An Analysis of the Writing Needs of Omani EFL Students for the Development of Grade 11 English Program
Title
An Analysis of the Writing Needs of Omani EFL Students for the Development of Grade 11 English Program
An Analysis of the Writing Needs of Omani EFL Students for the Development of Grade 11 English Program
Keywords: Needs analysis; writing difficulties; curriculum innovation; implementation needs
Authors
Said Hamed Al-Saadi and Moses Stephens Samuel
Faculty of Education, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Said Hamed Al-Saadi and Moses Stephens Samuel
Faculty of Education, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Bio Data
Said Al-Saadi is a head of department in the directorate general of education in Alshrgyeh South, Ministry of Education, in Oman. Currently, he is a doctoral student at the University of Malaya, Malaysia.
Prof. Dr. Moses Stephens Gunams Samuel is a professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education and Deputy Dean for higher studies at the Faculty of Education in the University of Malaya, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Abstract
This article reports a detailed description of the stages of a national large-scale needs analysis in the reform of the grade 11 English language curriculum in Oman. It highlighted the needs analysis practises by using triangulation of multiple sources (students, teachers, supervisors, heads of department, and textbooks) and multiple methods (questionnaires, interviews, content analysis) in the data collection stage to validate the study findings. The actual grade 11 English Language textbooks (n=4) were first analyzed for writing skills content and then contrasted with the perceived needs of 982 students, 64 teachers, 4 supervisors, and 3 heads of department. The findings revealed that a gap existed between the content of the grade 11 curriculum and the perceived needs of the students. The Grade 11 EL curriculum provided little space for students to develop writing competence. The findings related to language innovation/reform were then discussed and implication were made for the grade 11 program aim, principles, teaching methodology, content and teacher training in Oman.
This article reports a detailed description of the stages of a national large-scale needs analysis in the reform of the grade 11 English language curriculum in Oman. It highlighted the needs analysis practises by using triangulation of multiple sources (students, teachers, supervisors, heads of department, and textbooks) and multiple methods (questionnaires, interviews, content analysis) in the data collection stage to validate the study findings. The actual grade 11 English Language textbooks (n=4) were first analyzed for writing skills content and then contrasted with the perceived needs of 982 students, 64 teachers, 4 supervisors, and 3 heads of department. The findings revealed that a gap existed between the content of the grade 11 curriculum and the perceived needs of the students. The Grade 11 EL curriculum provided little space for students to develop writing competence. The findings related to language innovation/reform were then discussed and implication were made for the grade 11 program aim, principles, teaching methodology, content and teacher training in Oman.
Category: Main Editions, Volume 15 Issue 1
