This came shortly after Prime Minister Hassan Diab addressed the nation, promising a 1.2-trillion-Lebanese pound (400-million-dollar) stimulus plan -- although it was unclear how…
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COVID-19 cases have spiked in the wake of the devastating August 4 explosion that destroyed parts of Beirut, causing mass casualties and forcing the resignation of Prime Minister…
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DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB254641
ISSN: 2633-304X
Keywords
Geographic
Topical
LEBANON: Leaders will divert explosion accountability
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DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-ES258166
ISSN: 2633-304X
Keywords
Geographic
Topical
The government has drawn up a detailed document setting out the gravity of the country’s economic plight and requesting over 10 billion dollars of additional aid from the IMF and…
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DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB252596
ISSN: 2633-304X
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Geographic
Topical
This followed the government’s decision to default, for the first time ever, on bonds maturing on March 9. There is a mounting controversy over whether to seek financial support…
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DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB251560
ISSN: 2633-304X
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Mass popular protests forced the resignation of the previous coalition government and threatened Hezbollah's domestic political hegemony. This comes as the movement leads calls…
LEBANON: New cabinet will fail to exit crisis
LEBANON: Cabinet resignation may further stall change
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DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-ES254509
ISSN: 2633-304X
Keywords
Geographic
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The purpose of this paper is to determine the degree of interrelatedness and the role of a number of context‐specific factors in the English language proficiency development of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine the degree of interrelatedness and the role of a number of context‐specific factors in the English language proficiency development of Arab college‐bound learners. These factors include: language class risk‐taking, sociability, discomfort, motivation, and attitude toward class.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed a one‐group pretest‐posttest experimental design. In total, 67 (n=67) male English as a foreign language college‐bound learners participated in the study. All participants took general English language proficiency pretests and posttests in order to determine the effect size of improvement in their language proficiency after an intensive treatment of 200 contact hours. The calculated effect sizes of improvement were correlated with learners' scores on the factors under study as measured by a modified version of the Ely classroom climate measure. In addition, Pearson product‐moment correlation coefficients were computed and a step‐wise multiple regression analysis was run in order to determine the degree of interrelatedness among the variables under study and to determine their extent of their role in the effect size of the proficiency gains of the participants.
Findings
The findings indicated that language class sociability is positively related to students' motivation to learn and to a positive class attitude. Conversely, language class risk‐taking was found to be negatively related to class discomfort which in turn was negatively related to student motivation to learn. The findings also indicated that none of the affective variables under study predicted the effect size of the proficiency gains realized by learners.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study suggest that language acquisition is a complex process determined by interaction among a number of learner‐related and contextual factors. Furthermore, the findings suggest that motivation for learning is related to learners' affective feelings and may impact their class participation. A limitation of the study is that it employed a one‐group experimental design and, as such, there was no control or comparison group.
Practical implications
Using humanistic/affective methods of teaching could decrease students' feelings of class discomfort and increase their motivation and class sociability.
Originality/value
The study provides insights into the language acquisition process of Arab college‐bound learners based on empirical evidence.