Relationship between Perceived Needs and Actual Use of English By Graduates of Qatar University in the Workplace
This paper summarizes a survey of the perceived needs and actual uses of English in workplace by graduates of Qatar University. It was carried out by the Documentation and Humanities Research Centre at Qatar University in 2004. A questionnaire was designed to elicit such information. It comprises three parts: 1) demographic information, 2) perceived needs of English in the workplace, 3) the actual use of the different English language skills in the workplace. The sample consists of 644 employees who finished their education at Qatar Universit. In this paper the emphasis is on the interaction between perceived needs and actual use of English by the graduates. The results showed that English is used extensively in civil surface in all its skills. It is also evident that these skills correlate with each other. In addition, English is used at a high frequency. Implications for future research and Pedagogical Implications are also addressed.
ESL Students’ Perception of Teacher’s Written Feedback Practice in Malaysian Classrooms
Providing feedback on second language (L2) writing is an essential part of a writing teacher’s job. Even though each student may have different needs for and expectation of written feedback, they may not be given the chance to choose their preferred types of feedback as decisions are often made by the teachers. Motivated by this concern, this study aims to examine the current written feedback received by secondary school students in Malaysia and to reveal how they perceived the feedback. 90 students from three schools in the State of Johor were recruited as respondents and were surveyed using a self-completed questionnaire adapted from the literature. The study revealed interesting findings of erratic feedback frequency across teachers and the dominance of feedback on writing content rather than form. The participants were also found to be affected adversely emotionally despitetheir acknowledgment that the feedback led them to improve their writing. The study concludes by highlighting the need for a standard guideline from local education authorities to guarantee fair and equal treatment in the essay grading practice across the nation.
Developing Communication Skills: A practical handbook for language teachers, with examples in English, French and German
This book is aimed at all language teachers who wish to adopt a communicative approach to teaching. It shows teachers how to practise this way of teaching with the course materials and course organisation already available to them and gives concrete examples of teaching material in English, French and German. The first section is a clear and practical introduction which offers a definition of oral communication skills and suggests why, how and when they can be practised in the classroom, while the second section consists of practical examples for teachers to try out and adapt to suit their own needs.