Developing the listening skills of Arab learners of English as a foreign language in the UAE

Qader, Mayasser M Abdel (2001) Developing the listening skills of Arab learners of English as a foreign language in the UAE. MPhil(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The research consists of four parts, which investigates the importance of listening in teaching English to Arab learners and how to improve the teaching of this important skill. In Part One, Chapter One the paper describes the ELT situation in the government secondary schools in the UAE and discusses the reasons that make learning English not fully successful. Besides, the paper indicates how listening skill is neglected in teaching English as a foreign language and the significance of technology in improving oral skills learning. The Second Part of the research falls into six chapters. In chapter Two I will deal with the definitions of listening given by Underwood and others and I will point to the difference between hearing and listening. Chapter Three evaluates the importance of listening. We can not communicate face to face unless we are able to respond to the speaker. In this chapter I will discuss the relationship which obtains between listening and speaking, showing that effective speaking depends on successful listening. Chapter Four looks at the purposes and situations in listening as an important factor in teaching this skill in the real world. In the Fifth Chapter the features of spoken English are delineated as they differ from written discourse. In Chapter Six 1 will move to potential problems that the foreign learners face in learning to understand spoken English, concentrating on the Arab speakers. Chapter Seven looks for the appropriate methods and techniques in teaching listening and discusses the difference between authentic and non-authentic listening materials, concentrating on the teacher's role including using audio-visual aids to facilitate learning to guide and support learners. Part Three. Chapter Eight will deal with the experimental fieldwork undertaken which pinpointed the weakness of the experimental group in English Language listening, which negatively affected their performance in other skills. The experiments however, suggested this could slightly be improved through some innovations attempted, e.g. using language laboratory, other media and varying methods and techniques. Part Four. Chapter Nine the study will end with conclusions and some recommendations in the light of the foregoing discussion.

• Item Type: Thesis (MPhil(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Keywords: English as a second language.
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Supervisor's Name: Graham, Mr Douglas
• Date of Award: 2001
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2001-73398
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 14 Jun 2019 08:56
• Last Modified: 12 Nov 2021 11:08
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/73398