Papers by Marwan At-Tayar
أبحاث, 2024
The study aimed at exploring the impact of English as an additional language on EAL pupils’ readi... more The study aimed at exploring the impact of English as an additional language on EAL pupils’ reading skills at Key Stage 2 at Oak Tree Primary School (Birmingham, Britain) with a view to identifying whether English as an additional language presents a barrier to the development of EAL young pupils’ reading skills, the strategies used to support EAL young pupils to develop their reading skills, and how effective these strategies are in this regard. The study, which employed the qualitative approach, involved collecting data through semi-structured interviews with the EAL pupils’ class teacher and the ESL mentor, observation of three Arab EAL young pupils at Key Stage 2, and documentary analysis of the school’s EAL policy. The study revealed that the EAL young pupils could make some progress in reading through one-to-one support from staff and by being provided with well-developed resources. In spite of this, EAL pupils still underperform in comparison with their native English-speaking counterparts. The findings rationalized providing EAL pupils with bilingual support to help them overcome their reading difficulties.
University of Science and Technology Journal for Management and Human Sciences, Jan 13, 2024
The study aimed at exploring the impact of English as an additional language on EAL pupils’ readi... more The study aimed at exploring the impact of English as an additional language on EAL pupils’ reading skills at Key Stage 2 at Oak Tree Primary School (Birmingham, Britain) with a view to identifying whether English as an additional language presents a barrier to the development of EAL young pupils’ reading skills, the strategies used to support EAL young pupils to develop their reading skills, and how effective these strategies are in this regard. The study, which employed the qualitative approach, involved collecting data through semi-structured interviews with the EAL pupils’ class teacher and the ESL mentor, observation of three Arab EAL young pupils at Key Stage 2, and documentary analysis of the school’s EAL policy. The study revealed that the EAL young pupils could make some progress in reading through one-to-one support from staff and by being provided with well-developed resources. In spite of this, EAL pupils still underperform in comparison with their native English-speaking counterparts. The findings rationalized providing EAL pupils with bilingual support to help them overcome their reading difficulties.
University of Science and Technology , 2023
The development of translation studies since the 1970s has led to its gradual change from a mere ... more The development of translation studies since the 1970s has led to its gradual change from a mere sub-discipline of applied linguistics and comparative literature to an independent discipline in its own right. This shift has resulted in a proliferation of translation programs at various European and Arab universities. As a result of this rapid development, it has become imperative for those universities to improve their academic programs in line with Academic Accreditation Standards)AASs(. Yemeni universities, which trod a similar path to that already taken by other regional and international universities, are no exception. Thus, this study aimed at investigating the status of the undergraduate translation programs at Yemeni universities in light of AASs with a view to identifying whether these programs meet these standards from the perspectives of faculty members and heads of translation programs. The study adopted the quantitative approach to collect data from 204 faculty members and heads at four public and fourteen private Yemeni universities through a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. The study revealed that the degree of availability of the AASs is low. It also indicated that there are statistically significant differences in the means of respondents' responses according to the variable of academic position.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
ELS Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies on Humanities, 2023
Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an adventure story that appeals to children a... more Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an adventure story that appeals to children as well as adults. While children are interested in the surface humour, adults are interested in the strange way of reasoning and the satire on many aspects of Victorian society. This paper aims at analyzing the conversations between Alice and the inhabitants of Wonderland to show how Lewis Carroll, through violating the well-established norms of logical argumentation and the pragmatics of conversation based on the Cooperative Principle of Grice (1975) and the Politeness Principle of Brown and Levinson (1978), was able to create humour and convey deeper messages. The paper highlights how the exchanges between Alice and the inhabitants of Wonderland turn out to be puzzling, and sometimes, even nonsensical and humorous because of the way language is used. It also shows that Carroll, through the nonsensical, yet seemingly logical, arguments of the inhabitants of Wonderland, was able to convey deeper messages, such as pointing out how confusing adults and their world are to children and how there is a gap in communication between them and mocking some aspects of the restrictive Victorian society. In this, the paper provides a deeper understanding of the language of Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Journal of English Studies in Arabia Felix, 2023
In the Artificial Intelligence (AI) age now, foreign language learners can get unlimited support ... more In the Artificial Intelligence (AI) age now, foreign language learners can get unlimited support on their learning tasks from advanced AI chatbots, primarily the ChatGPT. At the same time, such a language chatbot intensifies the importance of rethinking learning outcome assessment. Traditional assessments that draw on a teach-and-test-approach are of little use and no longer valid for a comprehensive understanding of students' knowledge and skills that they, by and large, obtain in informal learning settings and contribute to their overall performance. Hence, alternative assessments can reflect more on learners' actual performance that likely involves AI chatbots and yet goes unnoticed by traditional assessment. This paper discusses alternative assessments regarding their nature, forms, characteristics, advantages, and integration into L2 programs. It establishes a foundational theoretical account for future research that would take place when ChatGPT becomes commonplace in the worldwide L2 contexts. It charts new research territories and passes the torch to second and foreign-language learning assessors to reflect on their teaching situations and reimagine L2 programs in light of the affordances of the ChatGPT, which has made a significant breakthrough in learning and teaching languages.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
DergiPark, 2022
The use of mother tongue (MT) in EFL classrooms has been a controversial topic among researchers ... more The use of mother tongue (MT) in EFL classrooms has been a controversial topic among researchers and teachers. While some claim that MT should not be used in EFL classrooms, others argue that MT can contribute to English language learning. The present study was conducted to investigate the use of Arabic as a mother tongue in EFL grammar classroom in the Centre for Languages at Ibb University in Yemen with a view to identifying when EFL learners favour the use of MT and the impact of that on learners and their English learning. Data were collected from EFL intermediate learners through a questionnaire administered to (51) learners and focus group discussions in which 22 learners participated. The collected data were analysed quantitatively using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (t-test) and qualitatively. The findings showed that although the EFL learners favoured English as a medium of instruction, they showed positive attitudes towards a judicious use of their MT for some functions. Regarding the impact of MT use, the findings revealed that the EFL learners believe that the use of their MT in EFL grammar classroom is necessary due to the vital role that it can play in facilitating and enhancing their language learning as well as their cognitive ability. Statistically significant differences were not found in the mean scores of responses according to gender. Based on findings, some recommendations to be considered to ensure effective use of MT in EFL classroom and suggestions for further research were given.
ELS Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies on Humanities, 2020
The present study aimed at investigating alternative assessment (AA) within the Yemeni university... more The present study aimed at investigating alternative assessment (AA) within the Yemeni university EFL classrooms in terms of identifying the challenges of using AA to assess undergraduate EFL students from the perspectives of the faculty. Data were collected, through a questionnaire, from (66) lecturers and professors of different ranks who teach EFL at the collegiate level in two Yemeni public universities and one national university. The results of the study indicated that faculty members of English departments at Yemeni universities face some challenges of using AA to assess undergraduate EFL students. These challenges belong to various factors, including the instructional environment, the students, the management of Yemeni universities, the faculty members, or the nature of AA. Statistically significant differences were found in the mean scores according to years of experience variable between respondents with less than 5 years and those with 5-10 years of experience in favor of those with less than 5 years of experience, but not according to the type of university, gender, and specialization variables. Accordingly, some recommendations were given to address the identified challenges, which might lead to a better implementation of AA in Yemeni university EFL classrooms.
Humanities and Educational Sciences Journal, 2020
The study aimed to uncover faculty members’ attitudes towards alternative assessment (AA) and sub... more The study aimed to uncover faculty members’ attitudes towards alternative assessment (AA) and substantiate the differences in their attitudes, if any, based on five variables: university, gender, specialization, experience, and academic rank. It also elucidates the extent this cohort of informants adopts AA in their teaching and ascertains the differences in their uses according to the same variables. The study involved collecting data, through a questionnaire, from a sample of (66) lecturers and professors of different ranks who teach EFL at the collegiate level in Yemen. The study took place in two public universities along with a private one. The results of descriptive statistics and inferential tests (t-test, Pearson correlation, ANOVA) revealed that the respondents were positive towards AA but this was hardly reflected in their teaching. Significant differences in their attitudes towards AA were attributable to gender but not to university, specialization, magnitude of experience, or academic rank. In terms of usage, significant differences pertained to the variable of university and not to gender, specialization, experience, or academic rank. The findings rationalized incorporating AAs in EFL programs to enhance seeding new models of assessment that results in efficient learning and teaching.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
International Journal of English Linguistics, 2019
The study aimed at identifying the level and sources of foreign language reading anxiety among Ye... more The study aimed at identifying the level and sources of foreign language reading anxiety among Yemeni students in Malaysian universities. Besides, it aimed at finding out whether there are statistically significant differences in the means of responses of Yemeni students in Malaysian universities according to the variable ‘Level of study’ (Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD). The study is quantitative as it used Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale
(FLRAS) to answer the study questions. FLRAS was distributed to general groups of Yemeni students in Malaysia in the form of an online survey. The number of participants who responded to the survey is 100 Yemen
students who are preparing their bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degrees in different majors in Malaysia. The results of the study showed that the level of foreign language reading anxiety among Yemeni students in Malaysian universities is of moderate level across the three groups. More importantly, the result of the analysis
showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the means of responses of Yemeni students in Malaysian universities according to the variable ‘Level of study’ (Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD). The findings of the study highlighted an important point in the investigation of foreign language reading anxiety which is the
environment. Thus, studies on intercultural learning stated that the host culture is a source of learning anxiety; however, the moderate level of reading anxiety across the three groups in this study might be attributed to the fact that the medium of instruction and reading materials in Malaysian universities are in English language.
Therefore, this finding makes a crystal-clear difference between reading anxiety and general intercultural learning anxiety in the host cultures where English is the medium of instruction. Students, instructors and researchers in this area might benefit from the findings of this study.
International Journal for Research in Education, 2018
The present study investigated the implementation of self-assessment in
EFL grammar classroom t... more The present study investigated the implementation of self-assessment in
EFL grammar classroom to identify the attitudes of EFL learners at the Centre for Languages and Translation, Ibb University towards self-assessment, their perceptions of the advantages of self-assessment, and the problems or difficulties that EFL learners may face while carrying out self-assessment activities. To collect data, the researcher used three instruments: a
questionnaire, a structured interview, and a focus group discussion. The questionnaire was administered to (85) EFL learners. Using the stratified sampling technique, the researcher selected randomly (14) learners for the
interviews and (21) learners to participate in the focus group discussions. The findings of the study indicated that EFL learners perceive the benefits of self-assessment and have positive attitudes towards it. The study reported that the
learners did not have any problems or difficulties while carrying out self-assessment activities, which may be due to the nature of the self-assessment technique and activities used and the sufficient training and guidance that the
EFL learners received. The study showed that there were statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the learners’ responses according to the frequency of doing self-assessment activities, but not according to the
variables gender and proficiency level. As the study indicated that self-assessment is helpful and has several advantages for EFL learners and that EFL learners have positive attitudes towards it, the researcher recommended that EFL teachers should think about integrating self-assessment into their classrooms.
It was published in 2016 in The Proceedings of the 19th and 20th Nile TESOL/AUC Conference, Cairo: Nile TESOL.. It was edited by Deena Boraie and Atta Gebril , 2016
Assessment is an essential component of the teaching and learning process. Due to the limitations... more Assessment is an essential component of the teaching and learning process. Due to the limitations of traditional assessment and the shift from teacher-centered to student-centered EFL teaching approaches, alternative assessment was proposed. Alternative assessment is diagnostic in nature. It is carried out continuously over a period of time rather than restricted to the end of a course or a semester. It can help teachers to identify what EFL students can do in English rather than what they know about English, which is the case with traditional assessment. The current article shed light on the limitations of traditional assessment, referring to the reasons for the shift towards alternative assessment. It also explained how to implement alternative assessment methods in EFL classrooms, supporting that with examples of different language skills and of various proficiency levels and highlighting the benefits that may be obtained from implementing this type of assessment in EFL classrooms. Generally, the article provided a simple and practical guide to using the common methods of alternative assessment, recommending EFL teachers to experiment with them in their classrooms.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Book Enclave, 2013
University teaching is a complex and multidimensional process that is affected by many factors. ... more University teaching is a complex and multidimensional process that is affected by many factors. The perspectives towards this process have changed a lot during the last two decades due to some factors. It was seen as a process of transmitting information from teachers to students; i.e., one-way delivery. However, this process is being given now a lot of priority and concern in most universities of the world. This led to the appearance of student-centered teaching approach as opposite to teacher-centered teaching approach. This concern is increasing that there is a growing trend towards assessing teachers teaching in higher education and tying up university teachers’ career advancements with their performance. Moreover, it has been started to think of university teachers not only as researchers who have the ability of conducting researches, but also as teachers who should have knowledge of their disciplines and pedagogical skills and knowledge to convey those disciplines to their students.
Technology plays an effective and constructive role in the process of teaching and learning in hi... more Technology plays an effective and constructive role in the process of teaching and learning in higher education. It can make this process more enjoyable, productive, and interactive through its various tools. It has led to creating a new learning mode, namely e-learning which has become one of the most effective modes of teaching and learning in higher education. Learning management systems (LMSs) are e-learning tools which have become very important for education today. Nowadays, many educational institutions use such tools to manage and foster online teaching and learning environments in higher education. Based on reviewing the literature, the current research paper refers to the characteristics, features, and some common products of LMSs. It also sheds light on the benefits of integrating these powerful technology tools into the process of teaching and learning in higher education. Moreover, it points out the barriers to integrating LMSs into the process of teaching and learning in higher education and how it may be possible to overcome these barriers in order to make use of such powerful technology tools in higher education.
Plagiarism is the act of taking the works of others and passing it off as one’s own. In recent ye... more Plagiarism is the act of taking the works of others and passing it off as one’s own. In recent years, this issue is increasing among students in all fields of educational sector due to the help of technology, especially the Internet. Ironically, technology is a double –edged sword. On one hand, it makes plagiarism too easy. Search engines and websites can provide so many materials and information on any topic that can be used easily by students. On the other hand, it can help a lot in preventing and identifying plagiarism through antiplagiarism software programs. In fact, there are several reasons that stand behind the plagiarizing behaviour of students. These reasons are reported in this paper along with some remedies and procedures referred to in the literature that can help to address students’ plagiarism. However, such remedies and procedures have some disadvantages. Therefore, there should be a comprehensive policy that involves all the elements that may help in preventing students’ plagiarism, namely faculty, students, administrators, and course syllabi.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Teaching English through literature is an effective and interesting way of administering a sugar-... more Teaching English through literature is an effective and interesting way of administering a sugar-coated pill to an unwilling patient. As it involves the emotions and imagination of the learner, it allows him to explore different aspects of linguistic exploration. This paper is a modest attempt to explore types of conditional sentences in English by analyzing some interesting examples from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. They may include sentences such as in (1) which refer to a true situation, (2) which refers to a probable situation, (3) which describes an improbable situation, and (4) which describes a contrary-to-fact situation.
1. … if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds… (chapter 1, p. 13)
2. 'Well, I'll eat it,' said Alice, 'and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key….' (chapter 1, p. 15)
3. 'There might be some sense in your knocking,' the Footman went on without attending to her, 'if we had the door between us. For instance, if you were inside, you might knock, and I could let you out, you know.' (chapter 6, p. 51)
4. 'If it had grown up,' she said to herself, 'it would have made a dreadfully ugly child: but it makes rather a handsome pig, I think.' (chapter 6, p. 55)
Normally English uses the present tense in the if clause if it refers to a possible situation, and past tense if it refers to a remote situation. A modal is not used in the if clause unless the sentence involves a formal request as in (4).
5. 'Sh! sh!' and the Dormouse sulkily remarked, 'If you can't be civil, you'd better finish the story for yourself.' (chapter 7, p. 66)
Many more sentences will be examined from the connected texts to illustrate and re-enforce the grammatical points made above.
Keywords: Conditional sentences, Alice in Wonderland, Teaching English through literature
Investigating Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Amo by Marwan At-Tayar
Thesis Chapters by Marwan At-Tayar
The main objective of this study is to investigate the teaching competencies of Yemeni university... more The main objective of this study is to investigate the teaching competencies of Yemeni university English teachers in terms of identifying the degree of practicing these competencies from the perspective of the teachers themselves, their students of English departments, and the chairmen of English departments with a view to designing a proposed training programme which aims at developing the teaching competencies of Yemeni university English teachers.
The study primarily adopted the descriptive design and the quantitative approach. The data were collected through a questionnaire which consisted of (73) teaching competencies distributed among five main domains: planning teaching; implementing teaching; using technology; human relations; and assessment, evaluation, and giving feedback. After making sure of its validity and reliability, it was administered to three Yemeni public universities (Sana’a University, Aden University, and Taiz University). The sample consisted of (49) Yemeni university English teachers, (590) students of level four, and (6) chairmen of English departments. The data collected were computed and analysed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows (version 17.0).
The current study is divided into six chapters. Chapter one includes an introduction to the study. It describes the problem of the study, offers its questions and highlights its significance. It also presents the aims and objectives of the study and its scope and delimitations. Moreover, it defines the terms related to the present study and spells out the outlines of the subsequent chapters.
Chapter two provides a theoretical and conceptual background for the current study. It is divided into two parts. The first part deals with teaching and teaching competencies. The second part deals with training and procedures and stages of designing training programmes.
Chapter three sheds light on some previous studies related to the two domains of the study: teaching competencies and constructing or evaluating the effectiveness of teacher training programmes. In each domain, the previous studies are classified into two groups: Arabic studies (studies conducted in the Arab countries) and foreign studies (studies conducted abroad). This chapter also describes the previous studies in terms of their objectives, sample, tools used to collect data, results, and benefits with a view to highlighting the similarities and differences between the previous studies and the current one.
Chapter four describes the approach and the design of the study and its population and sample. It also describes the procedures followed to construct the study instrument and measure its validity and reliability as well as the procedures followed to construct the proposed training programme and measure its validity. In addition, the statistical tools used to answer the questions of the study are presented in this chapter.
In chapter five, the study analyses the data obtained with a view to answering the study questions. It presents and discusses the results of that analysis to come up with facts about the practice of Yemeni university English teachers for the teaching competencies in question. In general, the study revealed that the degree of practicing Yemeni university English teachers for the teaching competencies is low. It also revealed that there are statistically significant differences in the means of practicing the teaching competencies by Yemeni university English teachers according to the variable of sample type (university English teachers, students, and chairmen of English departments) at the (0.05) level of significance. These significant differences were found in the means of the target sample responses between teachers and students on the one hand and between students and chairmen on the other hand. However, the study showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the means of the target sample responses between teachers and chairmen. Moreover, the study showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the means of the target sample responses according to the variable of geography (Sana’a, Aden, and Taiz). Based on the results of the study which highlighted the need of Yemeni university English teachers for training in teaching, a training programme was proposed and presented in this chapter.
Chapter six presents a summary of the whole study and its major conclusions. Based on the findings of the study, this chapter suggests some recommendations concerning improving the process of teaching and learning in the English departments of Yemeni universities and conducting the proposed training programme. It also presents some suggestions for further research.
It is hoped that the current study will significantly contribute to developing teaching English and English courses at university level in Yemen. It is for the first time to investigate the teaching competencies of Yemeni university English teachers. This may draw some attention to the importance of training university English teachers in teaching, improving the instructional environment of teaching English at university level, and setting some norms for appointing new university teachers to teach in English departments, including all the competencies required by a university English teacher.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Conference Presentations by Marwan At-Tayar
This thesis is a multi-level linguistic analysis of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderl... more This thesis is a multi-level linguistic analysis of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland at the level of phonology, lexicon, and syntax. It also analyzes the deviance from the established norms of pragmatics and logic. It tries to reveal the unique style of this great book which enables Carroll in capturing the interest of children as well as adults in a fascinating manner.
Chapter one involves a discussion on the general nature of this book. It refers to some previous studies on Lewis Carroll. It states the objective and scope of our study, and discusses the method used to analyze the text. It also gives an outline of the way the dissertation has been organized.
In Chapter two, the study analyzes the book at the level of phonology. It shows how ordinary phonological devices, such as alliteration, assonance and rhyme have been used effectively. It also discusses the effect created by the lengthening of sounds and elision. The study also analyzes the use of other devices, such as onomatopoeia and abbreviation. The study also highlights the effect of the use of mispronunciation by some characters.
In Chapter three, the study discusses the text at the level of the lexicon. It reveals the author’s ability to play on words to create humour. It shows how Carroll uses the available processes of word formation to innovate new words with a view to creating confusion, misunderstanding and, thereby, humour. It also shows how the author uses several figures of speech effectively. For example, the use of puns serves a double purpose: on one hand, it makes the book appealing to children, on the other hand, it conveys deeper messages to adults by satirizing the Victorian society and their systems of education and justice. It also satirizes the whimsical and unpredictable behaviour of the members of aristocracy.
The study shows how Lewis Carroll uses antonyms to highlight the strangeness of the Wonderland in regard not only to creatures, events, and happenings, but also Alice’s experience of growing up in this world.
The extensive use of metaphors and similes is also analyzed. It is through such a use of language that Carroll is able to make the reader visualize some events and things more sharply than he would have done otherwise.
The use of allusions serves a double purpose. At one level, Carroll refers to many things that concern children. It is obvious from his references to games, subjects taught at public schools and how children are treated by adults. At another level, Carroll is able to convey deeper messages by presenting a caricature of how adults behave and interact socially as well as linguistically.
In Chapter four, the study analyzes the effective use of various syntactic devices, such as coordination and deletion to avoid redundancy and monotony. It also analyzes the use of repetition and movement of constituents and other transformational devices (e.g., clefting and extraposition) to foreground and emphasize certain constituents of sentences.
The study shows how a large-scale use of questions reflects a child’s curiosity about the Wonderland. It also analyzes the use of hedges and interruptions to indicate how the freedom of expression of children is curtailed by adults and how it affects them. The use of different kinds of sentences such as indicative, imperative, optative, and subjunctive has been discussed to highlight their stylistic effects.
The effective use of figures of speech at the syntactic level, such as chiasmus, parallelism and hyperbole heightens many points. It highlights the satire of the political caucusing, social order and justice system. It also focuses on the way in which the creatures of the Wonderland contradict and confuse Alice.
In Chapter five, the study shows how deviance from the established norms of pragmatics and logic reveals the strange way of reasoning used by the creatures of the Wonderland. The reader laughs a lot at the absurdity of several situations. However, through their nonsensical, yet seemingly logical, arguments, Carroll is able to convey deeper messages. He is able to point out how confusing adults and their world are to children, and how there is a gap in communication between them. He is also able to mock at some aspects of the restrictive Victorian society.
Chapter six summarizes the main results of the preceding chapters. It evaluates briefly the stylistic devices used in this book to show how effectively they have been used to highlight the main objectives of the book.
This multi-level linguistic analysis makes us realize why it is one of the most wonderful books written for children. Lewis Carroll has a great skill of intertwining nonsense and logic to create sense out of nonsense. At a very superficial level, the book seems to be incongruous and nonsensical because events and arguments do not fit into the accepted system of our society. However, it is not so if we look at the events from the point of view of a child. This study is a modest attempt to show how effectively various components of language have been used to achieve what Lewis Carroll had in mind.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Book Reviews by Marwan At-Tayar
Education Review, 2024
An edited volume of 32 chapters, this handbook is a collection of review studies and empirical re... more An edited volume of 32 chapters, this handbook is a collection of review studies and empirical research highlighting teacher education programs, challenges, pedagogical innovations, and practices in 15 countries of the Middle East: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen. It is composed of five sections: perspectives on teacher education (8 chapters), innovations in teacher education (7 chapters), subject-specific teacher education (5 chapters), redesigning teacher education—challenges and potentials (7 chapters), and teacher professional development (5 chapters). With contributions by 59 authors affiliated with 36 universities and educational institutions, this handbook brings together the most recent trends in teacher education in the Middle East as reported by expert and experienced educators in their respective regions.
Uploads
Papers by Marwan At-Tayar
(FLRAS) to answer the study questions. FLRAS was distributed to general groups of Yemeni students in Malaysia in the form of an online survey. The number of participants who responded to the survey is 100 Yemen
students who are preparing their bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degrees in different majors in Malaysia. The results of the study showed that the level of foreign language reading anxiety among Yemeni students in Malaysian universities is of moderate level across the three groups. More importantly, the result of the analysis
showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the means of responses of Yemeni students in Malaysian universities according to the variable ‘Level of study’ (Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD). The findings of the study highlighted an important point in the investigation of foreign language reading anxiety which is the
environment. Thus, studies on intercultural learning stated that the host culture is a source of learning anxiety; however, the moderate level of reading anxiety across the three groups in this study might be attributed to the fact that the medium of instruction and reading materials in Malaysian universities are in English language.
Therefore, this finding makes a crystal-clear difference between reading anxiety and general intercultural learning anxiety in the host cultures where English is the medium of instruction. Students, instructors and researchers in this area might benefit from the findings of this study.
EFL grammar classroom to identify the attitudes of EFL learners at the Centre for Languages and Translation, Ibb University towards self-assessment, their perceptions of the advantages of self-assessment, and the problems or difficulties that EFL learners may face while carrying out self-assessment activities. To collect data, the researcher used three instruments: a
questionnaire, a structured interview, and a focus group discussion. The questionnaire was administered to (85) EFL learners. Using the stratified sampling technique, the researcher selected randomly (14) learners for the
interviews and (21) learners to participate in the focus group discussions. The findings of the study indicated that EFL learners perceive the benefits of self-assessment and have positive attitudes towards it. The study reported that the
learners did not have any problems or difficulties while carrying out self-assessment activities, which may be due to the nature of the self-assessment technique and activities used and the sufficient training and guidance that the
EFL learners received. The study showed that there were statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the learners’ responses according to the frequency of doing self-assessment activities, but not according to the
variables gender and proficiency level. As the study indicated that self-assessment is helpful and has several advantages for EFL learners and that EFL learners have positive attitudes towards it, the researcher recommended that EFL teachers should think about integrating self-assessment into their classrooms.
1. … if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds… (chapter 1, p. 13)
2. 'Well, I'll eat it,' said Alice, 'and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key….' (chapter 1, p. 15)
3. 'There might be some sense in your knocking,' the Footman went on without attending to her, 'if we had the door between us. For instance, if you were inside, you might knock, and I could let you out, you know.' (chapter 6, p. 51)
4. 'If it had grown up,' she said to herself, 'it would have made a dreadfully ugly child: but it makes rather a handsome pig, I think.' (chapter 6, p. 55)
Normally English uses the present tense in the if clause if it refers to a possible situation, and past tense if it refers to a remote situation. A modal is not used in the if clause unless the sentence involves a formal request as in (4).
5. 'Sh! sh!' and the Dormouse sulkily remarked, 'If you can't be civil, you'd better finish the story for yourself.' (chapter 7, p. 66)
Many more sentences will be examined from the connected texts to illustrate and re-enforce the grammatical points made above.
Keywords: Conditional sentences, Alice in Wonderland, Teaching English through literature
Investigating Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Amo by Marwan At-Tayar
Thesis Chapters by Marwan At-Tayar
The study primarily adopted the descriptive design and the quantitative approach. The data were collected through a questionnaire which consisted of (73) teaching competencies distributed among five main domains: planning teaching; implementing teaching; using technology; human relations; and assessment, evaluation, and giving feedback. After making sure of its validity and reliability, it was administered to three Yemeni public universities (Sana’a University, Aden University, and Taiz University). The sample consisted of (49) Yemeni university English teachers, (590) students of level four, and (6) chairmen of English departments. The data collected were computed and analysed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows (version 17.0).
The current study is divided into six chapters. Chapter one includes an introduction to the study. It describes the problem of the study, offers its questions and highlights its significance. It also presents the aims and objectives of the study and its scope and delimitations. Moreover, it defines the terms related to the present study and spells out the outlines of the subsequent chapters.
Chapter two provides a theoretical and conceptual background for the current study. It is divided into two parts. The first part deals with teaching and teaching competencies. The second part deals with training and procedures and stages of designing training programmes.
Chapter three sheds light on some previous studies related to the two domains of the study: teaching competencies and constructing or evaluating the effectiveness of teacher training programmes. In each domain, the previous studies are classified into two groups: Arabic studies (studies conducted in the Arab countries) and foreign studies (studies conducted abroad). This chapter also describes the previous studies in terms of their objectives, sample, tools used to collect data, results, and benefits with a view to highlighting the similarities and differences between the previous studies and the current one.
Chapter four describes the approach and the design of the study and its population and sample. It also describes the procedures followed to construct the study instrument and measure its validity and reliability as well as the procedures followed to construct the proposed training programme and measure its validity. In addition, the statistical tools used to answer the questions of the study are presented in this chapter.
In chapter five, the study analyses the data obtained with a view to answering the study questions. It presents and discusses the results of that analysis to come up with facts about the practice of Yemeni university English teachers for the teaching competencies in question. In general, the study revealed that the degree of practicing Yemeni university English teachers for the teaching competencies is low. It also revealed that there are statistically significant differences in the means of practicing the teaching competencies by Yemeni university English teachers according to the variable of sample type (university English teachers, students, and chairmen of English departments) at the (0.05) level of significance. These significant differences were found in the means of the target sample responses between teachers and students on the one hand and between students and chairmen on the other hand. However, the study showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the means of the target sample responses between teachers and chairmen. Moreover, the study showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the means of the target sample responses according to the variable of geography (Sana’a, Aden, and Taiz). Based on the results of the study which highlighted the need of Yemeni university English teachers for training in teaching, a training programme was proposed and presented in this chapter.
Chapter six presents a summary of the whole study and its major conclusions. Based on the findings of the study, this chapter suggests some recommendations concerning improving the process of teaching and learning in the English departments of Yemeni universities and conducting the proposed training programme. It also presents some suggestions for further research.
It is hoped that the current study will significantly contribute to developing teaching English and English courses at university level in Yemen. It is for the first time to investigate the teaching competencies of Yemeni university English teachers. This may draw some attention to the importance of training university English teachers in teaching, improving the instructional environment of teaching English at university level, and setting some norms for appointing new university teachers to teach in English departments, including all the competencies required by a university English teacher.
Conference Presentations by Marwan At-Tayar
Chapter one involves a discussion on the general nature of this book. It refers to some previous studies on Lewis Carroll. It states the objective and scope of our study, and discusses the method used to analyze the text. It also gives an outline of the way the dissertation has been organized.
In Chapter two, the study analyzes the book at the level of phonology. It shows how ordinary phonological devices, such as alliteration, assonance and rhyme have been used effectively. It also discusses the effect created by the lengthening of sounds and elision. The study also analyzes the use of other devices, such as onomatopoeia and abbreviation. The study also highlights the effect of the use of mispronunciation by some characters.
In Chapter three, the study discusses the text at the level of the lexicon. It reveals the author’s ability to play on words to create humour. It shows how Carroll uses the available processes of word formation to innovate new words with a view to creating confusion, misunderstanding and, thereby, humour. It also shows how the author uses several figures of speech effectively. For example, the use of puns serves a double purpose: on one hand, it makes the book appealing to children, on the other hand, it conveys deeper messages to adults by satirizing the Victorian society and their systems of education and justice. It also satirizes the whimsical and unpredictable behaviour of the members of aristocracy.
The study shows how Lewis Carroll uses antonyms to highlight the strangeness of the Wonderland in regard not only to creatures, events, and happenings, but also Alice’s experience of growing up in this world.
The extensive use of metaphors and similes is also analyzed. It is through such a use of language that Carroll is able to make the reader visualize some events and things more sharply than he would have done otherwise.
The use of allusions serves a double purpose. At one level, Carroll refers to many things that concern children. It is obvious from his references to games, subjects taught at public schools and how children are treated by adults. At another level, Carroll is able to convey deeper messages by presenting a caricature of how adults behave and interact socially as well as linguistically.
In Chapter four, the study analyzes the effective use of various syntactic devices, such as coordination and deletion to avoid redundancy and monotony. It also analyzes the use of repetition and movement of constituents and other transformational devices (e.g., clefting and extraposition) to foreground and emphasize certain constituents of sentences.
The study shows how a large-scale use of questions reflects a child’s curiosity about the Wonderland. It also analyzes the use of hedges and interruptions to indicate how the freedom of expression of children is curtailed by adults and how it affects them. The use of different kinds of sentences such as indicative, imperative, optative, and subjunctive has been discussed to highlight their stylistic effects.
The effective use of figures of speech at the syntactic level, such as chiasmus, parallelism and hyperbole heightens many points. It highlights the satire of the political caucusing, social order and justice system. It also focuses on the way in which the creatures of the Wonderland contradict and confuse Alice.
In Chapter five, the study shows how deviance from the established norms of pragmatics and logic reveals the strange way of reasoning used by the creatures of the Wonderland. The reader laughs a lot at the absurdity of several situations. However, through their nonsensical, yet seemingly logical, arguments, Carroll is able to convey deeper messages. He is able to point out how confusing adults and their world are to children, and how there is a gap in communication between them. He is also able to mock at some aspects of the restrictive Victorian society.
Chapter six summarizes the main results of the preceding chapters. It evaluates briefly the stylistic devices used in this book to show how effectively they have been used to highlight the main objectives of the book.
This multi-level linguistic analysis makes us realize why it is one of the most wonderful books written for children. Lewis Carroll has a great skill of intertwining nonsense and logic to create sense out of nonsense. At a very superficial level, the book seems to be incongruous and nonsensical because events and arguments do not fit into the accepted system of our society. However, it is not so if we look at the events from the point of view of a child. This study is a modest attempt to show how effectively various components of language have been used to achieve what Lewis Carroll had in mind.
Book Reviews by Marwan At-Tayar
(FLRAS) to answer the study questions. FLRAS was distributed to general groups of Yemeni students in Malaysia in the form of an online survey. The number of participants who responded to the survey is 100 Yemen
students who are preparing their bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degrees in different majors in Malaysia. The results of the study showed that the level of foreign language reading anxiety among Yemeni students in Malaysian universities is of moderate level across the three groups. More importantly, the result of the analysis
showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the means of responses of Yemeni students in Malaysian universities according to the variable ‘Level of study’ (Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD). The findings of the study highlighted an important point in the investigation of foreign language reading anxiety which is the
environment. Thus, studies on intercultural learning stated that the host culture is a source of learning anxiety; however, the moderate level of reading anxiety across the three groups in this study might be attributed to the fact that the medium of instruction and reading materials in Malaysian universities are in English language.
Therefore, this finding makes a crystal-clear difference between reading anxiety and general intercultural learning anxiety in the host cultures where English is the medium of instruction. Students, instructors and researchers in this area might benefit from the findings of this study.
EFL grammar classroom to identify the attitudes of EFL learners at the Centre for Languages and Translation, Ibb University towards self-assessment, their perceptions of the advantages of self-assessment, and the problems or difficulties that EFL learners may face while carrying out self-assessment activities. To collect data, the researcher used three instruments: a
questionnaire, a structured interview, and a focus group discussion. The questionnaire was administered to (85) EFL learners. Using the stratified sampling technique, the researcher selected randomly (14) learners for the
interviews and (21) learners to participate in the focus group discussions. The findings of the study indicated that EFL learners perceive the benefits of self-assessment and have positive attitudes towards it. The study reported that the
learners did not have any problems or difficulties while carrying out self-assessment activities, which may be due to the nature of the self-assessment technique and activities used and the sufficient training and guidance that the
EFL learners received. The study showed that there were statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the learners’ responses according to the frequency of doing self-assessment activities, but not according to the
variables gender and proficiency level. As the study indicated that self-assessment is helpful and has several advantages for EFL learners and that EFL learners have positive attitudes towards it, the researcher recommended that EFL teachers should think about integrating self-assessment into their classrooms.
1. … if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds… (chapter 1, p. 13)
2. 'Well, I'll eat it,' said Alice, 'and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key….' (chapter 1, p. 15)
3. 'There might be some sense in your knocking,' the Footman went on without attending to her, 'if we had the door between us. For instance, if you were inside, you might knock, and I could let you out, you know.' (chapter 6, p. 51)
4. 'If it had grown up,' she said to herself, 'it would have made a dreadfully ugly child: but it makes rather a handsome pig, I think.' (chapter 6, p. 55)
Normally English uses the present tense in the if clause if it refers to a possible situation, and past tense if it refers to a remote situation. A modal is not used in the if clause unless the sentence involves a formal request as in (4).
5. 'Sh! sh!' and the Dormouse sulkily remarked, 'If you can't be civil, you'd better finish the story for yourself.' (chapter 7, p. 66)
Many more sentences will be examined from the connected texts to illustrate and re-enforce the grammatical points made above.
Keywords: Conditional sentences, Alice in Wonderland, Teaching English through literature
The study primarily adopted the descriptive design and the quantitative approach. The data were collected through a questionnaire which consisted of (73) teaching competencies distributed among five main domains: planning teaching; implementing teaching; using technology; human relations; and assessment, evaluation, and giving feedback. After making sure of its validity and reliability, it was administered to three Yemeni public universities (Sana’a University, Aden University, and Taiz University). The sample consisted of (49) Yemeni university English teachers, (590) students of level four, and (6) chairmen of English departments. The data collected were computed and analysed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows (version 17.0).
The current study is divided into six chapters. Chapter one includes an introduction to the study. It describes the problem of the study, offers its questions and highlights its significance. It also presents the aims and objectives of the study and its scope and delimitations. Moreover, it defines the terms related to the present study and spells out the outlines of the subsequent chapters.
Chapter two provides a theoretical and conceptual background for the current study. It is divided into two parts. The first part deals with teaching and teaching competencies. The second part deals with training and procedures and stages of designing training programmes.
Chapter three sheds light on some previous studies related to the two domains of the study: teaching competencies and constructing or evaluating the effectiveness of teacher training programmes. In each domain, the previous studies are classified into two groups: Arabic studies (studies conducted in the Arab countries) and foreign studies (studies conducted abroad). This chapter also describes the previous studies in terms of their objectives, sample, tools used to collect data, results, and benefits with a view to highlighting the similarities and differences between the previous studies and the current one.
Chapter four describes the approach and the design of the study and its population and sample. It also describes the procedures followed to construct the study instrument and measure its validity and reliability as well as the procedures followed to construct the proposed training programme and measure its validity. In addition, the statistical tools used to answer the questions of the study are presented in this chapter.
In chapter five, the study analyses the data obtained with a view to answering the study questions. It presents and discusses the results of that analysis to come up with facts about the practice of Yemeni university English teachers for the teaching competencies in question. In general, the study revealed that the degree of practicing Yemeni university English teachers for the teaching competencies is low. It also revealed that there are statistically significant differences in the means of practicing the teaching competencies by Yemeni university English teachers according to the variable of sample type (university English teachers, students, and chairmen of English departments) at the (0.05) level of significance. These significant differences were found in the means of the target sample responses between teachers and students on the one hand and between students and chairmen on the other hand. However, the study showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the means of the target sample responses between teachers and chairmen. Moreover, the study showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the means of the target sample responses according to the variable of geography (Sana’a, Aden, and Taiz). Based on the results of the study which highlighted the need of Yemeni university English teachers for training in teaching, a training programme was proposed and presented in this chapter.
Chapter six presents a summary of the whole study and its major conclusions. Based on the findings of the study, this chapter suggests some recommendations concerning improving the process of teaching and learning in the English departments of Yemeni universities and conducting the proposed training programme. It also presents some suggestions for further research.
It is hoped that the current study will significantly contribute to developing teaching English and English courses at university level in Yemen. It is for the first time to investigate the teaching competencies of Yemeni university English teachers. This may draw some attention to the importance of training university English teachers in teaching, improving the instructional environment of teaching English at university level, and setting some norms for appointing new university teachers to teach in English departments, including all the competencies required by a university English teacher.
Chapter one involves a discussion on the general nature of this book. It refers to some previous studies on Lewis Carroll. It states the objective and scope of our study, and discusses the method used to analyze the text. It also gives an outline of the way the dissertation has been organized.
In Chapter two, the study analyzes the book at the level of phonology. It shows how ordinary phonological devices, such as alliteration, assonance and rhyme have been used effectively. It also discusses the effect created by the lengthening of sounds and elision. The study also analyzes the use of other devices, such as onomatopoeia and abbreviation. The study also highlights the effect of the use of mispronunciation by some characters.
In Chapter three, the study discusses the text at the level of the lexicon. It reveals the author’s ability to play on words to create humour. It shows how Carroll uses the available processes of word formation to innovate new words with a view to creating confusion, misunderstanding and, thereby, humour. It also shows how the author uses several figures of speech effectively. For example, the use of puns serves a double purpose: on one hand, it makes the book appealing to children, on the other hand, it conveys deeper messages to adults by satirizing the Victorian society and their systems of education and justice. It also satirizes the whimsical and unpredictable behaviour of the members of aristocracy.
The study shows how Lewis Carroll uses antonyms to highlight the strangeness of the Wonderland in regard not only to creatures, events, and happenings, but also Alice’s experience of growing up in this world.
The extensive use of metaphors and similes is also analyzed. It is through such a use of language that Carroll is able to make the reader visualize some events and things more sharply than he would have done otherwise.
The use of allusions serves a double purpose. At one level, Carroll refers to many things that concern children. It is obvious from his references to games, subjects taught at public schools and how children are treated by adults. At another level, Carroll is able to convey deeper messages by presenting a caricature of how adults behave and interact socially as well as linguistically.
In Chapter four, the study analyzes the effective use of various syntactic devices, such as coordination and deletion to avoid redundancy and monotony. It also analyzes the use of repetition and movement of constituents and other transformational devices (e.g., clefting and extraposition) to foreground and emphasize certain constituents of sentences.
The study shows how a large-scale use of questions reflects a child’s curiosity about the Wonderland. It also analyzes the use of hedges and interruptions to indicate how the freedom of expression of children is curtailed by adults and how it affects them. The use of different kinds of sentences such as indicative, imperative, optative, and subjunctive has been discussed to highlight their stylistic effects.
The effective use of figures of speech at the syntactic level, such as chiasmus, parallelism and hyperbole heightens many points. It highlights the satire of the political caucusing, social order and justice system. It also focuses on the way in which the creatures of the Wonderland contradict and confuse Alice.
In Chapter five, the study shows how deviance from the established norms of pragmatics and logic reveals the strange way of reasoning used by the creatures of the Wonderland. The reader laughs a lot at the absurdity of several situations. However, through their nonsensical, yet seemingly logical, arguments, Carroll is able to convey deeper messages. He is able to point out how confusing adults and their world are to children, and how there is a gap in communication between them. He is also able to mock at some aspects of the restrictive Victorian society.
Chapter six summarizes the main results of the preceding chapters. It evaluates briefly the stylistic devices used in this book to show how effectively they have been used to highlight the main objectives of the book.
This multi-level linguistic analysis makes us realize why it is one of the most wonderful books written for children. Lewis Carroll has a great skill of intertwining nonsense and logic to create sense out of nonsense. At a very superficial level, the book seems to be incongruous and nonsensical because events and arguments do not fit into the accepted system of our society. However, it is not so if we look at the events from the point of view of a child. This study is a modest attempt to show how effectively various components of language have been used to achieve what Lewis Carroll had in mind.