The Impact of Instructors’ Perceptions of E-Learning on the Quality of Online Teaching: A Case Study of the French Language Instructors at the University of Bahrain During COVID-19 Pandemic

French language instructors at the University of Bahrain faced many challenges in adapting their teaching practices during the sudden transition to online teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this case study, we explore the French language instructors’ perceptions of e-learning and their attitudes toward technology during the pandemic as well as their students’ perceptions of the quality of their online teaching. The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between instructors’ perceptions and teaching performance. We conducted the study during the beginning of the sudden change to online teaching and administered online survey-based data collection instruments to gather information about French language instructors’ perceptions and undergraduate students’ satisfaction with the quality of French language online teaching. One year later, we completed data collection with semi-structured interviews of the instructors’ perceptions and online teaching experience. The findings indicated that despite the abrupt switch to online teaching, instructors showed a prominent level of technology acceptance. However, the results indicated effective online teaching was highly correlated to instructors’ pedagogical preparedness and self-efficacy level. Consequently, this study outlines key factors influencing the efficacy of e-learning, including pedagogical preparedness, instructors’ self-efficacy, and information and communications technology literacy. In addition, in this study we propose implications for instructors’ preparation and development.

Vocabulary Size and Depth of Knowledge: A Study of Bahraini EFL Learners

This study investigates the size and depth of vocabulary knowledge and its relationship to the general language proficiency of EFL learners. The study sample included 120 students from the University of Bahrain. The sample was randomly selected from the student population and split into two groups in terms of their level of English: intermediate and advanced. The study aims to answer four questions: (1) What is the effect of general language proficiency on the sizes of the receptive and productive vocabularies of learners of English at the University of Bahrain? (2) How does general language proficiency affect the depth of vocabulary knowledge of learners of English at the University of Bahrain? (3) What is the relationship between receptive and productive vocabularies and the depth of vocabulary knowledge? and (4) What is the relationship between vocabulary size and the nature of lexical networking? All the students in the sample completed three vocabulary tasks. The first two tasks were Meara and Jones’s Eurocentres Vocabulary Size Test (1990) and Meara and Fitzpatrick’s Lex30 word association task (2000), which were used to measure the sizes of receptive and productive vocabularies. The third task was Gyllstad’s COLLEX test (2007), which was used to investigate the depth of vocabulary knowledge. A quasi-experimental approach was adopted using a quantitative approach to analyze the data. The data of the study were analyzed by comparing the results of the two groups in relation to the three tasks using SPSS 16.0. The findings of the study have revealed that general language proficiency has a positive effect on learners’ receptive vocabulary size, a moderate effect on learners’ productive vocabulary size, and a very low effect on the depth of vocabulary knowledge. In addition, no relationship was shown between the size of vocabulary and the nature of lexical networking. With reference to these results, pedagogical and future research recommendations are made.

Exploring Effective Practices in Managing Distance Learning for Teaching Art and Design in Bahrain

As universities move to virtual learning, the need to explore the most effective practices for remotely teaching art and design students became very critical. It is very important to examine the strategies universities are using to efficiently transfer skills and knowledge and meet the needs of students through an online learning environment. Art and design classes involve hands-on activities and requirements that cannot easily be met in digital environments. Therefore, the study aims to investigate the creative approaches that art and design educators adopted to transition to remote teaching. The study involved conducting an online focus group with eleven art and design educators at The University of Bahrain to investigate the experiences, perceptions, and the challenges they faced while teaching art and design remotely during the Covid-19 Pandemic. The focus group engaged the educators in a semi-structured discussion in order to gather qualitative data that would allow for a descriptive analysis of their online teaching experiences and the most effective approaches they implemented. Thus, the study is undertaken to determine the most effective practices that can be employed by educators to engage students and enhance the distance learning process in an art and design online environment. The findings suggested that the main challenges that are peculiar to art and design distance learning include difficulty in clearly seeing the value of the colors in a student’s artwork on screen and the unavailability of features that support art and design remote teaching in the currently available learning management systems.

University Graduates’ Perception about the Effect of EFL Speaking Skills on Employability

This paper explores the perception of Bahraini graduates from the University of Bahrain on the speaking skills they acquired in EFL courses in higher education and to what extent it served them in job interviews and at work. The study employed an online survey to collect data from Bahrainis who have graduated from the University of Bahrain in the last five years, and 214 responses were collected. The results showed that the majority of participants thought that university EFL courses should focus more directly on English speaking skills as they affected their success in job interviews and for work. According to the participants, the three major obstacles to improving English speaking skills required for increasing employability in EFL courses were that these courses were mostly based on indoctrination, that students rarely found a chance to talk in class and also that topics were far from verbal communication needs at work. The study suggested some in-class strategies for improving English speaking skills and also recommended either making speaking a compulsory graded component of EFL courses and/or adding a compulsory English speaking course to the university programmes.