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English Medium Instruction, Arabic and Identity in Oman’s Higher Education Institutions: Teacher and Student Attitudes

以英語為教學媒介語、阿拉伯語和身分認同之於阿曼高等教育:教師和學生的態度

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Abstract

This study explored student and teacher attitudes towards English Medium Instruction (EMI) at the tertiary level in Oman, including its impact on learners’ Arabic use and socio-cultural identities. Data was collected through a 40-item Likert response scale questionnaire administered in English and Arabic to 415 students and 55 instructors at five tertiary-level institutions across the sultanate. Results indicate that participants identified a number of advantages of EMI, including increasing employment opportunities and facilitating communication in education and workforce settings. However, significant challenges, such as limiting student course content understanding and family communication about their studies, were also present. Teacher participants generally did not believe that EMI had any negative effects on learner identity and Arabic language use, although students held neutral attitudes about these issues and maintained that their content understanding would be enhanced through Arabic medium instruction. Despite these areas of divergence, independent samples t tests indicated that teacher and student participants held similar attitudes across most remaining questionnaire categories. Implications of these findings for EMI and L1 use at the tertiary level in Oman and in other similar education settings are discussed.

摘要

本研究探討了學生和教師對阿曼高等教育中以英語為教學媒介語(EMI)的態度, 包括其對於學習者在阿拉伯語使用和社會文化認同上的影響。我們使用了包含40個題目的李克特反應量表(包含英語版和阿拉伯語版)來對阿曼國內的五個高等教育機構中的415名學生和55名教師進行問卷調查。結果顯示受試者指出了以英語為教學媒介語的許多優勢, 包括增加就業機會以及促進教育和勞動環境中的溝通。然而, 以英語為教學媒介語仍然存在著相當挑戰, 例如:侷限了學生對課程內容的理解亦限制了家庭中關於求學上的溝通交流。教師受試者普遍不認為以英語為教學媒介語對學習者的身份認同和阿拉伯語的使用會有任何負面的影響, 而學生受試者對此則保持中立的態度, 並認為若以阿拉伯語為教學媒介語的話, 將會提高他們對於內容的理解。儘管存在這些分歧, 但獨立樣本t檢驗表明, 教師和學生受試者對其餘多數的問卷問題持有相似的態度。本研究亦討論了這些發現對阿曼和其他相似教學情境的高等教育中在英語和母語使用上的教學啟示。

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  1. Sultan Qaboos University, PO Box 17, Al Khodh, 123, Muscat, Oman

    C. J. Denman & Rahma Al-Mahrooqi

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Denman, C.J., Al-Mahrooqi, R. English Medium Instruction, Arabic and Identity in Oman’s Higher Education Institutions: Teacher and Student Attitudes. English Teaching & Learning 43, 317–335 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42321-019-00032-3

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