Reasons for the Lack of Students Readiness with English Language at University - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal Why do Emirati university students need English preparation programs when entering the university after being taught English in government schools? Table of contents Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………………...4 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………….5 Research problem ………………………………………………………………………...5 Purpose of the study ……………………………………………………………………..6 Literature review …………………………………………………………………………6 Research question ………………………………………………………………………...8 Significance of the study …………………………………………………………………8 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………….9 Philosophical framework and Research Approach………………………………………..9 Research design ………………………………………………………………………...…9 The context, the sample and the sample procedures …………………………………….10 Methods of data collection ………………………………………………………………10 Methods of Data analysis ………………………………………………………………...11 Measures to validity, reliability and/or trustworthiness ………………………………...11 Ethical issues ……………………………………………………………………………..12 Data presentation ………………………………………………………………………....12 Role of the researchers …………………………………………………………………....13 Conclusions …………………………………………………………………………………..13 References …………………………………………………………………………………... 14 Abstract According to Melanie Swan, (2012) the head of the high-school exam board CEPA stated that “88 percent of students graduate with inadequate English to cope at University, where almost all courses are taught in English” (p. 1). This relates to why Emirati students spend at least one year in foundation programs offering English language learning opportunities despite having learnt the language in high school. As a result, the purpose of the proposed study is to explore the reasons that contributed in the lack of Emirati students’ readiness with the English language when they enter the university although they studied English in the school. A qualitative case study design will be used in the investigation. Random purposeful sampling will be used to select the participants. Credibility and reliability in the study will be achieved by different methods of qualitative data collection including individual interview, focused group interviews and observations. Ethical issues likely to arise in the study will be addressed by seeking approval from relevant authorities and consent from the participants. The process data collection will involve individual and focused group interviews and the data analyzed using thematic analysis approach. Key words (Emirati students, English language, Qualitative research, Case Study design, English foundation programs, lack of readiness, University) Introduction Education in the UAE encounters several changes since the declaration of the federation on 1971. One of the main fields that the UAE government invested on is the education system in the country where it encouraged provided free education for local people, male and female, in schools starting from KG to the University level. Due to the global changes around the world especially in the field of education different changes happened in the educational system in the UAE in order to be able to compete, play role and cope with the challenges around them in the world. The higher Education is the door for preparing Emirati people to face the continues and the changeable challenges around them in the world. Most of the higher education institutions in the UAE provide the majority of the courses in English because English is the language that facilitate communication around the world and being able to use English will help students to have more options when entering the field of work. Learning English considered being a challenge for some people who learn the language as a second language; they have to undergo short-term or long terms courses in order to learn the language (Youssef, 2012). Many Emirati students graduate from government schools with low academic level in English although they studies English at school. Most of the courses in the universities are taught in English, so students are given remedial classes to improve their English language proficiency and are required to pass remedial tests so they can start studying at the university (Othman & Shuquir, 2013). In addition, many of them after graduating from high schools spend years in the English foundation programs, provided by the University they choose, before starting the study in the university. Through case study research and interviews, we will explore from Emirati students perspectives the reasons that contribute to the lack of their readiness with the English language when entering the university. Research problem Every year many students enter the English foundation programs and they spend year or two and sometimes more in the program in order to improve their English while they supposed to be started studying in in the university or the college they choose. Although the English foundation programs help students to improve their level in English, it takes time and effort from the students; they spend the foundation years in learning only English while if they were prepared well from the school they would spend these years in the university life. In addition, in order for a student to graduate from the university in four years, it might take him/her six or seven years if we added the foundation years, the years that students supposed to stay at the university. Although the government tries to develop new programs in teaching English at schools such as developing the curriculum by cooperating with other national institutions and in some cases investing resources in hiring native English speakers to teach the language, there is still a gap in students’ proficiency level in English (Al Mahrooqi, 2012). Moreover, the English foundation program cost the government a lot of money and it becomes a burden on the financial resources of the UAE government because the government funds many of the universities that provided the foundation program (Salem, 2014). We consider conducting this research because there are few researches done in the UAE to explore the problem and to highlight the possible suggestion for improvements. Moreover, there is a need to understand the reasons that lead to the students’ lack of readiness and their low level in learning English before entering the university. Knowledge about the reasons for lack of students' readiness will help the students to invest their time and efforts properly when entering the university and also it will help the government to reduce the unnecessary budget on these programs. It is important to know the reasons from the students’ perspective because they experience the problem and they can provide in-depth information that clarify the reasons and help in understanding the situation. The finding of this research can help in improving and developing some practices related to teaching English at government schools. Purpose of the study The purpose of this study is to explore the reasons that contribute in the lack of Emirati students’ readiness with the English language when they enter the university although they studied English in the school. Many Emirati students are graduating from high school with low level in English language acquisition that affects their enrolment and studying in universities. Most of the universities in the UAE give all the courses in English and it is difficult for non-speaker English to get a degree without being able to read, write and speak in English. Many Emirati students are graduating from school with insufficient level in English to use at University where courses are taught in English (Melanie Swan, 2012). Many Emirati students spend minimally one year in an English foundation program in order to gain the needed skills in English language. “Young Emirati high school-leavers aged around 17-19 who do not meet the minimum English language entry requirements for studying in their career program of choice enter their first year in a foundation program where they begin to recover their skill deficits in English, Math, Computing, and Personal Development” (Hatherley-Greene, 2014, p. 1). This study aim to explore from the Emirati university students’ perception r the easons that lead to have a big number of Emirati students in English foundation program after graduating from government high school.. Literature review “It is clear that English is incredibly important in the undergraduates’ and teachers’ lives, because it is used throughout Emirati society and the world and it is needed for communication inside and outside the UAE, which testifies to the power of English’s global nature” (Hopkyns, 2014, p. 10). It is important for the students when learning English to find the enrich environment in order to make achievements and that is what they need when they study English at school or at the university; according to Hatherley-Greene (2014), he state that “It is evident that involvement, engagement, and integration are the key success predictors in a student’s first year at college” (p. 3). In addition, learning English and acquiring the needed skills means that the students would be able to continue studying at the university, which means they would be able to achieve their future goals; and that can happen by the presence of some factors. As Hatherley-Greene (2014), mentioned “the key persistence factors at college were parental support, students’ own dreams of continuing education, and the perceived quality of post-secondary education institutions within the UAE” (p. 3). Before entering the University or colleges in the UAE students are required to finish IELTS entrance exam or an equivalent exam to it; a study showed that in comparison to students in other places in the world, the English language proficiency levels of Emirati students are low (Garinger & Schoepp, 2013). Diallo (2014) discussed that, after interviewing several western-trained teachers in the UAE, they noticed that some Emirati students resist to study in English the work of the well-known western writers because they prefer to use English in studying their own literature and poetry that is related to their values and culture. The lack of readiness can be a result of students’ negative attitude toward learning English because it is not a native language in Arab countries and the students are less likely to use it in communication outside the classroom setting (Mamun & Rahman & Rahman & Hossain, 2012). It is important for the students who are still in high schools to understand the importance of learning English and it’ is impact on them as they will move to the University so they should think about their need of learning English rather than thinking about it as a subject that they are forced to study. The lack of students’ seriousness in learning English can affect their readiness in acquiring the English language. Many students learn English in high school but they lack the understanding of the purpose of learning the language where many of them think that they learn English to pass tests in order to be able to register in the university (Sivaraman, Balushi and Rao, 2014). Deveci (2015) stated that, “for individuals to develop themselves they must feel the need to acquire new knowledge and engage in new learning experiences” (p.4). In addition, Jewels and Albon (2012) taught students at different institutions in the UAE, they agreed that beyond looking at English, Emirati students’ abilities academically, intellectually, and knowledgably are comparable with Western students whom they taught. They stated that, “some UAE students in response to divergent or creative problem solving tasks presented to them appeared highly talented and capable of interpreting complex concept” (p. 3). It is essential when looking for the reasons that contribute to the lack of students’ readiness with the English language before entering the University to remember the role of the teachers. Teachers can play a main role in helping students in learning English, in learning the importance and the goal of learning English, and in practically use English. Many students receive English lessons in the school while not receiving any follow up on their lessons in order to enhance and improve their practical use of the language so that lead to their lack of readiness in acquiring the English language (Khan, 2011). Some teachers tend to develop and improve textbook skills in the English language and they do not pay attention to the practical use of the language (Deveci, 2015). According to Alkaff (2013), “learning process could be more successful if there were more fun in the class, if the teacher had a good rapport with the students and if there were more time for open discussions between the teacher and the students” (p. 118). In addition, students show few disciplinary problems and more academic gain when they have highly facilitative teachers ,who show high degree of empathy and caring and that can be linked to their English learning acquisition (Coombe, 2014). Moreover, Malcolm and Majed (2013), mentioned that “secondary school classrooms in the United Arab Emirates, for example, have been described as places to memorize textbooks, where English is considered a school subject to be tested rather than a means of communication” (p. 324). Furthermore, a new curriculum based on standards and outcomes rather than textbooks has been developed recently by Abu Dhabi Educational council (ADEC) with the help of the New South Wales Government in Australia (Gitsaki & Robby & Bourini, 2014). According to Gitsaki et al (2014), “the new ADEC curriculum is an important move away from dependence on the textbook as the sole transmitter of curriculum content; It places more emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving skills rather than memorization” (p. 3). Research question What are the reasons for the lack of Emirati university students’ readiness with the English language when they enter the university as perceived by university students in a university in the UAE? Significance of the Study The study is important because it will help the UAE government and university administrators understand why students need to undertake English readiness courses. The government will have a better understanding of the challenges of teaching English in high school and the reasons why students are not adequately prepared to use English (written and spoken) effectively at university or college level. Furthermore, university administrators will use this understanding to develop appropriate curriculums that can close the gap in English proficiency for Emirati students in a cost-effective manner. Acquisition of a foreign language is a challenging and sometimes a lifelong undertaking (Deveci, 2015). This study will help scholars and educators to understand the challenges of acquiring English as a first or second language in countries with established languages such as Arabic. This understanding will help educators to develop appropriate and standardized curriculums that aim to improve the student’s use of English in theory and in their interactions with other students, professors and the public. Methodology Philosophical framework and Research Approach This proposal follows a qualitative approach. Qualitative research aims to explore a phenomenon in depth where it looks to the picture as a whole rather than pieces or variables (Ary & Jacobs & Sorensen, 2010). In the qualitative study, the researcher might have a small sample but they study them in depth through detailed interviews and observation. Through the qualitative research we will have a small number of participants and we are going to study in details, through using in-depth-interviews, focused group, simi-structure questions and observation the reasons from the participants’ perception that lead them to be unprepared in terms of acquiring the English language before entering the university. This is a qualitative research because we are going to investigate in depth about the topic from the participants’ perspective. This research paper is underpinned by social constructivism philosophy which emphasizes on the participants viewpoints of the problem. According to Creswell (2013), “social constructivist believe that the goal of the research is to rely as much as possible on the participants’ views of the situation being studied. It focuses on the specific context in which people live and work in order to understand the historical and cultural setting of the participants” (p. 8). In order for us to understand the cultural setting and the aspects related to the problem we will interact with the participants through interview questions. Research design A qualitative case study is considered a suitable design for this study because we are going to look for the reasons that lead to the problem from the participants’ perspective. Through the case study we will investigate in depth the reasons of the lack of readiness of Emirati Students with the English language before entering the University. Ary, Jacobs and Sorensen (2010), stated that “case studies can answer descriptive questions (what happened) or attempt to explain why something happened by looking at a process, the emphasis is on understanding why individual does what he/she does and how behavior changes as individual responds to the environment” (pp. 454-455). We will use case study because it will provide in depth understanding to the situation and it will help in understanding the whole case in general within it is environment. In addition, we will be able to understand different aspects related to the participants such as his/her present, past, emotion, environment and thoughts. The context, the sample and the sample procedures This study will focus on Emirati students’ university on the English foundation program at an UAE university. We will choose the sample from an educational government University in the UAE. We will choose a University that is providing English Foundation program for more than ten years. We will explore about the reasons of the problem through students’ experience of learning English before and after entering the university. We will use the random purposeful sampling when choosing the participants. Random sampling will be used because it provides a non-biased procedure for selecting a sample from the target population and enhancing the representativeness of the sample (Johnson & Christensen, 2012). We will choose 10 participants for the case study from the English foundation program who finished one year in the program. Random purposeful sampling will be followed when choosing the participants from all English foundation programs. According to Ary et al (2010), “when the potential purpose sample is too large the credibility of the study can be enhanced by randomly selecting participants or sites from larger group” (p. 430). Methods of data collection Qualitative interview and observation methods will be used for data collection. The data collection process will entail both individual interviews and two focused groups of five participants. Semi-structured interviews will be used. Semi- structured interviews will be ideal for the data collection because they give the researchers or interviews significant freedom to seek for further information or elaboration from the participants. Face-to-face interviews will be conducted among each of the selected participants and recorded both in writing and audio-tape. The use of focus groups will particularly be important in generating more information by allowing discussion among the participants in the focus groups. Collection of data from focus groups will help in eliciting key opinions about the subject under investigation as well as assist in provides leads on the behavior of the students or perceptions about the English language. According to Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2013),focus groups allow a group of participants to discuss a theme or topic in which the interaction leads to data or insights that might not otherwise be obtained through a direct interview. Focus groups are useful to triangulate traditional forms of questionaires, observations and interviews (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2013)The members of the focus groups will be randomized and two focus groups will be involved to add depth and breadth of the information collected, so we will have 2 groups in each group there will be 5 participants. Face to face, interview will be used because it will help the researcher understand the thoughts, motivations, and beliefs of the participants (Johnson & Christensen, 2012). It is also easy to ask follow-up questions. To make our study richer, we will observe the participants in English classroom environment for 30 minutes over one month. The observation will be recorded in form of field notes at the description level including descriptions of events, behaviors and activities in the classroom (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2013). Observation will be used because it will help the researcher to look for anything that may be important to the study such as the participants’ behavior in English lessons. The interviews will be tape-recorded so that the researcher can transcribe the responses and compare with notes obtained during the observations. Methods of Data analysis Thematic analysis will be used to analyze the data. The information or responses from both the individual participants will be categorized into various themes derived from the responses obtained from the individual and focus group interviews (King & Horrocks, 2010). In this case, issues raised several times by the respondents will be key in determining the types of themes to adopt for the analysis. In addition, the selection of the themes for analysis will be significantly guided by the objectives or interest of the study. The notes from observing the participants will also be analyzed using the thematic analysis. This is because thematic analysis allows a researcher to categorize qualitative data for easier classification and summarization (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2012). The thematic analysis will involve creating codes and then categorizing the data into those codes. The coding will help the researcher to identify important themes or findings for easy interpretation. Thematic analysis will be the most appropriate in this study because the focus will be on the responses of the participants without concern on the implied meaning as a way of minimizing bias in the interpretation of the study findings. We will follow the following steps in our data analysis: We will first read and re-read the interview responses as well as review the interview audiotapes in order to familiarize ourselves with the collected data (Ary et at, 2010). The second step will entail the coding process in which we will identify common responses from the interview responses as well as common behavior behaviors and events and allocate them thematic codes (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2012). . The set of codes will provide data reconstructs thus making data analysis and interpretation easy. Upon allocation of codes to themes, the number of codes will be reduced by categorizing them into themes of interest and categories. Final step will be interpretation of the information by providing additional explanation to ensure that the data makes sense to the readers. Quotes and excerpts from the individual interviews and focus groups will be used to provide further explanation. Measures to validity, reliability and/or trustworthiness Credibility is what is referred as validity in qualitative research. Credibility in the qualitative case study will be achieved by controlling bias through reflexivity (Johnson & Christensen, 2012). Measures of credibility are not using personal observations, impose personal preferences, and adhere to the selection criteria for participants. In order to achieve credibility in this study, we will create questions and we will show the questions to the experts to be more stable. The next step, we will pilot the questions to a small number of students to see if the pilot successes or not in order to develop the questions more. We plan to ensure that the procedures and methods have been successfully applied with other students than the ones in the study but from the same English foundation program in order to achieve credibility in the study. In this study, the use of focused groups in addition to individual interviews has been used to enhance the credibility of the study and its findings. Measures of transferability (reliability) will be by ensuring that the findings are complete, detailed, and accurate. We will provide sufficient information on concerning the context of the study or process of data collection as an important strategy for ensuring transferability. This will enable readers or other researchers interested in the study findings to determine the possibility of applying such findings to other settings or generalizing the research findings. Completion and accuracy of information will enable the researcher to transfer the findings to a context that may be similar to the context of the study. Trustworthiness will improve the consistency of the findings and will be achieved using code recording and triangulation. Triangulation will particularly be applied in this study by using different methods in collection of data including individual interviews, focused groups as a strategy for enhancing trustworthiness in the study and observation. The use of focused groups will alleviate the limitations associated with individual interviews and vice verse thus enhancing reliability of study findings. We will transcribe the notes to word documents, and we will send it to the participants to read and make sure that they agree about their answers or to make changes if they want. Transcriptions will be send to the peer review to check and discuss about it so the study will be more valid. The last thing, we plan to keep the raw data for 5 years in case anyone wants to audit it. Ethical issues Ethical issues are institutional approval, voluntary participation of human subjects and confidentiality. As such, we plan to seek the approval of the review board to ensure that the study aligns with institutional requirements. Secondly, each participant will sign a consent form to confirm that they agree to participate in the study. Thirdly, the study will protect the human subjects to be used by ensuring that information given in interviews is confidential. We will explain to the participants the research study, the purpose of it and the value of their participation and contribution to the field of research. In addition, the participants will be informed that they have the freedom to participate or not in the study (participation is voluntary) and to withdraw during the interview. Moreover, we will inform them that if they chose not to participate that will not affect their grades or their evaluation. Lastly, all the documents and tape-recorded will be saved in locked place in the office. Data presentation The findings from the thematic analysis will be presented in form theme-by-them description and discussion of the overarching themes. We will describe and discuss each theme of significant interest as guided by the study objective including referring to the data and direct quotes. Referring to the data code and direct quotes relevant under each major theme will enable the readers to characterize and better comprehend the theme (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2012). . In this case, important quotes touching on the key themes will be quoted as provided by the interviews and further explanations or interpretations of the quotes provided. Quotes or excerpts from the focus group participants will also be used as part of presenting the study findings. This will particularly provide evidence that indeed participants in the focus groups were given an opportunity to present their views and opinions (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2012). According to King and Horrocks (2010), the use of direct quotes that highlight a given theme builds a narrative that helps the leader to undertstand how the findings relate or answer the questions in the research. The data will present in form of key themes identified in the process of data collection present the in form of key themes as captured from the interviews, behaviors, and meaningful events (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2012). This will particularly provide evidence that indeed participants in the focus groups were given an opportunity to present their views and opinions. Role of the researchers We will contact the English Foundation Program at the University's Center for Continuing Education and we will explain to them the idea of the research proposal. We will arrange a meeting with the responsible person on the program for further explanation about the proposal and we will answer questions regarding the proposal. We will meet the students in their classes and explain to them the idea of the proposal and the importance of their participation. We will explain to them that we will choose randomly among them and each one has the chance to be chosen. After explaining the idea of the proposal, we will ask if any one does not want to participate in the study before the start of choosing the participants so we can eliminate them before choosing the needed participants. We will tell them that they have the freedom not to participate in the study and it is not linked to their study or evaluation so it is not going to affect their grades so we can gain their trust. Each one of us, the researcher, will interview the participants individually and also the focused group at the university during the student break time. Conclusion Studies have shown that many Emirati students after graduating from high schools spend years in the English foundation programs. Such findings provide the basis for this research as it aims to explore the reasons ,form students perception, that contribute to the lack of Emirati students’ readiness with the English language when they enter the university despite having studied English in the high school. The study seeks in-death understanding of the reasons to offer solutions to the identified problem. To answer the research question, the researcher will conduct a qualitative case study on students from an English foundation program who finished one year in the program. Random purposeful sampling will be used. Data will be collected using interview, focus group and observations and then analyzed thematic analysis method to reveal themes on the students’ lack of readiness in the use of English language at the university. The ethical issues likely to arise in this research include confidentiality and consent of the students to participate in the study of which will be addressed by providing a restricted storage for the collected data and obtaining consent of the participants prior to the study. References Alkaff, A. A. (2013). Students' attitudes and perceptions towards learning English. Arab World English Journal, 4(2), 106-121. Al-Mahrooqi, R. (2012). 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International Journal of Logistics, 4(2), 366-375. Read More