Reima Al-Jarf's Blog (49)

I conducted an experiment with two groups of sophomore students majoring in translation. The control group was taught British culture using in-class instruction only, and the experimental group was taught using a combination of online and in-class instruction. Experimental students used the online course from home as the internet was inaccessible from campus. Both groups were pre and post-tested. The impact of online instruction on cultural awareness, the relationship between the online course… Continue

In the past six semesters I have used online courses in teaching EFL courses to freshman students. Blackboard and Nicenet were used as a supplement to in-class instruction. We used our PC's and internet connection from home. Students posted stories and poems that they read on the internet or in books and liked to share, and wrote short paragraphs related to the themes covered in class and textbook. I encouraged them to write for communication and not to worry about grammatical and spelling… Continue

Latest developments in information technology resulted in a revolution in library and information sciences. Acquiring electronic searching skills together with the availability of electronic resources will enable researchers to access a plethora of up-to-date information and will lead to productivity in research. This study tried to investigate the availability of electronic databases at Arab university libraries, whether faculty members can search electronic databases, and the frequency of… Continue

Nicenet, WebCT and Moodle were used to teach grammar to freshman students at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. The aims of the experiment were to find out whether the complexity of an online course design and multiplicity of tools used would affect its frequency of usage, to identify technological and linguistic barriers to students' participation and interaction in those online courses and to report students' perceptions of their online learning experience. The subjects were divided into 3… Continue

Three English-as-a foreign language (EFL) college instructors in Ukraine, Russia and Saudi Arabia and their undergraduate students shared a cross-cultural online writing project. The aim of the project was to develop students' writing skills in EFL, to develop their awareness of local and global cultural issues and events, and to develop their ability to communicate and interact with students from other cultures. Thirteen discussion threads, twenty external links, nine documents, three… Continue

Year after year, EFL and translation programs at King Saud University are experiencing significant increases in female freshman student enrollments. This study aims to investigate the effect of female freshman student enrollment figures in EFL programs on student achievement and attitudes, program staffing, classroom instruction, management, assessment, resources and facilities utilization on the basis of female faculty demographic, female faculty teaching load, number of courses and total… Continue

Technology is not currently used in EFL classrooms at King Saud University. Therefore an attempt was made to use online learning in EFL vocabulary instruction from home, as a supplement to classroom instruction. Two groups of freshman students participated in the study. The pre-test scores showed no significant differences between both groups in their vocabulary knowledge. Then, both groups studied the same vocabulary textbook, and completed the same lessons and exercises in that textbook. In… Continue

Many students and instructors feel that writing in a foreign language is a chore rather than an enjoyable task. Students are always hesitant to write because they are inhibited and are afraid of making mistakes. Many cannot generate ideas. In the past six semesters I have used online courses in teaching EFL courses to freshman students. Blackboard and Nicenet were used as a supplement to in-class instruction. We used our PC's and internet connection from home. Students posted stories and poems… Continue

The study recommends that cross-cultural online dialogue be part of the EFL college classroom in Saudi Arabia. It proposes a model for dialogue skills, cross-cultural themes that can serve as a basis for selecting dialogue topics, print and electronic resources for locating stereotypes and misconceptions about Saudi Arabia, Islamic and Arabic cultures. Examples of online instruction and collaborative and interactive activities; and recommendations for successful dialogue between Saudi and… Continue