scholarly journals Gender Differences in Beliefs about English Language Policies (ELPs): The Case of Saudi Higher Education English Departments

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Suliman Mohammed Nasser Alnasser
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
English Language ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
English Departments ◽  
And Gender

Review of literature suggests that issues in English language policies (ELPs) in higher education foreign language department levels have not been addressed, and the relationship between beliefs about general notions of ELPs and gender has been disregarded. The current study investigates gender-related differences in beliefs on five main notions of ELPs among staff members in Saudi Arabian English departments. An online survey was administered to staff members in different Saudi English departments from different regions in Saudi Arabia. Five general statements on ELPs were included in the survey and were responded to by male (n = 67) and female (n = 143) staff members (total = 210). Pearson’s chi-square test of independence and the calculated percentages of responses were used to analyze gender differences. No statistically significant differences were found between male and female participants, with the exception of one statement. Both genders had generally similar beliefs on ELPs. Moreover, the female staff had slightly stronger beliefs than the male staff, and males showed more hesitation than females did when deciding on ELP matters. The study also discusses the implications of the findings and provided recommendations for future research.

scholarly journals Language Use by Staff Members in Saudi English Higher Education Departments: Beliefs and Gender Differences

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Suliman Mohammed Nasser Alnasser
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
English Departments ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Chi Square Test ◽  
And Gender

Educational language policies in Saudi Arabia have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. English departments in the country are comprised of male and female staff members who practise these language policies at departmental level and also outside the domain of the classroom and on a variety of occasions. There are several reasons for the use of English (a foreign language) alongside Arabic (the mother tongue) and these have an influence on the shape of current or future language policies. The effect of gender on the selection of particular reasons has not been investigated and this is the focus of the current paper. In the study referred to here, both quantitative (online survey) and qualitative (open-ended section) approaches to data collection were adopted. The context of the study was English departments in Saudi Arabian higher education establishments. The survey consisted of five items (statements) and two questions with open-ended sections. The data was collected from different regions of the country and included male (n = 67) and female (n = 143) staff members. The Chi-Square test of independence was administered to determine the significance of differences found between the two genders and only in one of the five items was a statistically significant difference found. It was, therefore, concluded that males and females in Saudi English departments share similar beliefs with regard to the use of language, with only slight differences between them. This paper discusses the implications of these findings as well as possible areas of investigation for future researchers.

scholarly journals Language Policy and Power in Out-of-Classroom EFL Contexts: The Case of English Departments in Saudi Arabian Higher Education Institutions

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 136
Author(s):  
Mohammad Almoaily
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
English Language ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
The Impact

Most of the research on language policies in educational institutions has hitherto focused on the creation, interpretation, or appropriation of language policies that govern language use in the classroom. Language policies, however, can be instantiated or implemented in out-of-classroom settings. Hence, the current study examines the impact of language policies, in terms of both beliefs and practices, as mechanisms of power in communication between staff members in official meetings taking place at higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia. An online survey taken by 208 members, in addition to semi-structured interviews with eight department chairpersons, revealed that the implementation of monolingual English language policies can minimize the proportion of engagement of staff members, who are less competent in English, in department council meetings, committee meetings, and other official meetings. The data also suggested that the majority of participants in the study believe that multilingual language policies (allowing the use of both Arabic and English) should be avoided in order to not exclude non-Arabic speaking staff members from participation in official dialogue. The study concludes with implications for language policy creation and implementation for out-of-classroom English use in EFL educational institutions.

scholarly journals Exploring Saudi English Departments’ Beliefs on Language Use at Department Level: When and Why?

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 128
Author(s):  
Suliman Mohammed Nasser Alnasser
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
English Language ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Department Chairpersons ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
English Departments ◽  
Higher Educational ◽  
Arabic Speaking

In Saudi Arabia, staff members in higher educational English departments communicate with one another and with students outside the domain of the classroom on a daily basis using English (L2) and/or Arabic (L1) languages in different departmental encounters. The existence of English Language Policies (henceforth ELPs) in Saudi English departments is expected because of the nature of the work and the likelihood of the presence of non-Arabic-speaking members. The literature does not offer any account of the existing beliefs of staff members in Saudi English departments regarding the reasons for the timing and contexts in which English and/or Arabic should be used. This serves as the purpose of the current study. This study adopted a mixed method approach. The total number of participants comprised 216 staff members affiliated to the Saudi higher educational English departments. They were of different specialties, ranks, genders, ages, and from different regions. A total of 208 participants responded to an online survey, which was composed of a background section and five questions. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews comprising two questions were conducted with eight interviewees (seven male department chairpersons and one female vice chair). The main conclusions of the study include that majority of staff members prefer to use English on every possible occasion. However, they also believe Arabic should not be banned from use at department level. Other findings, implications, and recommendations for future research are provided.

scholarly journals Self-Determination, Deviance, and Risk Factors

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-84
Author(s):  
Shyanna Albrecht ◽  
David Mykota
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Physical Damage ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Significant Interaction Effect ◽  
Chi Square Test ◽  
And Gender ◽  
John Howard

Deviant behaviours are a significant cost to Canadian society and can incur an immeasurable amount of emotional and physical damage every year (Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, 2018; The John Howard Society of Canada, 2018). There have been numerous studies on the role of risk factors in affecting deviant behaviours, however, few of these have examined the influence of self-determination on deviance (Mann et al., 2010; Murray & Farrington, 2010; Zara & Farrington, 2010). This study intends to fill this gap by investigating the interactions between self-determination, gender, risk factors, and deviance. Participants were invited through the University of Saskatchewan’s PAWS and SONA systems to complete an online survey that asked questions relating to gender, self-determination, risk factors, and deviance. A Chi-square Test for Independence was utilized to explore the explicit relationships between the type of self-determination and gender differences. In addition, a two-way MANOVA was used to compare self-determination and gender together in relation to deviance and risk factors. A Chi-square test found that there was not a significant relationship between gender and self-determination while the two-way MANOVA found a significant interaction effect between self-determination, deviance, and risk factors. However, when the interaction was examined further through univariate ANOVAs, no significant differences were found. Future research that examines and expands on the relationship between self-determination, gender, risk factors and antisocial behavior is suggested.

Feeling Threatened by Immigrants: The Role of Ideology and Subjective Societal Status

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Bollwerk ◽  
Bernd Schlipphak ◽  
Joscha Stecker ◽  
Jens Hellmann ◽  
Gerald Echterhoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Threat Perceptions ◽  
Contextual Determinants ◽  
Intergroup Conflicts ◽  
And Gender

Threat perceptions towards immigrants continue to gain importance in the context of growing international migration. To reduce associated intergroup conflicts, it is crucial to understand the personal and contextual determinants of perceived threat. In a large online survey study (N = 1,184), we investigated the effects of ideology (i.e., Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation), subjective societal status (SSS) and their interaction effects in predicting symbolic and realistic threat perceptions towards Middle Eastern immigrants. Results showed that ideology (higher RWA and SDO) and lower SSS significantly predicted both symbolic and realistic threat, even after controlling for income, education, age, and gender. Furthermore, ideology and SSS interacted significantly in predicting realistic threat, with higher levels of SDO and RWA enhancing the effect of SSS. In the discussion, we focus on the implications of our findings with respect to understanding societal conflicts, discuss methodological limitations, and provide directions for future research.

scholarly journals Predictors of Language Learners’ Preferences for Isolated/Integrated FFI: Big Five NEO-FFI Personality Traits

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naser Sabourian Zadeh ◽  
Maryam Naderi Farsani ◽  
Masoume Ahmadi
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Big Five ◽  
English Language ◽  
Big Five Personality Traits ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
Focus On Form ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Chi Square Analysis

<p>With regard to increasing attention to focus on form in English language teaching, there has been a call for an integration of meaning-focused and form-focused instruction in the second language (L2) classroom. In this regard, this study is an attempt to examine the cross-relationship between Big Five personality traits (namely Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) and EFL leaners’ preferences for two types of form-focused Instruction (FFI). The data is collected from 236 Iranian male and female who were EFL learners of different language institutes in Tehran, Iran. Participants were supposed to fill out the adopted Persian version of NEO-FFI personality trait inventory and Students’ preferences questionnaire. To substantiate a correlation between participants’ preferences for isolated/integrated FFI and Big Five personality traits, using 16th version of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), the Chi-square analysis was employed. The results indicated a significant relationship (<em>χ</em><sup>2</sup>(4, n=236)=44.99, p=.001). The results are discussed in the light of this general findings and the study also provides some suggestions for future research.</p>

scholarly journals KWReq—a new instrument for measuring knowledge work requirements of higher education graduates

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian Trommer ◽  
Hildegard Schaeper ◽  
Gregor Fabian
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
English Language ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Questionnaire Development ◽  
Measurement Instrument ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Replication Study ◽  
Future Research ◽  
New Instrument

AbstractStarting from the observation that questionnaires for appropriately measuring the changing working conditions and requirements of the highly qualified workforce do not exist, we developed a new German-language instrument focussing on knowledge work. Based on theoretical considerations, we first identified three basic dimensions that constitute knowledge work: novelty, complexity, and autonomy. During the subsequent process of questionnaire development with higher education graduates, including a cognitive pretest, a quantitative development study, and a replication study, these dimensions were operationalised by initially 173 and finally 22 items. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling of the data of both the development and the replication study show that the 22-item instrument validly and reliably measures novelty (4 items), complexity with three subdimensions (9 items), and autonomy, also with three subdimensions (9 items). An English version of the questionnaire is available. However, the empirical test of the English-language questionnaire as well as possible refinements of the measurement instrument, which will be discussed in the final section of the paper, are left to future research.

Gender Inequalities in the Transition to College

2009 ◽  
Vol 111 (10) ◽  
pp. 2320-2346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Buchmann
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Transition To College ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
School Graduation

Background In terms of high school graduation, college entry, and persistence to earning a college degree, young women now consistently outperform their male peers. Yet most research on gender inequalities in education continues to focus on aspects of education where women trail men, such as women's underrepresentation at top-tier institutions and in science and engineering programs. The paucity of research on the realms where women outpace men, namely college enrollment and completion, constitutes a major gap in the literature. Purpose This article provides an overview of gender inequality in the transition to college and in college experiences by examining the ways that women are advantaged in higher education and the arenas where they still trail men. It also discusses theoretical perspectives useful in assessing the causes of gender inequality and then suggests how future research could advance our understanding of the complex nature of gender inequality in higher education. Research Design The identification and critical review of research and theories that have been used or that could prove useful in assessing and explaining the complex patterns of gender inequalities in the transition to college and in higher education more generally. Conclusions/Recommendations Fruitful pathways for future research to advance understanding of the complex nature of gender inequalities in higher education include examining gender inequalities early in the educational life course, attending to gender differences within vulnerable segments of the population who may be particularly at risk for not attending higher education, and investigating how the structure and practices of schooling relate to gender differences in educational outcomes.

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