scholarly journals English Writing Errors Committed by Saudi Students: A Study of Two Female University Groups

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 124
Author(s):  
Islam Ababneh
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Educational Material ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Saudi Students ◽  
The University ◽  
Writing Errors

The main aim of this study is to highlight the writing errors made by Saudi students majoring in English. The study selected a sample of two groups of female Saudi students residing in two Saudi regions: Tabuk and Hafr Al Batin. The students were requested to write approximately three to four paragraphs about one of three topics related to Saudi Arabia: social media and its effects on Saudi social life, marriage customs in Saudi Arabia, or the economy of Saudi Arabia. In analyzing the collected writing data, the students’ writing errors were identified and classified into four categories: grammar type, syntax type, mechanics type, and lexical type errors. Then, the frequency and error percentages of each subcategory were calculated for both groups. The findings show that both groups produced most errors in the subcategory of spelling followed by tenses subcategory even though the students from the University of Hafr Al Batin made overall higher percentages of errors than the errors’ percentages made by the students from the University of Tabuk. Further investigation reveals that all students in both regions hardly practice English writing and that Arabic interference contributes to the students’ English writing errors. The findings also imply that the curricula specialists at the Saudi ministry of education might consider including more educational material to improve the English writing skills of Saudi university students.

scholarly journals Analysis of Written English: The Case of Female University Students in Saudi Arabia

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Islam Ababneh
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Life ◽  
English Language ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Saudi Students ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The University ◽  
Writing Errors

This research sheds some light on the difficulties faced by Saudi students when writing in the English language by examining specific writing errors committed by the students. Fifty female students in their fourth year of study at the University of Tabuk in the department of languages and translation who were enrolled in the subject of error analysis (a kind of linguistic analysis that emphasizes the errors learners make in a target language) were given a quiz to write approximately one page about each one of three topics: effects of social media on Saudi social life, Saudi marriage customs, and Saudi economy. The quiz was graded and the writing errors were classified into four main categories: grammatical, syntactic, substance, and lexical types following Hubbard et al. (1996) classifications of errors. Then, the number of errors in each category was counted and the corresponding frequency was calculated. The findings of this study show that most frequent types of errors made by the students were in the categories of grammar (tenses, singular/plural, articles), syntax (subject-verb agreement), and substance (spelling).

scholarly journals The Lifestyle of Saudi Medical Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 7869
Author(s):  
Khalid A. Bin Abdulrahman ◽  
Ahmad M. Khalaf ◽  
Fahad B. Bin Abbas ◽  
Omran T. Alanezi
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Drinking Patterns ◽  
Cross Sectional

This study was conducted to investigate medical students’ lifestyle habits, including sleep quality, eating and drinking patterns, physical activity, and social status. Method: This research project is part two of a multi-institutional cross-sectional observational study conducted among medical students from six medical colleges in Saudi Arabia between September and December 2019. Results: 675 medical students were enrolled electively into the lifestyle study. About half of this number were male students and the majority were aged 18–24 years. Most students (87.6%) slept between 4–8 h a day and over 44% were dissatisfied with their sleep. Only 28.1% had three meals a day; about 40% of them usually or always skipped breakfast. A total of 44% usually or always ate fast food and 44.7% drank 2 L of water per day. Moreover, male students were significantly consuming more fast food than females, p < 0.001. The majority (63.3%) revealed they usually or always drink black coffee daily. Females were significantly more inclined to regular coffee consumption than males, p < 0.001. Only 4.3% exercised for 30 min or more daily. The majority (65%) of the students were introverted; they had few close friends. Yet, 81% were somewhat satisfied or satisfied with their social life. Male students were significantly more satisfied with their social life than females, p = 0.001. Only 4.6% smoked cigarettes daily whereas 7.1% smoked e-cigarettes daily. In contrast, only 0.3% used shisha (hookah) daily. Male medical students were substantially more inclined to e-cigarette use than females (p < 0.001). The top five leisure activities of a medical student were surfing social media (75.9%), watching movies (61.3%), hanging out with friends (58.1%), spending time with their family (55.4%), and browsing the Internet (53.6%). Female medical students were significantly more inclined to surf social media than male medical students, p = 0.022; also, watching movies was preferred for females compared to males, p = 0.006. Conclusion: This study revealed that the majority of these medical students in Saudi Arabia exhibited healthy lifestyles to some extent, and these health-promoting behaviors differed based on sex, especially concerning physical activity and eating patterns. The findings of this study provide relevant information for future actions that will be geared towards effectively decreasing the occurrence of chronic illnesses and improving future doctors’ well-being.

scholarly journals THE VIEWS OF PH.D. SAUDI STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW TO UTILISE SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS TO SUPPORT LEARNING

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Omar Abdullah Alshehri
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Saudi Students ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Social Media Tools ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The University

This paper examined the perception of using social media tools to support learning among Ph.D. Saudi students at the University of Glasgow. It also examined the benefits of using social media tools for learning and the important role that these tools can play to facilitate the educational process. Moreover, it examined the barriers they could face during the use of social media tools in the education process. Participants in this study were 3 Ph.D. Saudi students at the University of Glasgow. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data for this study. The results indicate that students, both male and female, are using social media tools and their opinions largely coincide regarding the benefits of and barriers to social media usage. The results pointed out that the major barriers to using these tools in learning were a distraction, privacy, and the lack of available high-speed Internet. The study recommended that this study could be replicated at other Saudi Ph.D. students at different universities to investigate teachers and students' perception to use these modern technologies for learning as well as find out factors and barriers that might affect Saudi teachers and students’ attitudes toward using social media tools for learning.

scholarly journals Using Design Thinking Method in Academic Advising: A Case Study in a College of Pharmacy in Saudi Arabia

Healthcare ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Dalia Almaghaslah ◽  
Abdulrhman Alsayari
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Academic Advising ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
University Life ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Advising Services ◽  
The University

Purpose: The current study was conducted to evaluate academic advising services in a pharmacy college in Saudi Arabia. This will result in developing solutions to overcome the identified challenges. Methods: Design thinking method uses five steps: empathising, defining, ideating, prototypes and testing. Results: Several issues were identified with students: limited awareness of academic rules and regulations; work-family life imbalance; lack of trust in academic advising and emotional support; unfamiliarity with different learning strategies; and lack of social life at the university. Discussion and conclusion: This study provides a model for enhancing students’ experiences with academic advising. It suggested several prototypes that have proven to be effective in enhancing students’ experiences in university life and how to overcome challenges. The prototypes include a peer academic advising club, personal development workshop and a series of lectures on college rules and regulations.

scholarly journals The Lifestyle of Saudi Medical Students

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalid A Bin Abdulrahman ◽  
Ahmad Mamoun Khalaf ◽  
Fahad Bassam Bin Abbas ◽  
Omran Thabet Alanazi
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Coffee Consumption ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Cross Sectional

Background: This study was conducted to investigate medical students' lifestyle habits, including sleep quality, eating and drinking pattern, physical activity, and social status. Method: This research project is part two of a multi-institutional cross-sectional observational study conducted among medical students from six medical colleges in Saudi Arabia between September and December 2019. Results: 675 medical students were enrolled electively into the lifestyle study. About half of this number were male students, and the majority aged 18-24 years. Most students (87.6%) slept between 4-8 hours a day, and over 44% were dissatisfied with their sleep. Only 28.1% had three meals a day; about 40% of them usually or always skipped breakfast. While 44% usually or always eat fast food, 44.7% drink 2 liters of water per day. Moreover, male students were significantly consuming fast foods than females, p&lt;0.001. The majority (63.3%) revealed they usually or always drink black coffee daily. Females were significantly more inclined to regular coffee consumption than males, p&lt;0.001. Only 4.3% exercising for 30 minutes or more daily. The majority (65%) of the students were introverted; they had few close friends. Yet, 81% were somewhat satisfied or satisfied with their social life. Male students were predicted to be significantly more satisfied with their social life than females, p=0.001. Only 4.6% smoked cigarettes daily. Whereas 7.1% smoke e-cigarette daily. In contrast, only 0.3% use shisha (hookah) daily. Male medical students were substantially more predicted to be inclined to e-cigarette use than females (p &lt;0.001. The top five leisure activities of a medical student are surfing social media (75.9%), watching movies (61.3%), hanging out with friends (58.1%), spent time with their family (55.4%), and browsing the internet (53.6%). Female medical students were significantly more inclined to surfing social media than male medical students, p=0.022; also, watching movies was preferred for females compared to males, p=0.006. Conclusion: This study revealed that the majority of medical students in Saudi Arabia exhibited healthy lifestyles to some extent, and these health-promoting behaviors differed based on gender, especially concerning physical activity and eating patterns. The findings of this study provide relevant information for future actions that will be geared towards effectively decreasing the occurrence of chronic illnesses and improving future doctor&rsquo;s well-being.

scholarly journals The Most Common Translation Problems Encounter the Saudi Students in Translating Selected Arabic Literary Items and their Point of Views behind these Problems

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Issam Mostafa Taamneh
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
University Students ◽  
Quantitative Method ◽  
The Other ◽  
Intended Meaning ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Saudi Students ◽  
Bilingual Dictionaries ◽  
The University ◽  
Academic Year

The current study aimed to investigate the most common translation problems that encountered the Saudi students in translating some of the literary items from Arabic into English. In addition, the study tried to investigate the most difficult terms that the students faced while translating them. Moreover, it aimed to explore the participants’ point of views behind such translation problems. To achieve the purpose of the study, a translation test, which involved 20 items and expressions, was prepared in advance. Furthermore, an interview was made to the participants to ask them about their point of views concerning the reasons behind encountering such translation problems. The sample of the study consisted of 15 male fourth year English-majored university students, who were chosen purposefully, at the University College of Taymaa in the first semester of the academic year 2017/2018 in Saudi Arabia. The design of the study was a qualitative as well as quantitative method. The data that were obtained from the participants’ answers in the translation test as well as the participants’ point of views in the interview were analyzed using the appropriate statistical analyses. The findings of the study showed that the students’ achievement in translating the items of the terms of address was the best compared with their results in the other two groups (lexical and cultural). Moreover, the analysis of the students’ interviews indicated that the lack of practice and lack of translation courses are a main reason in facing such these problems. Based on the findings, the researcher presented some recommendations and suggestions to develop students’ translation competence such as increasing the number of the translation courses that are presented to the students in their studying to have more practice in the process of translation. Moreover, more concentration should be given to the lexical, cultural, and terms of address problems in translation. Besides, students must be trained on how to use the bilingual dictionaries in the process of translation to get the intended meaning while rendering from Arabic into English and vice versa.

scholarly journals Investigation into Common Errors in English Writing among Non-Academic Staff at a Malaysian Public University

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Taufik Hidayah Abdullah ◽  
Mohd Nazri Latiff Azmi ◽  
Isyaku Hassan ◽  
Engku Suhaimi Engku Atek ◽  
Zailani Jusoh
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Public University ◽  
University Management ◽  
Word Use ◽  
English Writing ◽  
The Government ◽  
The University ◽  
Writing Competence ◽  
Writing Errors

The Malaysian government has long recognized the significance of mastering the English language among its citizenry. The government has planned, and subsequently, implemented many policies to ensure Malaysians master the English language. Although civil servants have a strong desire to master the English language to perform their duties more efficiently, poor English communication skills have become a major concern in this regard. Therefore, this research aims to investigate common errors in writing the English language among non-academic staff at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), a public university in Malaysia. The study employed an Error Analysis approach by conducting document analysis where every respondent was required to write a paragraph in the English language in about 150-200 words on the topic“My greatest challenge as a UniSZA officer”. The findings revealed that a sizeable number of non-academic staff committed different types of errors in writing the English language, including errors related to subject-verb agreement, passive voice, plurality, choice of word, omission of word, use of article, tense sequence, word ordering, gerund, addition of word/redundancy, and comparison of adjective. It was observed that lack of linguistic skills, lack of exposure, and inadequate practices in written English were the main factors contributing to the English writing errors among the non-academic staff. These findings could help the university management to develop appropriate programs that can assist the non-academic staff to develop English writing competence. However, this study is limited to English writing errors. Further research may focus on other language skills such as speaking and listening.

THE PERCEPTIONS OF FEMALES STUDENTS AT A NEW UNIVERSITY IN SAUDI ARABIA TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA AS E-LEARNING TOOLS TO SUPPORT LEARNING

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 77-83
Author(s):  
Omar Abdullah Alshehri
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Social Media Tools ◽  
The University ◽  
Study Participants

This paper examines the perspectives of female's students at a new university in Saudi Arabia to use social media as e-learning tools to support their learning. It also aims to investigate their current usage of these tools and the benefits behind using these tools for learning. Another aim of this study is to examine the difficulties that females' students face when they use social media tools in their learning process. The study participants comprised 23 Saudi females' students at a new university and surveyed was used to collect data for this study. The results indicate that female students are using social media tools and their opinions largely coincide regarding the benefits of and barriers to social media usage. The study recommends that future research on the usage of social media tools for learning and teaching be extended to include a wider demographic base at the same or a different university to further explore the extent to which these tools used for learning. The study provides insights that may help decision-makers at the university to recognise the extent to which females use and integrate social media tools to facilitate the educational process.

scholarly journals A New Model for Enhancing Student Portal Usage in Saudi Arabia Universities

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 7158-7171
Author(s):  
S. S. T. Alatawi ◽  
S. Miskon ◽  
N. S. Abdullah ◽  
F. Ghabban ◽  
F. Saeed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Information And Communication Technology ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Quantitative Methodology ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
The University ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
Significant Factors

Portals are gateways that provide users with the information they need from different sources and display it on a single page. It is important to see that universities utilize the resources and services provided by their student portals. With the rapid development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia aims to develop and improve student portals by providing high-quality teaching services through the university portal systems. This paper discusses the importance of student portal usage in Saudi Arabian universities and investigates the factors that influence the utilization of student portals as perceived by the students of the Saudi universities. Based on these factors, a model is proposed which identifies students’ expectations about the Saudi university portals. A quantitative methodology was employed to develop the model. The results revealed that 8 out of 10 factors of the model are significant and positively affect student portal usage. The enhancement of student portals based on the identified significant factors will assist the universities to increase their utilization and their provided services.

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