ِز‪ٛ‬عظ‬ ‫ضؼ‪١‬ف‬ ‫ضؼ‪١‬ف عذا‬

‫‪ِ .12‬ب ٘‪ِ ٛ‬ؼذٌه اٌزشاوّ‪ ٟ‬اٌؼبَ؟ )‪_____________ (GPA‬‬

‫اىقسٌ اىثاًّ‬
‫اٌشعبء لشاءح اٌغًّ اٌّ‪ٛ‬ع‪ٛ‬دح ف‪ ٟ‬اٌظفؾبد اٌزبٌ‪١‬خ ‪ ٚ‬اإلعبثخ ػٕ‪ٙ‬ب ػٍ‪ ٝ‬ؽغت رغشثخ رؼٍّه ف‪ ٟ‬اٌىٍ‪١‬خ اٌزمٕ‪١‬خ‪ .‬ال ر‪ٛ‬عذ‬
‫أع‪ٛ‬ثخ خبطئخ‪ /‬طؾ‪١‬ؾخ‪٠ .‬غت ػٍ‪١‬ه أْ رمشس اٌزبٌ‪:ٟ‬‬
‫(‪ )5‬أوافق تشذج‬ ‫(‪ )4‬أوافق‬ ‫(‪ )3‬ىسد ٍرأمذ‬ ‫(‪ )2‬ال أوافق‬ ‫(‪ )1‬ال أوافق تشذج‬

‫‪252‬‬
‫أوافق‬ ‫ىسد‬ ‫ال أوافق‬
‫أوافق‬ ‫ال أوافق‬ ‫اىجَو ‪17-1‬‬
‫تشذج‬ ‫ٍرأمذ‬ ‫تشذج‬
‫‪ .1‬اٌزؼٍُ ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ِٓ اٌّّىٓ أْ ‪٠‬م‪ ٞٛ‬وفبئز‪ ٟ‬ف‪ٟ‬‬
‫اٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .2‬اٌّ‪ٛ‬اد اٌؼٍّ‪١‬خ ‪٠‬غت أْ رؼٍُ ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .3‬اٌطالة اٌز‪٠ ٓ٠‬زؼٍّ‪ ْٛ‬ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ُ٘ أوضش ٔغبؽب‬
‫ف‪ ٟ‬اٌؾ‪١‬بح ِٓ اٌز‪٠ ٓ٠‬زؼٍّ‪ ْٛ‬ثبٌٍغخ اٌؼشث‪١‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .4‬أب اػزمذ أْ اٌٍغخ اٌؼشث‪١‬خ ‪٠‬غت أْ رى‪ٌ ْٛ‬غخ اٌزؼٍُ ف‪ٟ‬‬
‫٘زٖ اٌىٍ‪١‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .5‬اٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ أُ٘ ِٓ اٌٍغخ اٌؼشث‪١‬خ ف‪ ٟ‬اٌزؼٍُ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .6‬أؽزبط ٌٍزؼٍُ ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ إل‪٠‬غبد ػًّ ع‪١‬ذ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .7‬اٌزؼٍُ ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ِٓ اٌّّىٓ أْ ‪٠‬ؤصش ثشىً عٍج‪ٟ‬‬
‫ػٍ‪ ٝ‬لذسر‪ ٟ‬ػٍ‪ ٝ‬اعزؼّبي اٌٍغخ اٌؼشث‪١‬خ اٌفظؾ‪.ٝ‬‬
‫‪ .8‬إٌ‪ ٝ‬عبٔت اٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ‪ ،‬أٔب أؽزبط إٌ‪ ٝ‬اٌٍغخ اٌؼشث‪١‬خ‬
‫ف‪ِٕٙ ٟ‬ز‪ ٟ‬اٌّغزمجٍ‪١‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .9‬ثؼض اٌّ‪ٛ‬اد ‪٠‬غت أْ رذسط ثبٌٍغخ اٌؼشث‪١‬خ ف‪٘ ٟ‬زٖ‬
‫اٌىٍ‪١‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .12‬أشؼش ثبٌشاؽخ ػٕذ اٌزىٍُ ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ف‪ ٟ‬اٌظف‪.‬‬
‫‪ .11‬أٔب ٔبدسا ِب أشبسن ف‪ ٟ‬اٌظف ٔز‪١‬غخ خ‪ٛ‬ف‪ ٟ‬ف‪ ٟ‬اسرىبث‪ٟ‬‬
‫األخطبء أِبَ صِالئ‪ ٟ‬ف‪ ٟ‬اٌظف‪.‬‬
‫‪ .12‬أؽ‪١‬بٔب ال أف‪ِ ُٙ‬ب ‪٠‬م‪ ٌٗٛ‬اٌّذسط ف‪ ٟ‬اٌظف‪.‬‬
‫‪ .13‬أٔب ػبدح أسأل المدرس في الصف ف‪ ٟ‬ؽبي ٌُ أف‪.ُٙ‬‬
‫‪ ِٓ .14‬اٌغ‪ ًٙ‬ػٍ‪ ٟ‬أْ أعغً ِالؽظبد ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ‬
‫ف‪ ٟ‬اٌظف‪.‬‬
‫‪ .15‬أشؼش ثبٌشاؽخ ػٕذ عؤاٌ‪ٌّ ٟ‬ذسط اخزظبص (غ‪١‬ش‬
‫ٔبطك ثٍٍغخ اٌؼشث‪١‬خ) خبسط ٔطبق اٌظف‪.‬‬
‫‪ .16‬رؾغٕذ ٌذ‪ ٞ‬اٌّ‪ٙ‬بساد اٌغّبػ‪١‬خ ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ألْ‬
‫عّ‪١‬غ ِؾبضشار‪ ٟ‬ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪.17‬أشؼش ثأْ ٌغز‪ ٟ‬اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ٌ‪١‬غذ ع‪١‬ذح ثّب ف‪ ٗ١‬اٌىفب‪٠‬خ‬
‫ٌٍذساعخ ث‪ٙ‬ب‪.‬‬

‫‪253‬‬
‫أوافق‬ ‫ىسد‬ ‫ال أوافق‬
‫أوافق‬ ‫ال أوافق‬ ‫اىجَو ‪36-18‬‬
‫تشذج‬ ‫ٍرأمذ‬ ‫تشذج‬
‫‪ .18‬أطٍت ِٓ أطذلبئ‪ ٟ‬أْ ‪٠‬ششؽ‪ٛ‬ا ٌ‪ ٟ‬إرا ٌُ أف‪ِ ُٙ‬ب ‪٠‬م‪ٌٗٛ‬‬
‫اٌّذسط‪.‬‬
‫‪ .19‬اٌّذسط االخزظبط‪٠ ٟ‬غبػذ اٌطالة ‪٠ ٚ‬ؼ‪١‬ذ اٌششػ‬
‫ف‪ ٟ‬ؽبي ػذَ ف‪.ُّٙٙ‬‬
‫‪ .22‬إٔ‪ ٟ‬ثؾبعخ إٌ‪ ٝ‬رشعّخ اٌؼذ‪٠‬ذ ِٓ اٌىٍّبد ٌف‪ ُٙ‬اٌّبدح‬
‫اٌّمشسح‪.‬‬
‫‪٠ .21‬غت ػٍ‪ ٟ‬أْ الشأ وض‪١‬شا ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ف‪ِ ٟ‬غبي‬
‫دساعز‪.ٟ‬‬
‫‪ .22‬لذسار‪ ٟ‬ف‪ ٟ‬اٌمشاءح رؾغٕذ ثغجت دساعز‪ ٟ‬ثبٌٍغخ‬
‫اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .23‬أعذ طؼ‪ٛ‬ثخ ثف‪ ُٙ‬اٌّفشداد اٌّزؼٍمخ ثبالخزظبص‪.‬‬
‫‪ .24‬أطذلبئ‪٠ ٟ‬غبػذ‪ ٟٕٔٚ‬ثف‪ِ ُٙ‬مشس اٌّبدح‪.‬‬
‫‪ِ .25‬ذسع‪ ٟ‬اٌّ‪ٛ‬اد االخزظبط‪١‬خ ‪٠‬مض‪ٚ ْٛ‬لزب ط‪٠ٛ‬ال‬
‫ثزذس‪٠‬غٕب اٌّفشداد‪.‬‬
‫‪ .26‬أؽب‪ٚ‬ي أْ أ‪ٚ‬عغ ِؼشفز‪ ٟ‬ػجش لشاءح اٌّظبدس اٌّزؼٍمخ‬
‫ثذساعز‪ ٟ‬ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .27‬أر‪ٛ‬لف ػٓ اٌمشاءح ػٕذِب ال أف‪ ُٙ‬إٌض‪.‬‬
‫‪ .28‬اٌمشاءح ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ طؼت ألْ إٌؾ‪ ٛ‬ػٕذ‪ٞ‬‬
‫ضؼ‪١‬ف‪.‬‬
‫‪ .29‬أعذ طؼ‪ٛ‬ثخ ثف‪ ُٙ‬إٌظ‪ٛ‬ص اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ اٌط‪ٍ٠ٛ‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .32‬أؽب‪ٚ‬ي أْ أف‪ِ ُٙ‬ؼبٔ‪ ٟ‬اٌىٍّبد ِٓ إٌض‪.‬‬
‫‪ .31‬أرأوذ ثأْ أف‪ ُٙ‬وً وٍّخ ثبٌٕض‪.‬‬
‫‪ .32‬اٌىزبثخ ِ‪ٙ‬بسح ِ‪ّٙ‬خ ف‪ ٟ‬اخزظبط‪.ٟ‬‬
‫‪ .33‬ػٕذِب اوزت ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ أسرىت أخطبء ثبٌٕؾ‪.ٛ‬‬
‫‪ِ .34‬ذسط االخزظبص ‪٠‬ى‪ ْٛ‬لٍك ػٍ‪ِ ٝ‬ؾز‪ ٜٛ‬اٌ‪ٛ‬اعت‬
‫أوضش ِٓ طؾخ اٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .35‬ػٕذِب ‪٠‬طٍت ِٕ‪ ٟ‬وزبثخ ‪ٚ‬اعت ف‪ ٟ‬اخزظبط‪ ،ٟ‬غبٌجب ِب‬
‫أٔمً عًّ‪ِ/‬مبطغ ِٓ اإلٔزشٔذ ألْ ٌغز‪ ٟ‬اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ضؼ‪١‬فخ‪.‬‬
‫‪ِٙ .36‬بسار‪ ٟ‬ف‪ ٟ‬اٌىزبثخ رط‪ٛ‬سد ‪ ٚ‬رؾغٕذ ألٔٗ ‪ٚ‬عت ػٍ‪ٟ‬‬
‫وزبثخ اٌىض‪١‬ش ِٓ اٌ‪ٛ‬اعجبد اٌّزؼٍمخ ثبخزظبط‪.ٟ‬‬

‫‪254‬‬
‫أوافق‬ ‫ىسد‬ ‫ال أوافق‬
‫أوافق‬ ‫ال أوافق‬ ‫اىجَو ‪55-37‬‬
‫تشذج‬ ‫ٍرأمذ‬ ‫تشذج‬
‫‪ِ .37‬ذسع‪ ٟ١‬االخزظبط‪٠ ٓ١١‬غبػذ‪ ٟٕٔٚ‬ػٍ‪ ٝ‬رط‪٠ٛ‬ش ‪ٚ‬‬
‫رؾغ‪ِٙ ٓ١‬بسار‪ ٟ‬اٌىزبث‪١‬خ ػٓ طش‪٠‬ك رظؾ‪١‬ؼ أخطبئ‪.ٟ‬‬
‫‪ .38‬دائّب أسرىت األخطبء ػٕذ وزبثز‪ ٟ‬ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ّ٠ .39‬ىٕٕ‪ ٟ‬أْ أػجش ػّب أس‪٠‬ذ وزبثزٗ ث‪ٛ‬ض‪ٛ‬ػ ربَ ثبٌٍغخ‬
‫اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .42‬أعذ طؼ‪ٛ‬ثخ ثبٌىزبثخ ف‪ ٟ‬اٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ألٕٔ‪ ٟ‬ال‬
‫أػشف اٌىض‪١‬ش ِٓ اٌّفشداد‪.‬‬
‫‪ .41‬دائّب أطٍت ِٓ أطذلبئ‪ ٟ‬أْ ‪٠‬زأوذ‪ٚ‬ا ِٓ ػذَ ‪ٚ‬ع‪ٛ‬د‬
‫أخطبء ف‪ ٟ‬وزبثز‪.ٟ‬‬
‫‪ .42‬أطٍت ِٓ أؽذ ِٓ خبسط اٌىٍ‪١‬خ ِغبػذر‪ ٟ‬ثّشبس‪٠‬ؼ‪ٟ‬‬
‫اٌّزؼٍمخ ثبٌىزبثخ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .43‬ألْ وزبثز‪ ٟ‬ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ضؼ‪١‬فخ‪ ،‬أوزت ثبٌؼشث‪ٟ‬‬
‫أ‪ٚ‬ال ‪ ِٓ ٚ‬صُ أرشعّ‪ٙ‬ب إٌ‪ ٝ‬اٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .44‬اٌزؼٍُ ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ال ‪٠‬ؤصش ػٍ‪ ٝ‬ػالِبر‪ ٟ‬ثشىً‬
‫عٍج‪.ٟ‬‬
‫‪ .45‬ألْ ٌغز‪ ٟ‬اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ضؼ‪١‬فخ‪ ,‬أؽظً ػٍ‪ ٝ‬ػالِبد‬
‫ضؼ‪١‬فخ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .46‬دسعبر‪ ٟ‬ف‪ ٟ‬اٌّؼذي اٌزشاوّ‪ ٟ‬اٌؼبَ )‪ (GPA‬وبٔذ ِٓ‬
‫اٌّّىٓ أْ رى‪ ْٛ‬أػٍ‪ ٌٛ ٝ‬أْ اٌظف‪ٛ‬ف وبٔذ رذسط ثبٌٍغخ‬
‫اٌؼشث‪١‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .47‬أؽ‪١‬بٔب ال أعب‪ٚ‬ة ثشىً طؾ‪١‬ؼ ف‪ ٟ‬االِزؾبْ ألٕٔ‪ ٟ‬ال‬
‫أف‪ ُٙ‬اٌغؤاي ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ ِٓ .48‬اٌّ‪ ُٙ‬أْ أدسط ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ؽز‪ ٌٛ ٚ ٝ‬ؽظٍذ‬
‫ػٍ‪ ٝ‬ػالِبد ضؼ‪١‬فخ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .49‬عأِض‪ٚ ٟ‬لزب ألً ثبٌذساعخ‪ ٌٛ ،‬أْ اٌّ‪ٛ‬اد وبٔذ رذسط‬
‫ثبٌٍغخ اٌؼشث‪١‬خ‪.‬‬
‫‪ .52‬أٔب أؽفع اٌّضّ‪ ْٛ‬و‪ ٟ‬أٔغؼ ف‪ ٟ‬االخزجبساد‪.‬‬

‫شنرا ىل إلذَاً االسرثٍاُ‬

‫عزٌزي اىطاىة‬
‫إرا وٕذ رشغت ثبٌّشبسوخ ف‪ِ ٟ‬مبثٍخ ‪٠‬شع‪ ٝ‬رض‪٠ٚ‬ذ ث‪١‬بٔبد االرظبي ثه‪:‬‬
‫االعُ‪........................................ :‬‬
‫سلُ اٌغ‪ٛ‬اي‪........................................ :‬‬
‫اٌجش‪٠‬ذ اإلٌىزش‪........................................ :ٟٔٚ‬‬

‫‪255‬‬
‫)‪Appendix 7: Questionnaire participant information sheet (Arabic‬‬

‫‪Graduate School of Education‬‬

‫‪Researcher: Sawsan Al-Bakri‬‬

‫‪Email: [email protected]‬‬
‫‪Supervisor: Dr. Salah Troudi‬‬
‫‪Email: [email protected]‬‬

‫ورقة معلومات المشارك – استبيان الطالب‬

‫ذأثٍر اىرعيٌٍ تاىيغح االّجيٍزٌح عيى ذجرتح اىطالب اىرعيٍٍَح و جودج اىرعيٌٍ فً االخرصاصاخ اىَخريفح فً ميٍح‬
‫ذقٍْح عيٍا تسيطْح عَاُ‬

‫اٌشعبء اٌّشبسوخ ف‪ ٟ‬االعزج‪١‬بْ اٌز‪ ٞ‬ع‪١‬غزخذَ ف‪ ٟ‬سعبٌخ اٌذوز‪ٛ‬ساٖ‪ِ ٚ ،‬ذح االعزج‪١‬بْ ٘‪ ٟ‬ث‪ 15-12 ٓ١‬دل‪١‬مخ ‪ ٚ‬ثبٌٍغخ‬
‫اٌؼشث‪١‬خ‪.‬‬

‫اٌ‪ٙ‬ذف ِٓ ٘زا االعزج‪١‬بْ ٘‪ ٛ‬االطالع ػٍ‪ ٝ‬رغشثزه اٌزؼٍ‪١ّ١‬خ ثبٌٍغخ االٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ف‪ ٟ‬اخزظبطه ف‪٘ ٟ‬زٖ اٌىٍ‪١‬خ‪ .‬إْ روش‬
‫اعّه ٌ‪١‬ظ ِطٍ‪ٛ‬ثب‪ ،‬ثبالضبفخ اٌ‪ ٝ‬أْ اٌّؾبضش‪ ٓ٠‬اٌّغؤ‪ ٓ١ٌٚ‬ػٓ دساعزه ٌٓ ‪٠‬طٍؼ‪ٛ‬ا ػٍ‪ ٝ‬إعبثبره‪ ٚ ،‬وً اٌّؼٍ‪ِٛ‬بد‬
‫اٌّمذِخ عزجم‪ ٝ‬عش‪٠‬خ‪.‬‬

‫اٌّشبسوخ ف‪٘ ٟ‬زا اٌجؾش ط‪ٛ‬ػ‪١‬خ‪ ٚ ،‬ثئِىبٔه أال رشبسن‪ٌ ،‬ىٓ ِشبسوزه ٌٓ رى‪ِ ْٛ‬ف‪١‬ذح ٌجؾش اٌذوز‪ٛ‬ساح اٌخبص ث‪ٟ‬‬
‫فؾغت‪ ،‬ثً لذ رغبػذ ف‪ ٟ‬رط‪٠ٛ‬ش رغشثزه اٌزؼٍ‪١ّ١‬خ ف‪٘ ٟ‬زٖ اٌىٍ‪١‬خ أ‪٠‬ضب‪.‬‬

‫وً اٌّؼٍ‪ِٛ‬بد اٌّمذِخ عزغزؼًّ ف‪ ٟ‬سعبٌخ اٌذوز‪ٛ‬ساح ‪ ٚ‬لذ رٕشش ف‪ ٟ‬اٌّؾبضشاد ‪ ٚ‬اٌّؤرّشاد‪ ،‬ثئِىبٔه اٌؾظ‪ٛ‬ي‬
‫ػٍ‪ٔ ٝ‬غخخ ِٓ ٔزبئظ اٌجؾش ف‪ ٟ‬ؽبي سغجزه ثزٌه ِٓ اٌجبؽش‪.‬‬

‫وّب أٔ‪ ٟ‬أ‪ٚ‬د دػ‪ٛ‬ره اٌ‪ ٝ‬إعشاء ِمبثٍخ ثبٌٍغخ اٌؼشث‪١‬خ أ‪ ٚ‬اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ِذر‪ٙ‬ب ث‪ 62-45 ٓ١‬دل‪١‬مخ‪ .‬ف‪ ٟ‬ؽبي وٕذ ِ‪ٙ‬زّب‬
‫ثبٌّ‪ٛ‬ض‪ٛ‬ع اٌشعبء اسعبي سعبٌخ ػجش اٌجش‪٠‬ذ اٌىزش‪ٌٍ ٟٔٚ‬جبؽش ػٍ‪ ٝ‬اٌؼٕ‪ٛ‬اْ اٌّ‪ٛ‬ع‪ٛ‬د ف‪ ٟ‬اػٍ‪٘ ٝ‬زٖ اٌظفؾخ أ‪ٚ‬‬
‫ثئِىبٔه وزبثخ ث‪١‬بٔبد االرظبي ثه ف‪ٙٔ ٟ‬ب‪٠‬خ االعزج‪١‬بْ‪.‬‬

‫وىل جزٌو اىشنر‬

‫‪256‬‬
Appendix 8: Questionnaire participant information sheet (English)

Graduate School of Education

Researcher: Sawsan Al-Bakri

Email: [email protected]
Supervisor: Dr. Salah Troudi
Email: s. [email protected]

Participant Information Sheet – Student questionnaire

Effects of English medium instruction (EMI) on students’ learning experiences and
quality of education in content courses in a public college in Oman

You are kindly requested to complete a questionnaire which will be used for a doctoral
thesis. The questionnaire is in Arabic and will only take 10-15 minutes to complete.

The purpose of this questionnaire is to explore your learning experiences in your

specialised courses through the English medium instruction in this college. Please note
that you are not required to mention your name and your lecturers will not view your
responses. All information you provide will be kept confidential.

Your participation in this research is voluntary and you can choose not to participate.
However, your participation can not only help me in my thesis, but could also help in
improving your learning experiences in this college.

The data collected will be used for my doctoral thesis and may also be used for
publication, conference presentation or seminars. Upon your request, a copy of the
results could be sent to you.

I would also like to invite you for an interview (in Arabic or English) for about 45-60
minutes. You can collect the information sheet about the interview from the researcher.
If you are interested, please send me (researcher) an email provided at the top of this
information sheet. You can also provide your contact details at the end of the
questionnaire.

Thank you

257
Appendix 9: Observation guide

Classroom observation No _____

Date: ___________________ Duration:

Faculty: ________________ No of students: _________
Place: __________________ Male: ___________ Female: _____________
Teacher: male/female native Arabic/native English/non-native Arabic and English

Teacher action Student behaviour Student responses/questions

- lecturing - listening
- asking questions - asking
- responding to information
questions questions
- eliciting - asking
information clarification
- explaining questions
vocabulary - responding
- correcting language individually
- assigning tasks - responding
- code-switching collectively
-others - taking notes
- reading textbook
- asking peers
- peer/group work
- others

Atmosphere:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Personal reflection:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

258
Classroom actions (10 min span)

10____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
20____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
30____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
40____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
50____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
60____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
70____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
80____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
90____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
100___________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

259
Appendix 10: Classroom observation participant information sheet (content
teacher)

Graduate School of Education

Researcher: Sawsan Al-Bakri Supervisor: Dr. Salah Troudi

Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Participant Information Sheet – Content teachers

Effects of English medium instruction (EMI) on students’ learning experiences and
quality of education in content courses in a public college in Oman

You are kindly requested to take part in this research project which will be conducted
for a doctoral thesis. Please read this sheet and ask questions before you decide to give
your consent to participate.

The purpose of this study is to explore students’ learning experiences in content courses
through the English medium instruction in a public college in Oman. If you choose to
participate in this study, a class of your choice will be observed for a whole period. The
purpose of the classroom observation is to observe how students learn in an English-
medium environment. The students will be informed about the aim of the observation
by the researcher and they will be assured that their participation will not have any
negative impact on them or their grades. Field notes will be taken by the researcher
during the observation.

Your participation in this research is your decision and voluntary. Confidentiality and
anonymity of all participants (teacher and students) will be assured. The identity of all
participants and the college will also be protected in any publication resulting from the
research. If you decide to participate, you can withdraw from the research at any time
without giving a reason by contacting the researcher under the email provided at the
top of the information sheet.

The data collected will be used for the doctoral thesis and may also be used for
publication, conference presentation or seminars. Upon your request, a copy of the
results could be sent to you.

Thank you for reading this information sheet. If you have any further questions, please
contact the researcher under the email provided at the top of the sheet.

260
‫‪Appendix 11: Classroom observation participant information sheet (student‬‬
‫)‪– Arabic‬‬

‫‪Graduate School of Education‬‬

‫‪Researcher: Sawsan Al-Bakri‬‬
‫‪Email: [email protected]‬‬
‫‪Supervisor: Dr. Salah Troudi‬‬
‫‪Email: [email protected]‬‬

‫ورقح ٍعيوٍاخ اىَشارك – اىطالب (ٍراقثح اىفصو اىذراسً)‬

‫ذأثٍر اىرعيٌٍ تاىيغح اإلّجيٍزٌح عيى ذجرتح اىطالب اىرعيٍٍَح و جودج اىرعيٌٍ فً االخرصاصاخ اىَخريفح فً ميٍح ذقٍْح عيٍا‬
‫تسيطْح عَاُ‬

‫اٌشعبء اٌّشبسوخ ف‪ ٟ‬ؽذس ِشالجخ اٌفظً اٌذساع‪ ٟ‬اٌز‪ ٛ٘ ٞ‬عضء ِٓ ثؾش سعبٌخ اٌذوز‪ٛ‬ساٖ اٌخبص ث‪.ٟ‬‬

‫اٌ‪ٙ‬ذف ِٓ ٘زٖ اٌّشالجخ ٘‪ ٛ‬االطالع ػٍ‪ ٝ‬رغشثزه اٌزؼٍ‪١ّ١‬خ ثبٌٍغخ اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ف‪ ٟ‬اخزظبطه‪٠ ٌٓ .‬زُ رم‪ّ١١‬ه ؽغت ِشبسوزه ف‪ٟ‬‬
‫إٌمبشبد اٌذساع‪١‬خ أ‪ ٚ‬ؽغت ِغز‪ٌ ٜٛ‬غزه اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ‪ ،‬وّب اْ ِشبسوزه ٌٓ رؤصش ػٍ‪ ٝ‬ػالِبره اٌذساع‪١‬خ ‪٠ٛ٘ ٚ‬زه عزجم‪ ٝ‬عش‪٠‬خ‪.‬‬

‫اٌّشبسوخ ف‪٘ ٟ‬زا اٌجؾش ط‪ٛ‬ػ‪١‬خ‪ ٚ ،‬ثئِىبٔه أال رشبسن‪ٌ ،‬ىٓ ع‪١‬جم‪ ٝ‬ػٍ‪١‬ه ؽض‪ٛ‬س اٌفظً اٌذساع‪ ٚ ،ٟ‬ع‪١‬زُ رغبً٘‬
‫ِشبسوزه‪ٌ .‬ىٓ ِشبسوزه ٌٓ رى‪ِ ْٛ‬ف‪١‬ذح ٌجؾش اٌذوز‪ٛ‬ساٖ اٌخبص ث‪ ٟ‬فؾغت‪ ،‬ثً لذ رغبػذ ف‪ ٟ‬رط‪٠ٛ‬ش رغشثزه اٌزؼٍ‪١ّ١‬خ‬
‫ف‪٘ ٟ‬زٖ اٌىٍ‪١‬خ أ‪٠‬ضب‪.‬‬

‫وً اٌّؼٍ‪ِٛ‬بد اٌّمذِخ عزغزؼًّ ف‪ ٟ‬سعبٌخ اٌذوز‪ٛ‬ساح ‪ ٚ‬لذ رٕشش ف‪ ٟ‬اٌّؾبضشاد ‪ ٚ‬اٌّؤرّشاد‪ ،‬ثئِىبٔه اٌؾظ‪ٛ‬ي ػٍ‪ٔ ٝ‬غخخ‬
‫ِٓ ٔزبئظ اٌجؾش ف‪ ٟ‬ؽبي سغجزه ثزٌه‪.‬‬

‫وّب أٔ‪ ٟ‬أ‪ٚ‬د دػ‪ٛ‬ره اٌ‪ ٝ‬إعشاء ِمبثٍخ ثبٌٍغخ اٌؼشث‪١‬خ أ‪ ٚ‬اإلٔغٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ِذر‪ٙ‬ب ث‪ 62-45 ٓ١‬دل‪١‬مخ‪ .‬ف‪ ٟ‬ؽبي وٕذ ِ‪ٙ‬زّب‬
‫ثبٌّ‪ٛ‬ض‪ٛ‬ع اٌشعبء اسعبي سعبٌخ ػجش اٌجش‪٠‬ذ اٌىزش‪ٌٍ ٟٔٚ‬جبؽش ػٍ‪ ٝ‬اٌؼٕ‪ٛ‬اْ اٌّ‪ٛ‬ع‪ٛ‬د ف‪ ٟ‬اػٍ‪٘ ٝ‬زٖ اٌظفؾخ‪.‬‬

‫وىل جزٌو اىشنر‬

‫‪261‬‬
 Classroom observation participant information sheet (student –English)

University of Exeter Graduate School of Education

Researcher: Sawsan Al-Bakri Supervisor: Dr. Salah Troudi

Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Participant Information Sheet – Students (Classroom observation)

Effects of English medium instruction (EMI) on students’ learning experiences and
quality of education in content courses in a public college in Oman

You are kindly requested to take part in this classroom observation which is part of my
doctoral thesis.

The purpose of this classroom observation is to explore how you learn in your
specialised courses through the English language. During the classroom observation you
will not be evaluated by your contributions in classroom discussions or your English
language proficiency. Your participation will not affect your grades in class and your
identity will be kept confidential.

Your participation in this research is voluntary and you can choose not to participate.
Please note that if you do not want to participate, you still have to attend the class, but
your contributions in class will be ignored. However, your participation can not only help
me in my thesis, but could also help in improving your learning experiences in this
college.

The data collected will be used for my doctoral thesis and may also be used for
publication, conference presentation or seminars. Upon your request, a copy of the
results could be sent to you.

I would also like to invite you for an interview (in Arabic or English) for about 45-60
minutes. If you are interested, please send me (researcher) an email provided at the top
of this information sheet.

Thank you

262
Appendix 12: Two samples of field notes
Sample 1: Business class

263
264
Sample 2: Applied sciences class

265
266
Appendix 13: Interview schedule

1. Attitudes towards studying in English/Arabic

1. How do you feel about studying your courses in English at this college? Elaborate.
2. Do you think your English language proficiency has improved after you joined the
foundation programme/after you joined your specialisation? If yes, in which area has it
improved most: speaking, listening, reading, writing? Explain how/why.
3- Do you think you are well prepared for studying in English?

2. Quality of academic experience

4- Since you are studying via English, do you need to do extra academic efforts? If yes,
what kind of effort and how much?
5. When you attend a class, what do you usually do? How do you feel?
Prompts: listen / take notes/ copy from the board/ participate in class discussions/
solve problems/ ask the teacher/friend
6. Are there any challenges/difficulties that you face? Prompts: understanding
lectures/asking the teacher/taking notes
7. How do you study at home?
9. When you need support in your study (college or home) what do you do?
10. What support does the college provide the students with to study in English?

3. Reading
10- What are you required to read in your major?
11- In order to expand your knowledge, do you read resources related to your study
other than the textbook assigned to you?
12- When you read a text related to your study, do you face any difficulty in
comprehending the text?
Prompts: terminology/ technical vocabulary/general English vocabulary/sentence
structure (grammar)/ length of text/difficulty of the content (regardless of the English
language)

267
13- Can you read a text from your course book/handout? What do you do to understand
the text?
Prompts: translate unknown words/ whole text/try to guess meaning from context
try to get the main idea/use background information/ask a friend

4. Writing
14- Do you need to do a lot of writing in your specialisation? If yes, what kind of writing
do you have to do? How many?
Prompts: summary/reports/research paper/power point presentation
15- When you face a problem in writing your assignment, does your subject teacher
support you? If yes, how?
16- When you write an assignment, does your content teacher provide you with
feedback on your English language/content? If yes, do you understand the feedback
you receive from your teacher?
17. How are your assignments assessed? Content and /or language?
18- Can you show me one/some of your assignments? Did you face any difficulties in
writing this/these assignment (s)? If yes, specify:
Prompts: weakness in vocabulary/spelling/grammar (sentence structure)/
genre of writing/ organisation/paraphrasing/summarizing/referencing

5. Academic performance
19- Are you content with your performance in your major? If no why?
20- Do you sometimes face difficulties during the exam? If yes, what kind of difficulties?
21- Do you think it is possible that your subjects are taught in Arabic?
22- What kind of grades do you think you would have if courses were taught in Arabic?
23- If the courses were taught in Arabic, how would your university experience be? This
is in relation to your understanding of the content of your study area and your overall
experience.
24- In your opinion, how could the college improve the learning experience of the
students?
25. Would you like to add any comments regarding this issue?
Thank you for your valuable feedback

268
‫)‪Appendix 14: Interview participant information sheet (Arabic‬‬

‫‪Graduate School of Education‬‬

‫‪Researcher: Sawsan Al-Bakri‬‬

‫‪Email: [email protected]‬‬
‫‪Supervisor: Dr. Salah Troudi‬‬
‫‪Email: [email protected]‬‬

‫ورقح ٍعيوٍاخ اىَشارك – اىطاىة (ٍقاتيح)‬

‫ذأثٍر اىرعيٌٍ تاىيغح االّجيٍزٌح عيى ذجرتح اىطالب اىرعيٍٍَح و جودج اىرعيٌٍ فً االخرصاصاخ اىَخريفح فً ميٍح‬
‫ذقٍْح عيٍا تسيطْح عَاُ‬

‫اٌشعبء اٌّشبسوخ ف‪ِ ٟ‬شش‪ٚ‬ع اٌجؾش اٌز‪ ٞ‬ع‪١‬غزخذَ ف‪ ٟ‬سعبٌخ اٌذوز‪ٛ‬ساٖ‪ .‬اٌشعبء لشاءح ٘زٖ اٌ‪ٛ‬سلخ ‪ ٚ‬االعزفغبس لجً‬
‫ارخبر اٌمشاس ثبٌّشبسوخ ف‪٘ ٟ‬زا اٌجؾش‪.‬‬

‫اٌ‪ٙ‬ذف ِٓ ٘زٖ اٌذساعخ ٘‪ ٛ‬االطالع ػٍ‪ ٝ‬رغشثخ اٌطالة اٌزؼٍ‪١ّ١‬خ ف‪ ٟ‬االخزظبطبد اٌّخزٍفخ ف‪ ٟ‬وٍ‪١‬خ رمٕ‪١‬خ ػٍ‪١‬ب‬
‫ثغٍطٕ خ ػّبْ‪ ٌٛ .‬اخزشد اٌّشبسوخ ف‪٘ ٟ‬زٖ اٌذساعخ‪ ,‬ع‪١‬زُ اعشاء ِمبثٍخ رزشا‪ٚ‬ػ ِذر‪ٙ‬ب ث‪ 62-45 ٓ١‬دل‪١‬مخ ػٓ رغشثزه‬
‫اٌزؼٍ‪١ّ١‬خ ف‪ ٟ‬اٌىٍ‪١‬خ‪٠ ٌٓ ,‬زُ اٌؾىُ ػٍ‪ ٝ‬رغشثزه ال‪ ٞ‬عجت ِٓ االعجبة‪ّ٠ ,‬ىٓ اْ ‪٠‬زُ اعشاء ٘زٖ اٌّمبثٍخ ثبؽذ‪ ٜ‬اٌٍغز‪ٓ١‬‬
‫اٌؼشث‪١‬خ ا‪ ٚ‬االٔىٍ‪١‬ض‪٠‬خ ؽغت اخز‪١‬بسن‪ .‬ع‪١‬زُ رغغ‪ ً١‬اٌّمبثٍخ ط‪ٛ‬ر‪١‬ب‪ ٚ ,‬ع‪١‬طٍت ِٕه اؽضبس ثؼض اٌىزت اٌذساع‪١‬خ ‪ٚ‬‬
‫اٌ‪ٛ‬اعجبد اٌىزبث‪١‬خ اٌز‪ ٟ‬أغضر‪ٙ‬ب ‪ ٚ‬اٌّزؼٍمخ ثبخزظبطه‪.‬‬

‫ف‪ ٟ‬ؽبي اٌّ‪ٛ‬افمخ ػٍ‪ ٝ‬اٌّشبسوخ ثبٌذساعخ ع‪١‬طٍت ِٕه اٌز‪ٛ‬ل‪١‬غ ػٍ‪ ٝ‬اعزّبسح اٌّ‪ٛ‬افمخ‪ .‬اْ اٌّشبسوخ ف‪٘ ٟ‬زٖ اٌذساعخ‬
‫٘‪ ٛ‬لشاس ط‪ٛ‬ػ‪ ,ٟ‬وً اٌّؼٍ‪ِٛ‬بد اٌّمذِخ عزى‪ ْٛ‬عش‪٠‬خ ‪ ٚ‬ع‪١‬زُ اخفبء ٘‪٠ٛ‬خ اٌّشبسن‪ .‬اْ ٘‪٠ٛ‬خ اٌىٍ‪١‬خ عزى‪ِ ْٛ‬ؾّ‪١‬خ‬
‫ف‪ ٟ‬ؽبي رُ ٔشش اٌجؾش‪ .‬ف‪ ٟ‬ؽبي اٌّ‪ٛ‬افمخ ػٍ‪ ٝ‬اٌّشبسوخ ثبالِىبْ االٔغؾبة ف‪ ٟ‬ا‪ٚ ٞ‬لذ ثذ‪ ْٚ‬اػطبء ا‪ ٞ‬اعجبة ‪ٚ‬‬
‫رٌه ػٓ طش‪٠‬ك االرظبي ثبٌجبؽش ػٍ‪ ٝ‬اال‪ ً١ّ٠‬اٌّزو‪ٛ‬سعبثمب ف‪ ٟ‬اػٍ‪ ٝ‬اٌظفؾخ‪.‬‬

‫اْ اٌج‪١‬بٔبد اٌز‪ ٟ‬ع‪١‬زُ عّؼ‪ٙ‬ب لذ رٕشش‪ ٚ ,‬رغزخذَ ف‪ ٟ‬اٌّؾبضشاد ‪ ٚ‬اٌّؤرّشاد ‪ ٚ‬ؽٍمبد اٌجؾش‪ ِٓ ٚ ,‬اٌّّىٓ اسعبي‬
‫ٔغخخ ػٓ ٔز‪١‬غخ اٌجؾش ف‪ ٟ‬ؽبي اٌشغجخ ثزٌه‪.‬‬

‫شىشا ٌمشائزه ‪ٚ‬سلخ اٌّؼٍ‪ِٛ‬بد ٘زٖ‪ ٚ ,‬ف‪ ٟ‬ؽبي ‪ٚ‬ع‪ٛ‬د ا‪ ٞ‬اعزفغبساد اٌشعبء اٌز‪ٛ‬اطً ِغ اٌجبؽش ِٓ خالي اال‪ً١ّ٠‬‬
‫اٌّزو‪ٛ‬س ف‪ ٟ‬اػٍ‪ ٝ‬اٌظفؾخ‪.‬‬

‫‪269‬‬
Interview participant information sheet (English)

University of Exeter Graduate School of Education

Researcher: Sawsan Al-Bakri Supervisor: Dr. Salah Troudi

Email: [email protected] Email: s. [email protected]

Participant Information Sheet - Students

Effects of English medium instruction (EMI) on students’ learning experiences and

quality of education in content courses in a public college in Oman

You are kindly requested to take part in this research project which will be conducted
for a doctoral thesis. Please read this sheet and ask questions before you decide to give
your consent to participate.

The purpose of this study is to explore students’ learning experiences in content courses
through the English medium instruction in a public college in Oman. If you choose to
participate in this study, you will be interviewed for 45-60 minutes about your learning
experiences in this college. You will not be judged on any response. The interview can
be conducted in the language of your choice (Arabic or English) and will be audio
recorded. You will be asked to bring some of your course books and some written
assignment.

Your participation in this research is your decision and voluntary. If you decide to
participate you will be asked to sign a consent form. All information you provide will be
kept confidential and your identity will not be revealed. The identity of the college will
also be protected in any publication resulting from the research. If you decide to
participate, you can withdraw from the research at any time without giving a reason by
contacting the researcher under the email provided at the top of the information sheet
or consent form.

The data collected will be used for the doctoral thesis and may also be used for
publication, conference presentation or seminars. Upon your request, a copy of the
results could be sent to you.

Thank you for reading this information sheet. If you have any further questions, please
contact the researcher under the email provided at the top of the sheet.

270
Appendix 15: CONSENT FORM (Arabic version)

Graduate School of Education

‫اسرَارج اىَوافقح‬
‫ذأثٍر اىرعيٌٍ تاىيغح االّجيٍزٌح عيى ذجرتح اىطالب اىرعيٍٍَح و جودج اىرعيٌٍ فً االخرصاصاخ اىَخريفح فً ميٍح‬
ُ‫ذقٍْح عيٍا تعَا‬

.‫اضؼ ػٓ أ٘ذاف ٘برا اٌجؾش‬ٚ ً‫ ثشى‬ٟ‫ْ لذ رُ إثالغ‬ٛ‫ى‬٠ ،‫ِبد‬ٍٛ‫سلخ اٌّؼ‬ٚ ‫ػٕذ لشاءح‬
:ْ‫ٌمذ أػٍّذ ا‬

‫ أْ اطٍت‬ٚ ٟ‫ ِشؽٍخ عؾت ِشبسوز‬ٞ‫ ثب‬ٟٔ‫ ثبِىب‬،‫ اخزشد اٌّشبسوخ‬ٌٛ ٚ ،‫ ٘زا اٌجؾش‬ٟ‫ اوشاٖ ٌٍّشبسوخ ف‬ٞ‫عذ أ‬ٛ٠ ‫ال‬
.ٟ‫بٔبد اٌّمذِخ ِٓ طشف‬١‫ؽزف وبفخ اٌج‬

.ٟٕ‫ِبد ػ‬ٍٛ‫ ِؼ‬ٞ‫ ٔشش أ‬ٍٝ‫افك ػ‬ٚ‫ اٌؾك ثأال أ‬ٌٟ

ٚ ‫ اٌّؤرّشاد‬ٚ ‫ ِؾبضشاد‬ٟ‫ رغزؼًّ ف‬ٚ‫ ا‬،‫ لذ رٕشش‬ٟ‫اٌز‬ٚ ،‫ ٘زا اٌجؾش‬ٟ‫ب عزغزؼًّ فمظ ف‬ِٙ‫ ألذ‬ٟ‫ِبد اٌز‬ٍٛ‫اٌّؼ‬
.‫اد اٌجؾش‬ٚ‫ٔذ‬

.‫خ اٌّشبسن‬٠ٛ٘ ‫ إخفبء‬ٍٝ‫ اٌجؾش ِغ اٌؾفبظ ػ‬ٍٝ‫ٓ ػ‬١‫ب ِغ اٌّششف‬ٙ‫ لذ رزُ ِشبسوز‬،‫ب‬ِٙ‫ ألذ‬ٟ‫ِبد اٌز‬ٍٛ‫اٌّؼ‬

.‫خ‬٠‫ِبد عش‬ٍٛ‫ب ِؼ‬ٙٔ‫ أ‬ٍٝ‫ب ػ‬ٙ‫ِبد اٌّمذِخ عززُ ِؼبٍِز‬ٍٛ‫وً اٌّؼ‬

.‫خ اٌّشبسن‬٠ٛ٘ ‫ اخفبء‬ٍٟ‫َ اٌجبؽش ثىً االعشاءاد اٌّّىٕخ ٌٍؾفبظ ػ‬ٛ‫م‬١‫ع‬

........................................:‫خ‬٠‫اٌزبس‬ .................................. :‫غ اٌّشبسن‬١‫ل‬ٛ‫ر‬

......................................:‫اعُ اٌّشبسن‬

.‫ ٔغخخ ٌٍجبؽش‬ٚ ،‫ ٔغخخ ٌٍّشبسن‬،‫ٓ ِٓ ٘زٖ االعزّبسح‬١‫ش ٔغخز‬٠‫زُ رؾش‬١‫ع‬

5929 :‫ ثذاٌخ‬24473622 :‫سلُ ٘برف اٌجبؽش‬
:‫اطً ِغ‬ٛ‫ع اٌجؾش اٌشعبء اٌز‬ٚ‫ اعزفغبس ػٓ ِشش‬ٞ‫ٌّٕبلشخ أ‬
ٞ‫عٓ اٌجىش‬ٛ‫ ع‬:‫اٌجبؽش‬
[email protected] ٚ‫ أ‬[email protected] :ٟٔٚ‫ذ االٌىزش‬٠‫اٌجش‬
ٞ‫د‬ٚ‫ طالػ رش‬.‫ د‬:Exeter ‫ع اٌجؾش ِٓ عبِؼخ‬ٚ‫ ِشش‬ٍٝ‫اٌّششف ػ‬
[email protected] :ٟٔٚ‫ذ االٌىزش‬٠‫اٌجش‬
Data Protection Act: The University of Exeter is a data collector and is registered with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner
as required to do under the Data Protection Act 1998. The information you provide will be used for research purposes and will be
processed in accordance with the University’s registration and current data protection legislation. Data will be confidential to the
researcher(s) and will not be disclosed to any unauthorised third parties without further agreement by the participant. Reports based on
the data will be in anonymised form.

271
 CONSENT FORM (English version)

Effects of English medium instruction (EMI) on students’ learning experiences and quality
of education in content courses in a public college in Oman

Having read the information sheet, I have been fully informed about the aims and purposes of the
research project.

I understand that:

there is no compulsion for me to participate in this research project and, if I do

choose to participate, I may at any stage withdraw my participation and may request
that my data be destroyed

I have the right to refuse permission for the publication of any information about me

any information which I give will be used solely for the purposes of this research
project, which may include publications, conference presentations and seminars

If applicable, the information, which I give, may be shared with the thesis supervisor
of this research project in an anonymised form

all information I give will be treated as confidential

the researcher will make every effort to preserve my anonymity

............................…………… ................................
(Signature of participant ) (Date)

……………………
(Printed name of participant)

One copy of this form will be kept by the participant; a second copy will be kept by the
researcher

Contact phone number of researcher’s office: 24473600 (Extension 5909)

If you have any concerns about the project that you would like to discuss, please contact:

Researcher: Sawsan Al-Bakri; email: [email protected] or

[email protected]

OR
Supervisor of the research project at University of Exeter: Dr. Salah Troudi; email:
[email protected]

Data Protection Act: The University of Exeter is a data collector and is registered with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner
as required to do under the Data Protection Act 1998. The information you provide will be used for research purposes and will be
processed in accordance with the University’s registration and current data protection legislation. Data will be confidential to the
researcher(s) and will not be disclosed to any unauthorised third parties without further agreement by the participant. Reports based on
the data will be in anonymised form.

272
 Appendix 16: Student questionnaire results

agreeme
disagree

disagree

strongly
strongly

decided
disagree

agree

agree
un-
Statements 1-18

nt
ment
1. Learning through English can improve my English
0.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 98.2 28.7 69.5
language proficiency.
2. Scientific subjects should be taught in English. 2.1 6.4 8.5 17.1 74.1 42.8 31.5
3. I believe that all subjects should be taught in
21.6 39.2 59.1 20.7 17.4 9.4 8.5
Arabic at this college.
4. English is more important than Arabic in
18.8 18.5 36.3 27.1 33.8 20.4 14.4
education.
5. I need to study in English to get a good job. 0.9 2.2 3.0 7.3 88.1 35.3 54.2
6. Learning through English will affect my ability to
19.3 38.2 57.3 17.1 25.3 15.3 10.1
use standard Arabic (fus’ha).
7. Beside English, I need Arabic in my future job. 1.2 4.3 5.5 14.9 78.7 45.5 33.8
8. Some subjects should be taught in Arabic at this
7.5 10.3 17.4 20.4 59.5 38.9 22.3
college.
9. I feel comfortable speaking English in class. 2.2 13.6 15.5 25.3 57.9 38.0 20.7
10. I rarely participate in class out of fear to make
mistakes in speaking English in front of my 13.8 23.0 36.6 18.6 44.2 31.0 13.5
classmates.
11. Sometimes I do not understand what the
9.8 23.9 33.5 15.2 50.6 39.9 11.0
teachers say in class.
12. I usually ask questions in class when I do not
3.8 11.3 14.6 21.3 61.0 47.2 15.7
understand.
13. I can easily take notes in English during the
3.1 8.6 11.6 16.2 71.0 46.9 25.0
class.
14. I feel comfortable asking my content teachers
3.1 11.3 14.3 22.6 62.8 38.2 24.8
(non-Arabic speakers) questions outside class.
15. My English listening skills have improved
0.6 3.7 4.3 7.3 88.4 43.3 45.1
because all classes are in English.
16. I feel that my English language is not good
8.9 28.6 37.2 22.0 39.9 28.6 11.7
enough to study in English.
17. I ask my friends to explain if I do not
5.5 8.9 14.3 11.0 74.4 45.9 28.7
understand what the teacher says.
18. My content teachers re-explain if students do
2.8 4.9 7.6 15.5 76.2 46.9 29.8
not understand.

273
 agreeme
disagree

disagree

strongly
strongly

decided
disagree

agree

agree
un-
Statements 19-37

nt
ment
19. I need to translate many words into Arabic to
2.5 13.3 15.5 14.0 69.2 38.6 31.5
understand the course material.
20. I have to do a lot of reading in English for my
0.6 2.8 3.4 9.8 86.0 47.7 39.1
study.
21. My reading skills have improved because I
0.9 1.8 2.7 7.6 89.0 38.0 51.5
study in English.
22. I find it difficult to understand technical
3.7 19.0 22.6 30.5 46.6 35.2 11.6
vocabulary.
23. My friends help me to understand the course
1.5 6.2 7.6 19.2 72.3 48.6 24.3
material.
24. Our content teachers spend a lot of time
16.3 34.5 50.3 29.9 18.9 16.3 2.8
explaining vocabulary.
25. I try to expand my knowledge through reading
3.1 10.7 13.7 27.1 58.8 44.6 14.4
resources related to my study in English.
26. I stop reading when I do not understand the
17.7 32.1 49.7 21.0 29.0 21.4 7.6
text.
27. I find it difficult to understand long English
5.2 20.5 25.6 25.9 48.2 34.9 13.5
texts.
28. Reading in English is difficult because my
21.1 36.1 57.0 22.3 20.4 15.6 4.9
grammar is weak.
29. I try to guess the meaning of words from the
context without translating them into the Arabic 4.3 11.0 15.2 16.5 68.3 56.1 12.2
language.
30. I make sure I understand every word in the
0.9 12.6 13.4 18.6 67.4 46.6 21.2
text.
31. Writing is an important skill in my
2.5 8.9 11.0 18.0 67.4 38.9 31.0
specialisation.
32. Because my technical vocabulary is weak I find
it difficult to do a writing assignment in my 7.8 33.5 20.2 23.2 33.8 26.3 8.5
specialisation.
33. When I write in English I make grammar
1.8 13.5 15.2 22.6 61.9 43.4 18.7
mistakes.
34. My content teacher is more concerned about
the content of my assignment than the correctness 4.9 15.0 19.8 29.3 50.6 33.6 17.1
of my English language.
35. When I have to write an assignment in my
specialisation, I often copy sentences/paragraphs
13.2 33.2 46.0 25.0 28.0 24.3 4.0
from the internet because my English language is
weak.
36. My writing skills have improved because I have
1.5 5.8 7.3 19.5 73.2 48.5 24.7
to write a lot of assignments in my specialisation.
37. My content teachers help me improve my
6.7 20.6 27.1 25.9 46.3 34.7 12.0
writing skills through correcting my mistakes.

274
 Agreeme
disagree

disagree

strongly
strongly

decided
disagree

agree

agree
Statements 38-49

un-

nt
ment
38. I always make spelling mistakes when I write in
3.1 15.0 18.0 22.6 59.1 41.0 18.3
English.
39. I can express myself clearly in writing in English.
4.0 17.0 20.7 28.7 49.4 40.4 9.6

40. I find it difficult to write in English because I do

8.8 31.4 40.2 25.3 34.5 25.9 8.5
not know a lot of vocabulary.
41. I always ask my friends to check my written
16.7 36.4 52.4 24.4 22.0 17.0 5.2
assignments for mistakes.
42. I ask someone from outside the college to
25.7 33.0 58.5 12.2 29.0 21.7 7.3
support me in my writing projects.
43. Because my writing is weak, I first write in
32.7 29.7 62.2 14.0 23.5 15.6 8.0
Arabic and then translate it into English.
44. Because my English is weak, I get low grades.
30.0 34.6 64.3 18.6 16.8 11.6 5.2

45. My GPA would be higher if the courses were

19.9 12.8 32.0 19.5 46.3 17.1 30.2
taught in Arabic.
46. Sometimes I do not answer correctly in the
exam because I do not understand the question in 13.2 20.9 33.8 19.2 46.3 28.8 17.8
English.
47. It is important to study in English even if I get
2.4 5.8 41.2 13.1 78.4 41.9 36.7
low grades.
48. I would spend less time studying the content if
14.6 15.5 30.2 21.0 48.8 20.7 28.0
it were in Arabic.
49. I memorise the content in order to pass quizzes
6.7 11.0 17.7 19.5 62.8 36.6 26.2
and exams.

275
Appendix 17: Example of an interview transcription – Hussam

S: How do you feel about studying in English at this college?

H: I feel a bit anxious because English is the first obstacle in our study. If our
English language is good then our study becomes easy and we pass easily. But
if English is weak, it becomes an obstacle and we face a lot of difficulties: How to
communicate with teachers, how to understand the material – so there are a lot
of problems. Because of this we need to improve our language [English]. How
can we solve this problem? Through learning English in different ways.

S: So do you think it is important to learn in English?

H: Nowadays English has become important in our lives. If you don‟t know
English you‟ll face many problems in your life. How are you going to
communicate with people? Our life has become all English. If we don‟t know
English we‟ll find it difficult to communicate with people while travelling or work.
Even for employment in the public sector, the most important factor is English.
Therefore, English is dominant over the Arabic language and therefore we have
to learn English in order to be prepared for our future.

S: Do you think that while studying in English your English language will
improve?

H: For sure because if we practice every day, after a while English will become
easy. Before, our study was all in Arabic [in school]. Then, after we joined the
college there was a big difference between Arabic and English but after a while
your English will improve because we have to communicate with the teachers
and we have to search for information and read books – so the language will
improve. But of course this also depends on the person. If the person wants to
learn then nothing is difficult. If one is determined there will be no obstacles. For
me, I started foundation in a different college. I just joined this college because
my specialisation “Applied sciences” wasn‟t available there. I faced a lot of
difficulties when I started the certificate here. In my previous college everything
was easy but when I joined this college everything was different: rules and
regulations, exams and teachers. The first and second semester I faced a lot of
difficulties. I was about to leave my study but studying and getting a degree is
very important so I decided to continue and to defeat these obstacles. I‟m in my
second year of study but I‟m still in certificate – but in the last semester. I‟m
behind because I failed some subjects and I dropped others and I interrupted my
study for a term and so on.

276
S: I see. Do you think that your language has improved since you started
studying in college?

H: For sure it has improved. I couldn‟t confront any person, couldn‟t speak in
English but now I can; not with great confidence but I can even if it‟s with one
word English and one word Arabic. But I have the intention to improve my
English language so that it becomes very good in the coming years, Inshallah
[With God‟s will].

S: In which skill has your language improved most?

H: Speaking skills, mostly speaking. I still have a problem in writing and listening.
But speaking has become the easiest skill for me.

S: What about reading?

H: Reading is good.

S: When you finished foundation did you think you were ready for studying in
English?

H: I was very afraid, I was worried and anxious. How can I study in English?
English is difficult. I used to be scared. Now I‟m still worried but less than before.

S: Since you are studying in English – which is not your first language – do you
have to make any extra effort while studying?

H: In order to improve my English?

S: No, I mean in studying your specialisation because you are not studying in
Arabic. Perhaps you need to make an effort that would not be needed if your
study were in Arabic. For example, when you attend a lecture, do you understand
everything?

H: No, I don‟t understand everything. When the lecturer speaks I understand

some parts, the easy ones, but not all and it happens that most of it I don‟t
understand. But it‟s my duty to go to the dorm and to revise what we studied
today and if I don‟t understand I need to ask the teacher before the next class.
My problem was that I didn‟t revise my lessons and when I attended a new class.
I felt lost. But I solved this problem by preparing the lesson which we‟re going to
take so when the teacher explains I already have an idea.

S: Isn’t this an extra effort?

277
H: Yes, in Arabic I wouldn‟t need to make this effort. I would understand
immediately.

S: What do you do when you do not understand something?

H: I ask my friends. For example, today I told my friend that the final exam is
close and that there are still some parts that I didn‟t understand and I asked him
if he could find some time outside the college and he agreed and said he‟ll call
me. In this case I waste time and it could be that by the time he calls I have
family commitments but I have to sacrifice in order to understand.

S: Do you have to make an extra effort while reading?

H: When I read I come across new words so I need to translate. This needs effort
and time. I also need the internet but sometimes the net is down so I need to
check with a dictionary and this takes a lot of time – it takes time to find the
meaning of the word in a dictionary.

S: Can you explain how you translate – every word or some words?

H: This depends. For example, I have a text where I don‟t understand some
words so I translate these words. But if I don‟t understand a whole lesson, then I
translate it completely. This can be easily done with the mobile. I take a picture of
the text and translate the whole text with google translate into Arabic. Like this I
get a clearer picture and I can go to the next lesson.

S: When you attend a class, what do you usually do?

H: This differs from lecture to lecture. When I find it interesting and I understand
at least part of it I listen. But when I don‟t understand and if it‟s boring, then I lose
concentration and sometimes I use my mobile especially if the lecturer allows the
use of mobile. In this case I leave the class without having understood anything.

S: This actually happened to you?

H: Yes, this happened more than once. If the lesson is interesting and easy for
sure I‟m with the teacher with all my senses.

S: Do you take notes during class?

H: Yes, at the end of my notebook I leave some pages and I write down notes. I
check them every day. Also, I note down if there is something that I didn‟t
understand.

278
S: You told me that sometimes you don’t understand a lecture. Can you tell me
why?

H: The first reason is the English language. This is the main reason. Also the
teacher plays a role - when the teacher speaks fast. As you know we‟re
beginners in English so it‟s difficult to understand. Also, teachers with certain
nationalities pronounce the words differently. You think they‟re new words but
they just pronounce them differently and this makes it more difficult to understand
the lecture.

S: Do teachers usually explain the meaning of some words?

H: I had a teacher who explained many words even if I didn‟t ask about them.
This teacher translated everything. But others just explain in a superficial way.
Their main concern is to finish the syllabus. One of the subjects I had to repeat 3
times. Twice I failed because the teacher was not supportive even in the English
language. But the third time I passed because I felt very confident in the teacher
and the explanation and the language she used. I passed with a very good grade
- I got an A. This teacher was an Omani teacher.

S: Do you feel more comfortable with an Omani or an Arabic speaking teacher

than a non-native Arabic speaker?

H: In my situation I feel more comfortable when the teacher is of my nationality or

explains in Arabic because if I don‟t understand something and I want to ask the
teacher then the non-Arab teacher will explain in English but the Arab teacher
can explain in Arabic so I can understand.

S: In case you have a question during a lecture, do you ask the teacher?

H: No, I don‟t ask. I get afraid; only if the teacher is an Arab. I had a Syrian
teacher. I used to ask her in Arabic and she used to respond in Arabic. But if the
teacher doesn‟t speak Arabic I find it difficult to ask. I imagine how he‟ll respond
in English and I don‟t understand. If the student knows English then no problem
but in my case – I don‟t understand English well, it‟s difficult.

S: So how do you feel during a lecture?

H: I feel 100% comfortable when the teacher speaks Arabic but if the teacher
speaks only English I feel confused. I feel afraid.

S: If you do not ask the teacher a question, who supports you when you need
help?

279
H: My friends or classmates. If my friend also doesn‟t know then I ask a friend,
whose English is good, to go and ask the teacher and then he explains to me in
Arabic.

S: Is the difficulty of your subjects just related to the English language or also to
the content?

H: The content plays a role. There are subjects we have to memorise. Such
subjects cause fear and confusion. This needs daily effort. For example we have
a subject called biology. This subject depends on memorisation - it doesn‟t
depend on understanding – in contrast to other subjects like mathematic which is
easy. But when you have to memorise word for word and in English this is
difficult. During the exam we sometimes have to write a whole paragraph- 3-4
lines copy/paste from the book.

S: With such kind of questions you face difficulties then.

H: Not only that. I might not even respond. I understand the question but how to
write the answer in English. In Arabic I would know how to answer but how to
formulate it in English?

S: Is there anything that you don’t like about a lecture or wish that it would be
different?

H: How?

S: During a lecture, would you like the teacher to teach in a different way?

H: There is no special method I think. It depends on the teacher. But with the
power-point, things can be explained in a clearer way.

S: So you like the use of the power-point.

H: Yes, and there is the summary. Today we finished a chapter. I like it when the
teacher revises the chapter before going on with the next chapter. This teacher
orally revises the chapter. I feel comfortable when the teacher does that. This is
nice.

S: That’s it? Is there anything else?

H: No, only power-point and summary. But also it‟s good if the teacher gives us
home work from time to time and then checks it in the next class. You have to
solve the problem on your own, so you have to depend on yourself – you have to
make an effort. If the teacher doesn‟t give us homework you leave the book and
just bring it to the next class. I mean you might not even open the book.

280
S: I see. At home, is there anybody who could help you if you need any support?

H: At home there is my uncle. He‟s an English teacher. But I don‟t go to him

immediately. First I try to understand on my own. I might ask a friend or check
other resources. If I still don‟t understand then I ask him and he explains.

S: In regard to reading, do you have to read something other than your handout?

H: Yes, 2 weeks ago the teacher asked us to go to the library and borrow a book
and to read part of it because this book is related to our handout. So my friend
and I – we had to work in pairs – went to the library and summarised the
information. The aim of this activity was just to encourage us to get information
from other resources.

S: Could you read the text without translation?

H: Without translation? No, we couldn‟t. I can understand the handout now

because the lessons are related but when it‟s a new book I need to translate.

S: How did you translate the text?

H: With a translater [a digital device] and then we summarised it on our own.

Actually my friend wrote the summary. He took it home and organised
everything.

S: Do you find such an activity useful?

H: Yes, because it forces you to read resources other than the handout.

S: Now we come to writing. What do you think is more difficult – reading or

writing?

H: Writing.

S: Do you have to do writing assignments in your specialisation?

H: So far no. But I heard that in the second year we have to write some kind of
research.

S: If you are required to write a paragraph, would you be able to write it on your
own?

H: If it‟s homework I could because I could consult other resources but in an

exam I might leave it blank. I hand in a blank paper.

S: During exams, do you face some kind of difficulties?

281
H: Of course – and of several kinds. Either I know the answer but I don‟t know
how to write or that I understand the question but don‟t know the answer.

S: Did it happen that you did not understand the question?

H: Yes, several times. If this happens during the mid – or final exam then the
teacher says it‟s not allowed to respond to questions but if it‟s a quiz I can ask
the teacher,

S: What do you do in this case? I mean when you don’t understand?

H: What should I do? I leave it blank and hand in my paper. There are a lot of
difficulties during exams more than during revision because in the exam, I cannot
consult other resources such as a dictionary or a friend; just your brain and the
paper.

S: Are you content with your performance so far?

H: Yes, I‟m content. Because I was at a stage where I didn‟t know anything in
English, zero, but if I want to evaluate myself I would say 4 out of 10. A little bit
and I will reach a good level. Today I got 7 out of 10 in a quiz. This isn‟t a top
grade but I made an effort and studied and I‟m content. But during the mid-
semester exam I got a bad grade although I studied hard. For 2 days I studied. I
almost fainted when I saw my grade, it was very low. I dropped the subject.

S: Did your teacher provide you with feedback on your performance during the
exam?

H: I didn‟t ask the teacher but the teacher shows us our papers and I understood.
All parts related to writing were wrong such as "explain" or "clarify". True/false
questions and multiple choice questions were no problem.

S: Do you think that your subjects in your specialisations could be taught in

Arabic?

H: You mean in Arabic? Yes, possible but in our society they don‟t accept it.
They don‟t want the Arabic language now, they want English. But it could be
taught in Arabic, of course.

S: If your study were in Arabic, how would this affect your experience at this
college?

H: I think my grades would be much higher because it would be easy – there is

no great effort – you just need to study. It might be enough to study just before
the exam but now you have to revise every day. If you don‟t revise then studying

282
will become problematic. In Arabic it would be easy. You also don‟t have to
revise before the lesson because I can understand what the teacher says. Not
only that. We Omanis, we would accept studying in Arabic more than studying in
English. There are many students who dropped their study – they dropped out of
college. They dropped out of their study because they don‟t have enough English
knowledge; they had a lot of problems. Many of my friends dropped out.

S: So you actually know students who dropped out?

H: I know many of them – more than 10 people. I know them very well. They are
very good friends and we go out together but they dropped out. Not because the
subjects were difficult – because the study in English is too difficult. They wanted
to have a certificate but they just couldn‟t cope with the English language.

S: What are they doing now?

H: They are working – some joined the Army others the police and some didn‟t
find a job until now. I was one of the people who couldn‟t accept to study in
English, but I wanted a certificate. I need it for my future so I became determined
to overcome the difficulties of studying in English.

S: Again, if your study were in Arabic, how would your learning experience be
different? Could you elaborate a bit more?

H: First, I wouldn‟t need to make a great effort. I would feel much more relaxed. If
I have a question, I would feel comfortable to ask. Whenever I go to college I
would feel comfortable. If I meet a person I would feel comfortable because if we
talk it would be in Arabic, my own language. Another thing, it would save me a lot
of time and effort. I would understand much better without making a great effort.
Also revising for the exam wouldn‟t be a problem. I would be very happy.

S: What could the college do to improve the learning experience of students?

H: I believe the college should create a center for students to get support in
Arabic. Students who face difficulties in their study could go there to ask
questions in Arabic and teachers could explain in Arabic. Also the college should
follow the weak students. Perhaps the students have family problems or health
problems. When they follow up this would provide the students with comfort
because this shows that the college supports the students. If not, then the
students feel frustrated.

S. Would you like to add anything about this issue?

H. No, thanks. I think I said everything I wanted to say.
S: Thank you so much for the interesting interview.

283
Appendix 18: Classroom observation analysis
a) Initial classroom observation coding

No Name of node Sources References

1 Clarification question 13 23
2 Teaching style 11 17
3 Use of mobile 10 17
4 Following coursebooks 9 11
5 Taking notes 9 15
6 Responding collectivey 9 13
7 Reflection 9 9

8 Showing understanding 8 15
9 Participating 8 12
10 Teacher talk 8 13
11 Silent students 8 11
12 Relaxed atmosphere 8 13
13 Peer support 7 16
14 Powerpoint presentation 6 6
15 Stressful atmosphere 6 11
16 Comprehension check 6 8
17 Peer work 4 4
18 Responding to question 4 4
19 Lack of interest 4 5
20 Copying from board 3 8
21 Concentration 3 4
22 Focus on content 3 4
23 Assigning a task 3 4
24 responding individually 3 3
25 Feedback 3 4

284
 26 Fast speech 2 3
27 memorising 2 3
28 T Asking about meaning 2 4
29 material 2 2
30 Confusion 1 2
31 No interest 1 3
32 Teacher feedback 1 1
33 Referencing 1 1
34 video 1 1
35 Confidence 1 1
36 Explaining vocabulary 2 1

37 Language proficiency 1 2

Tagged 274 times

b) Linking of revised nodes to potential themes

No Name of node Sources References Potential themes

33 Referencing 1 1 writing
17 Peer work 4 4 support
13 Peer support 7 16 support
29 material 2 2 reading in class
35 Confidence 1 1 psychological impact
31 No interest 1 3 psychological impact
30 Confusion 1 2 psychological impact
19 Lack of interest 4 5 psychological impact
15 Stressful atmosphere 6 11 psychological impact
12 Relaxed atmosphere 8 13 psychological impact

285
11 Silent students 8 11 psychological impact
24 responding individually 3 3 proficiency
37 Language proficiency 1 2 proficiency
language
25 Feedback 3 4 improvement
language
36 Explaining vocabulary 1 1 improvement
language
32 Teacher feedback 1 1 improvement
21 Concentration 3 4 extra effort
34 video 1 1 delivery
22 Focus on content 3 4 delivery
Powerpoint
14 presentation 6 6 delivery
T Asking about
28 meaning 2 4 Comprehension
26 Fast speech 2 3 comprehension
Responding to
18 question 4 4 comprehension
16 Comprehension check 6 8 comprehension
10 Teacher talk 8 13 comprehension
Showing
8 understanding 8 15 comprehension
3 Use of mobile 10 17 comprehension
2 Teaching style 11 17 comprehension
20 Copying from board 3 8 class activity
9 Participating 8 12 class activity
6 Responding collectivey 9 13 class activity
5 Taking notes 9 15 class activity
4 Following coursebooks 9 11 class activity
1 Clarification question 13 23 class activity
academic
27 memorising 2 3 performance

286
c) Hierarchies of classroom observation nodes

Hierarchies of classroom observation nodes (continued)

287
Appendix 19: Full interview data analysis

a) Nvivo word frequency (50 words) to inform possible nodes (Word cloud
view)

(Tree map view)

288
b) Text search for the word “translate” (summary view)

Text search for the word “translate” (reference view)

289
c) Coding interview transcripts (page view - Aref)

d) Overview coding frequency (Aref)

290
e) Code summary sheet for the node “Teacher language”

<Internals\\Interview transcripts\\Ali> - § 2 references coded [3.08% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 1.80% Coverage

Because the teachers don’t know English well so we learn it in a wrong way. This is the
only disadvantage about learning in English. Some teachers have poor English
pronunciation and we notice that and this could affect us in a negative way.

Reference 2 - 1.28% Coverage

When they want to teach us in English at least the teacher should be competent to teach
in correct English. The problem is that the teacher doesn’t know that he is wrong.

<Internals\\Interview transcripts\\Amer> - § 1 reference coded [3.15% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 3.15% Coverage

Also, the accent of the teacher plays a role. For example the accent of Indian teachers is
different from the accent of Omani teachers. We have a big problem here at college with
the accent of Indian teachers. Their accent is “weak”. They mispronounce many words.
This is a common problem in our department. There are a lot of Indian teachers. Also,
they speak very fast. Only some make an effort to slow down.

<Internals\\Interview transcripts\\Aref> - § 2 references coded [3.30% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.32% Coverage

One of the teachers was talking very fast

Reference 2 - 2.99% Coverage

Of course, when teachers speak clearly and slowly it’s much easier for students to
understand.

Some make an effort and speak slowly and clearly but others don’t. I think they assume
that we should know after all these years studying English at school.

<Internals\\Interview transcripts\\Azhaar> - § 1 reference coded [0.67% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.67% Coverage

but with other teachers who come from India for example I didn’t understand anything.

<Internals\\Interview transcripts\\Hussam> - § 2 references coded [2.13% Coverage]

291
Reference 1 - 0.85% Coverage

Also the teacher plays a role - when the teacher speaks fast. As you know we are
beginners in English so it’s difficult to understand.

Reference 2 - 1.29% Coverage

Also, teachers with certain nationalities pronounce the words differently. You think they
are new words but they just pronounce them differently and this makes it more difficult
to understand the lecture.

<Internals\\Interview transcripts\\Lamia> - § 4 references coded [6.98% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.33% Coverage

Sometimes the teacher speaks fast.

Reference 2 - 5.15% Coverage

Also the problem is that sometimes teachers teach us something wrong. For example,
they pronounce words differently and then when we use it the other teacher asks us who
taught you this? In foundation especially teachers taught us wrong pronunciation but also
here in our specialisation. This shouldn’t happen because we need to learn the correct
pronunciation not the wrong one. Also, teachers need to know that we are still learning so
they should have more patience. It’s not our fault if they have some problems and they
are upset. They should have more patience.

Reference 3 - 1.16% Coverage

They should bring teachers who can pronounce correctly so that we can learn what is
correct and not that we learn something wrong

Reference 4 - 0.33% Coverage

Sometimes the teachers speak too fast

<Internals\\Interview transcripts\\Mariam> - § 1 reference coded [4.38% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 4.38% Coverage

Yes, this happens a lot especially when the teacher doesn’t have the ability to speak well
in English. As you know, how the lecturers speak differs from one country to another. It
takes a while before we get used to it. Also, sometimes we know a word in English but

292
the teacher pronounces it wrong so we misunderstand and it takes time till we get used to
it.

<Internals\\Interview transcripts\\Nadia> - § 3 references coded [3.21% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 1.71% Coverage

There is. When the teacher comes from a different nationality like Indian, I do not
understand a single word. This is not English but this is Hindish. The teacher explains
from a slide so I have to enter e-learning to download the slide and I study it all over
again. As if it is self-study. I teach myself.

Reference 2 - 0.42% Coverage

He usually speaks fast, very fast, but when they repeat, he speaks slower.

Reference 3 - 1.07% Coverage

Speaking fast and pronunciation of some letters – they pronounce them differently. When
the teacher speaks I try to catch a word but I can’t. From a whole sentence I cannot
understand a word.

<Internals\\Interview transcripts\\Safaa> - § 1 reference coded [0.51% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.51% Coverage

Not any kind of interaction – even his voice is very low.

<Internals\\Interview transcripts\\Salim> - § 3 references coded [2.51% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.27% Coverage

he used to explain very fast and gave us many examples.

Reference 2 - 0.94% Coverage

Also, some teachers do not pronounce the words in a proper way. Some teachers
pronounce words differently depending on their accent. This makes it more difficult for
students to understand.

Reference 3 - 1.29% Coverage

Yes, it happens very often. Although these teachers have a doctor title but I do not know
how it happens that they pronounce words very different from the original pronunciation.
This makes it more difficult to understand because you do not know what he means.

293
f) Initial interview coding

No Name of nodes Sources References

1 Accepted EMI 2 2
2 Arab teachers 5 6
3 Asking for support 10 18
4 Asking questions 4 5
5 Attitude AMI 14 25
6 Class activity 12 17
7 College improvement 11 14
8 College support 5 5
9 Comprehending lecture 9 12
10 Comprehending subjects 1 1
11 EMI improves English 10 13
12 Exam problems 13 20
13 Extra effort 13 26
14 Feedback 12 27
15 Focus on content 3 3
16 Focus on language 1 2
17 Foundation 7 8
18 Importance of Arabic 2 2
19 Improvement of language 12 30
20 Justification for EMI 5 8
21 Language strength 3 3
22 Language weakness 3 4
23 Learning experience in AMI 13 28
24 Memorizing 8 15
25 Need for English 6 9
26 Negative aspect of EMI 6 9

294
27 Resistance EMI 4 10
28 Positive attitude EMI 10 26
29 Post foundation courses 2 2
30 Psychological impact 3 11
31 Quantity vs quality 5 6
32 Readiness for EMI 11 13
33 Reading difficulty 11 15
34 Reading general 4 4
35 Reading material 13 17
36 Reading strategies 5 7
37 Satisfaction 11 14
38 Student view on feedback 4 6
39 Studying difficulties 1 1
40 Teacher evaluation 5 5
41 Teacher language 8 17
42 Teacher origin 3 3
43 Teacher support 8 11
44 Teaching style 9 12
45 Translation strategies 13 30
46 Writing assignment 12 18
47 Writing problems 11 13
48 Writing strategies 11 23

Tagged 576 times

295
g) Tagging frequencies of interview nodes

No Name of nodes Sources References

19 Improvement of language 12 30
45 Translation strategies 13 30
Learning experience in
23 AMI 13 28
14 Feedback 12 27
13 Extra effort 13 26
28 Positive attitude EMI 10 26
5 Attitude AMI 14 25
48 Writing strategies 11 23
12 Exam problems 13 20
3 Asking for support 10 18
46 Writing assignment 12 18
6 Class activity 12 17
35 Reading material 13 17
41 Teacher language 8 17
24 Memorizing 8 15
33 Reading difficulty 11 15
7 College improvement 11 14
37 Satisfaction 11 14
11 EMI improves English 10 13
32 Readiness for EMI 11 13
47 Writing problems 11 13
9 Comprehending lecture 9 12
44 Teaching style 9 12
30 Psychological impact 3 11
43 Teacher support 8 11

296
27 Negative EMI 4 10
25 Need for English 6 9
26 Negative aspect of EMI 6 9
17 Foundation 7 8
20 Justification for EMI 5 8
36 Reading strategies 5 7
2 Arab teachers 5 6
31 Quantity vs quality 5 6
38 Student view on feedback 4 6
4 Asking questions 4 5
8 College support 5 5
40 Teacher evaluation 5 5
22 Language weakness 3 4
34 Reading general 4 4
15 Focus on content 3 3
21 Language strenght 3 3
42 Teacher origin 3 3
1 Accepted EMI 2 2
16 Focus on language 1 2
18 Importance of Arabic 2 2
29 Post foundation courses 2 2
10 Comprehending subjects 1 1
39 Studying difficulties 1 1

297
h) Collating revised nodes to possible themes

No Name of nodes Sources References Themes

1 Positive attitude EMI 10 26 Attitude EMI
2 Accepted EMI 2 2 Attitude EMI
3 EMI improves English 10 13 EMI enhances language
4 Justification for EMI 5 8 Need for English
5 Importance of English 6 9 Need for English
6 Importance of Arabic 2 2 Attitude AMI
7 Attitude AMI 14 25 Attitude Ami
8 Negative aspect of EMI 6 9 Negative attitude EMI
9 Negative EMI 4 10 Negative attitude EMI
10 Language strength 3 3 Readiness for EMI
11 Language weakness 3 4 Readiness for EMI
12 student proficiency 11 13 Readiness for EMI
Improvement of
13 Foundation 7 8 language
Post foundation Improvement of
14 courses 2 2 language
Improvement of Improvement of
15 language 12 30 language
16 Teacher language 8 17 Comprehending lecture
17 Teacher origin 3 3 Comprehending lecture
Understanding the
18 lecture 9 12 Comprehending lecture
19 Arab teachers 5 6 Arab teachers
20 Class activity 12 17 Interaction
21 Asking for support 10 18 extra effort
22 taking notes 13 26 extra effort
23 Asking questions 4 5 psychological impact
24 bored 3 11 psychological impact
25 Reading material 13 17 reading materials
26 Reading general 4 4 reading materials
298
 Reading online
27 reading from internet 10 17 resources
28 Teaching style 9 12 Reading in class
29 Reading difficulty 11 15 reading difficulties
30 Reading strategies 5 7 reading strategies
31 Translation strategies 13 30 reading strategies
32 Writing assignment 12 18 writing assignment
33 Focus on content 8 9 Focus on content
34 Teacher evaluation 5 5 Focus on content
35 Writing strategies 11 23 writing strategies
36 Writing problems 11 13 Writing difficulties
37 Feedback 12 27 Teacher feedback
Student view on
38 feedback 4 6 Teacher feedback
39 Exam problems 13 20 Performance in exams
40 Memorizing 8 15 Performance in exams
Satisfaction with
41 Satisfaction 11 14 performance
Learning experience in Expected performance
42 AMI 13 28 in AMI
43 College support 5 5 Student input
44 Teacher support 8 11 student input
45 College improvement 11 14 student input

299
i) Linking themes to areas of research questions

Areas of research
No Themes Sources References questions
1 Teacher pronunciation 9 19 learning experience
2 Readiness for EMI 11 15 learning experience
3 Psychological impact 7 17 learning experience
4 Language improvement 13 38 learning experience
5 Extra effort 13 25 learning experience
6 Comprehending lecture 10 13 learning experience
7 Class activity 11 15 learning experience
8 Asking for support 10 17 learning experience
9 Arab teachers 4 5 learning experience
academic
10 Satisfaction 13 25 performance
academic
11 Memorizing 8 16 performance
academic
12 Exam problems 13 20 performance
academic
13 College improvement 14 20 performance
14 Negative EMI 3 6 policy
15 Need for English 10 17 policy
16 EMI improves English 10 12 policy
17 Attitude EMI 11 24 policy
18 AMI 14 65 policy
19 Reading strategies 13 35 reading
20 Reading material 13 20 reading
21 Reading in class 8 11 reading
22 Reading difficulties 11 15 reading
23 Writing strategies 11 22 writing
24 writing problems 10 12 writing
25 Writing assignments 12 17 writing
26 Student view on feedback 4 6 writing
27 Feedback 13 31 writing

300
j) Hierarchies of interview nodes

Hierarchies of interview nodes (continued)

301
 Appendix 20: Synthesizing data analysis and linkage to research question
areas

Research
Interview themes Classroom observation themes Q. items question
areas
1 Attitude EMI
EMI improves
2
English
Eng teacher explains that EMI is necessary
3 1-7, 48 policy
Need for English for Eng
4 AMI
5 Negative EMI
Teacher
6
pronunciation unclear occasionally and mispronunciation
7 Readiness for EMI students' responses to teacher's question
lack of confidence/ lack of interest/
stressful atmosphere /silent
Psychological students/confusion
8
impact
feeling bored
use of mobile
Teacher's comment on written feedback
Language Teachers oral feedback
9
improvement
focus on content
Explaining vocabulary 11, 12, 14, quality of
15, 16, 21, learning
peer support/communicating with friends
10 Extra effort 24, 36 experience
concentration / checking meaning of words
Showing understanding /ability to respond to
questions
Comprehending Fast speech (teacher)
11
lecture
Comprehension check
Teacher talk
following coursebook and powerpoint
12 Class activity copying from board / listening / concentrating
taking notes
13 Asking for support peers and rarely teachers
14 Arab teachers explain occasionally vocabulary

302
15 Reading material handout
16 Reading difficulties vocabulary 19,20, 22,
Teacher reading in class / focus on content 23, 25, 27, reading
17 Reading in class 28, 29, 30
powerpoint presentation
18 Reading strategies
19 Writing strategies
20 writing problems Students' problems with referencing 31, 32, 33,
21 Writing assignments 34, 35. 37,
writing
38, 40, 41,
Student view on 43
22
feedback
23 Feedback Teacher's comment on feedback
students worried and upset because they
24 Exam problems
have to attend the last week before the exam
25 Satisfaction academic
45,46,47,49
26 Memorizing performance
students have to memorise information
College
27
improvement

303
Appendix 21: Certificate of ethical approval from University of Exeter

304
Appendix 22: Sample of note-taking strategy

305
Appendix 23: Writing sample Ali (Photography, certificate level)

All the images I saw in the gallery are taking about Omani
ladies in different parts in Oman . the story of the project is
clear I think the photographer chose this subject because it
is something new that no one did it before and I also think
that this project might be more interesting for Europe
countries mainly because they don’t see women dress and
live like this . I think the gallery chose to show this work
because its new and no one did it before .

When we come to the technical side we can see a good

exposure in all the images and very simple composition
which is ok , I think she used really simple technique
because in most of the images we see that she always shoot
in a high F number such as F 8 and above because we can
always see the background which is not bad I think it help
us to know the story and the place that these women are
living in . I don’t really think she used post production at all
or maybe a little bet just to boost the colors .

In my opinion I think the concept of the project is really

good but the image are not the best for me maybe because I live here or maybe because the
images are really normal and there is nothing to interest me however I think these images might
interest people who don’t have an idea of Omani women . Overall I think it’s a good project

306
Appendix 24: Writing sample Salim (Business studies, bachelor level)

 Introduction

Manpower planning, which is also called as the human resources planning

consists of setting the right number of people, the right kind of people at
the right place at the right time, doing the right things that they fit in order
to achieve the organization's goals. HR planning has got an important
place in the field of manufacturing. Human Resources planning there
should be a systems approach and implemented in a set procedure.

Manpower planning is defined through a strainer strategy "to the request,

and use of, improve and maintain the human resources of the institution.
Relates to create a job description or quantity requirements and functions
to determine the number of personnel required and the development of
manpower resources."

The objectives of the manpower are planning to ensure optimum use of

human resources currently in use. To assess future skills requirements, to
provide control measures to ensure the provision of necessary resources
where appropriate, to determine the level of requirement, to anticipate and
avoid redundancy dismissal unnecessary and evaluate training and
development needs.

You need all the manpower planning organization. The start of an

organizational unit to achieve certain goals. Which requires human
resources with the required qualification? This is provided through
effective manpower planning.

Comprehensive planning of the manpower helps to improve the

effectiveness of human resources. The staffs who has grown older or who
resign, retire Foundation, die or become incapacitated due to physical or
mental illness have to be replaced and new employees who will be
appointed. It can be done through manpower planning. There is also a
need to determine the surplus or shortage of manpower, and there are
areas of manpower budget. In short of manpower planning provides the
correct size and structure of the human resources that provide basic
infrastructure for the proper functioning of the institution. It reduces the

307
 cost of labor and negate the effects of turmoil in the development of
human resources.
 Company profile

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is the foremost hydrocarbon

exploration and production company in the Sultanate of Oman. It accounts
for more than 90% of the country's crude-oil production and nearly all of its
natural-gas supply. The Company is owned by the Government of Oman
which has a 60% interest, Royal Dutch Shell which has a 34% interest,
Total which has a 4% interest and Partex which has a 2% interest. The
first economic find of oil was made in 1962, and the first consignment of oil
was exported in 1967.
Oman's growth into a successful oil- and gas-producing nation had
humble beginnings so humble, in fact, that it began with a dud. A
geological survey of the country in 1925 found no conclusive evidence of
oil. Twelve years later, however, when geologists began intensively
searching for oil in neighboring Saudi Arabia, Oman's Sultan Said bin
Taimur granted a 75-year concession to the Iraq Petroleum Company
(IPC). Pausing only for the Second World War, exploration for oil was
underway in Oman.

 Problems of manpower planning in PDO Company

Manpower planning in any organization has some of the obstacles facing

the organization. Also, there are some the obstacles faced to PDO in
manpower planning process:

o The absenteeism rate:-

The employee‟s absences are almost high in PDO because of a lot

of work and working place in a desert. Absent of one employee per
month approximately 2 to 5 days a month and this causes an
obstacle for the company in the planning of the manpower.

308
 o Turnover rate:-

In the PDO, in the desert areas some of the employees leave their
position because of working hours, working environment and work
are too much. This becomes one most obstacle which company
face in their manpower planning.

o The lack of understanding in the planning processes of the

company:-

Managers and employees do not know understand the manpower

planning process and they did not get enough knowledge on this
subject, and this makes a big problem because if managers and
employees did not understand the concept of manpower planning
then they will not contribute to this process.

o Lack of support from top management of the company: -

The managers in the top level don't care too much about lower level
in the company and they do not support manpower planning in low-
end jobs

o Control of Manpower and Review:-

Is any increase in the manpower at the top level of management

powers On the basis of manpower plans and budgets prepared
individuals. These serve as control mechanisms to keep working
within the framework of specific limits on certain large-scale forces.

 How PDO Company avoid these problems

o Fit manpower planning with company plan:-

Fitting the company plan with the methods and techniques used in
manpower planning.

o Consistent support from top management should be there:-

When top management show interest to support and contribute with

manpower planning the low managers well does so.

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 o Reduce working hours:-

This contributes help to reduce the absenteeism of employees at

work. Working hours in the company now in the desert areas is 12
hours per day, the company must try to reduce working hours to 9
hours in a day, which leading to reduce the pressure on the
employees and feel comfortable in the work environment.

o Increase understanding of manpower process for employees:-

by knowing the needs and requirements of the employees at lower

levels and make implementation of plans to make the employees in
work efficiency be effectively thus contributing to the increase in
production for the company.

o Company should maintain computerized human resources

information system:-

Using an information system which is capable of dealing with PDO

company information.

 Conclusion

Manpower planning in most of the companies faces problems and some

struggles where that stop them from achieving the planning process
objectives, therefore the company should take some correctives and
correct the mistakes and analyze them and then make better methods to
avoid these problems.
Also, we can conclude with the objectives of manpower planning which
they are to ensure optimum use of human resources currently employed.
To assess future skills requirement, to provide control measures to ensure
that necessary resources are available as and when required, to
determine requirement level, to anticipate redundancies and avoid
unnecessary dismissals and assess training and development needs.
PDO must make the plan for manpower to be more effectively and over
become to solve these obstacles in the future.

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 References:-

 Company profile. Retrieved November 20, 2015 at : 8:00 PM from

http://www.pdo.co.om/Pages/Home.aspx

 Manpower Planning. Retrieved November 20, 2015 at : 9:00 PM from

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/manpower-planning.htm

 Obstacles of manpower. Retrieved November 21, 2015 at : 10:00 AM

from http://www.slideshare.net/amit8181/manpower-planning-2691360

 Manpower. Retrieved November 21, 2015 at : 11:00 AM from

http://managementstudyguide.com/manpower-planning.htm

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Appendix 25: Sample on the use of plagiarism (Salim)

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is the foremost hydrocarbon exploration

and production company in the Sultanate of Oman. It accounts for more than
90% of the country's crude-oil production and nearly all of its natural-gas supply.
The Company is owned by the Government of Oman which has a 60% interest,
Royal Dutch Shell which has a 34% interest, Total which has a 4% interest and
Partex which has a 2% interest. The first economic find of oil was made in 1962,
and the first consignment of oil was exported in 1967. (Salim)

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is the foremost exploration and production

company in the Sultanate. We account for more than 70% of the country's crude oil
production and nearly all of its natural gas supply. The Company is owned by the
Government of Oman (with a 60% interest), Royal Dutch Shell (34%), Total (4%) and
Partex (2%). The first economic oil find was made in 1962, and the first oil consignment
was exported in 1967.

Original source: Petroleum Development Oman (2012).

Oman's growth into a successful oil- and gas-producing nation had humble
beginnings so humble, in fact, that it began with a dud. A geological survey of the
country in 1925 found no conclusive evidence of oil. Twelve years later, however,
when geologists began intensively searching for oil in neighboring Saudi Arabia,
Oman's Sultan Said bin Taimur granted a 75-year concession to the Iraq
Petroleum Company (IPC). Pausing only for the Second World War, exploration
for oil was underway in Oman. (Salim)

Oman's growth into a successful oil- and gas-producing nation had humble beginnings — so
humble, in fact, that it began with a dud. A geological survey of the country in 1925 found no
conclusive evidence of oil. Twelve years later, however, when geologists began intensively
searching for oil in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, Oman's Sultan Said bin Taimur granted a 75-
year concession to the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC). Pausing only for the Second World
War, exploration for oil was underway in Oman.

Original source: Petroleum Development Oman (2011)

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