Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Attitudes and Perceptions of English Language Teachers at Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia Towards Integrating Sustainability Topics into the English Language Curriculum and its Potential Impact on Students' Learning(University of Essex, 2024-09-18) Alharthi, Saad; Gkonou, ChristinaThis dissertation investigates English language teachers' attitudes and perceptions towards integrating sustainability topics at Umm Al-Qura University's English Language Institute (ELI). It addresses the under-researched area of sustainability in English Language Teaching (ELT) within the Saudi Arabian context. Employing a holistic approach, the study explores the factors influencing teachers' acceptance and implementation of sustainability education, considering the impact on students' learning skills. The research examines teachers' attitudes, potential demographic influences, perceived impacts on students, and challenges and opportunities related to sustainability integration. By providing empirical evidence from a specific cultural context, the study fills a gap in the literature and aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The findings contribute to informing curriculum development, teacher training, and policy decisions to advance sustainability education in Saudi Arabia and beyond.39 0Item Restricted Investigating the Effectiveness of Mobile Learning for Enhancing the Academic Literacy of Saudi EFL Students: A Case Study of Students at Umm Al-Qura University.(Saudi Digital Library, 2024-11-25) Alqhtani, Abdalelah; Georgiou, Helen; Ward, Rowena; Freeman, MarkThis thesis examines the impact of mobile learning technologies, specifically the ReadTheory and the Write&Improve programs, on the academic literacy development of Saudi university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. This study situates itself within the broader context of academic literacy challenges faced by Saudi EFL students, with a particular emphasis on key aspects such as vocabulary development, reading comprehension, mastery of sentence structure, and skills in composition analysis. Drawing on theoretical frameworks such as the Constructivist Learning Theory (CLT) and the Mobile Learning Framework, the study explores how mobile learning learner-centred development of academic literacy. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is used to investigate Saudi EFL students’ perceptions and attitudes toward the ReadTheory and the Write&Improve programs as language learning tools. In this thesis, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is applied as a standard for evaluating the language proficiency levels of Saudi EFL students. It provides a comprehensive framework for assessing the specific impact of the ReadTheory and the Write&Improve programs on their reading and writing outcomes. Through theoretical analysis and empirical research, this study contributes to understanding the potential of mobile learning in enhancing EFL education in Saudi Arabia. The study, conducted at Umm Al Qura University (UQU), adopts a quasi-experimental design. All participants completed pre-and post-tests to evaluate students’ progress. Participants in the technology intervention groups also filled in post-intervention surveys about their perceptions of the programs’ usefulness and ease of use. The undergraduate participant cohort was divided into four groups: two for reading and two for writing. The reading groups involved 150 students, evenly split between those using the ReadTheory program and those attending online reading workshops. Both interventions spanned ten weeks. The reading workshops are held once a week to mitigate the potential positive impact of the technological intervention. Similarly, the writing groups involved 185 students, with 109 participants using the Write&Improve program and 76 attending online writing workshops. These writing workshops, conducted once a week for over ten weeks, ensured comparable exposure and practice writing opportunities, providing all participants with equal learning opportunities. This consistent structure across both reading and writing interventions was designed to create balanced conditions for evaluating the effectiveness of the mobile learning programs. Results show significant improvements in academic literacy. The ReadTheory intervention effectively enhanced the students’ reading skills (d = 0.74), outperforming the reading workshops (d = 0.18). The Write&Improve program significantly enhanced overall writing skills (d = 0.66) compared to the online writing workshops (d = 0.22). However, the online writing workshops were more effective in improving students’ sentence structure (d = 0.35) than in developing composition analysis skills (d = 0.14). Students found both programs useful and user-friendly for developing their academic literacy skills. This research contributes to advancing English education in Saudi Arabia and aligns with the country’s Vision 2030 by emphasising technology integration into educational practices. The research also has practical implications for EFL educators and researchers and concludes with suggestions for future research and application in similar settings.81 0Item Restricted The use of translation in English for specific academic purposes classes in Saudi Arabia. PhD Thesis.(University of Glasgow, 2024-02-28) Alsuwayhiri, Meshari Muthyib; Anderson , Wendy; MacDiarmid, CaroleThe use of translation in second language pedagogy has long been a topic of controversy, discussion and debate. Translation was omnipresent as a language teaching method, with its dominance well-documented in the scholarly literature concerned with foreign language teaching (Kelly, 1969). However, the end of the 19th century marked a watershed moment, which saw translation fall from grace owing to critics representing the Reform Movement, who voiced a chorus of disapproval of its excessive emphasis on the written form of language to the detriment of oral proficiency. This gave rise to a host of alternative teaching methods, e.g. the Direct Method, the Berlitz Method, and the Natural Method, prioritising the development of oral competence, which translation was thought to impede, and thus was only deemed attainable if second language teaching followed a monolingual approach. Consequently, much criticism, controversy and scepticism surrounded the use of translation, with the credo that English is best taught through English prevailing as an axiom that permeated the theoretical discourse, despite relying on assumptions rather than being evidence-based (G. Cook, 2010). Since the recent turn of century, however, a growing, revived interest in translation has been observed, in conjunction with a flurry of publications and academic research advocating a return to bi/multilingual teaching, so much so that it has been termed the translation turn (Carreres & Noriega-Sánchez, 2021). Against this backdrop, this thesis seeks to explore the attitudes of Saudi university English for specific academic purposes (ESAP) teaching staff and students to translation, the purposes for which they use it and the factors leading to its use, in addition to investigating their actual use of translation in practice. A mixed-method approach, employing classroom observations, surveys and interviews, is employed to gain an in-depth understanding of the topic under study. The results of the inquiry provide evidence of widespread use of translation in ESAP classes, despite the teaching staff being strongly in favour of an English-only approach. This offers yet another indication of the complex relationship between what teachers believe and what they actually do repeatedly reported in the literature, in this case concerning the difference between teachers’ attitudes to the use of translation and what actually occurs in their practice. The findings further show an appreciation of the merits of translation among both teachers and students, which is primarily drawn upon when issues of students’ low proficiency arise, as well as when teaching and learning complex ESAP vocabulary and grammar.58 0