Vocabulary teaching and learning constitute a major problem for EFL instructors and students. EFL freshman students have difficulty in pronouncing, recognizing the meaning of, using and spelling new English words. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, all college courses have shifted to online distance learning since March 2020. Surveys with samples of…

I used Blackboard, WebCT, Moodle, Nicenet and RCampus in teaching reading, writing, vocabulary and grammar courses to freshman students as a supplement to in-class instruction that depended on the textbook. In each online course, there was a student leader. Student leaders had the highest posts and responses (between 50-150 posts) and the highest…

Clipping is a word formation process in which a word is reduced/shortened to one of its parts as in exam, math, grad, lab, Sue while still retaining the same meaning and same part of speech. Clipping is classified into: (i) Initial clipping: phone (telephone), net (Internet); (ii) Medial clipping: fancy (fantasy), ma'am (madam); (iii) back…

To help ESP college instructors improve the English curriculum taught at polytechnic institutes, colleges and universities, the current study proposes a model for designing English for Polytechnic Purposes (EPP) courses for undergraduate students majoring in mechanical engineering, chemistry, technology, economics, textile industry and other…

This study investigates interpreting directionality and interpreting competence of undergraduate interpreting students. It tried to answer the following questions: (i) Is there a significant difference between the beginners and advanced students' skills in Liaison interpreting from English to Arabic and Arabic to English, with Arabic as their L1…

Three groups of EFL freshman students were concurrently enrolled in a grammar and a writing course. One group was taught the grammar and writing courses by the same instructor; the other two groups were taught grammar and writing by two different instructors using the same textbook but different instructional and assessment techniques. The study…

This article aims to give a comprehensive guide to planning and designing vocabulary tests which include Identifying the skills to be covered by the test; outlining the course content covered; preparing a table of specifications that shows the skill, content topics and number of questions allocated to each; and preparing the test instructions. The…

Freshman students learning English as foreign language have problems in comprehending English texts such as inability to identify main ideas, paragraph topics, supporting details and the organizational structure of a text. They have difficulty writing a summary or making an outline of the main ideas and important supporting details in a single, or…

Many EFL students have difficulty generating ideas for writing topics. Writing instructors tend to select topics that are too abstract, repetitive, uninteresting, vague, too broad or unfamiliar. To help students generate ideas for writing topics, the present study suggests the integration of participation goals in writing instruction.…

This article proposes a model for teaching interpreting for tourism purposes. It shows the aims of the model, interpreting materials, training strategies, training environment and assessment techniques. The model aims to train students to interpret in English with or without prior preparation or knowledge of the topic and without taking or reading…

Due to COVID-19, there was a sudden shift to distance learning (DL) without prior preparation. Students and faculty surveys showed that 51% of the students were dissatisfied with EL, online communication with their instructors, had difficulty understanding the online class lectures and material and had concerns about exams. Even when face to face…

Since most Saudi graduate students are not proficient in English, they are required to take an ESP course to enable them to read and comprehend reference material in English and translate the required information for their assignments and theses. Based on a needs assessment questionnaire and an English Proficiency Test results, an ESP course was…

At Saudi universities, there was a sudden shift from face-to-face instruction to distance learning and assessment in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. This study explored the status of online exams in language, linguistics, and translation courses in the first two semesters of the Pandemic (Spring 2020 and Fall 2020). Analysis of faculty…

This study investigates the status of grade inflation in language and translation courses in Saudi Arabia. Analysis of the pass rates and percentages of students who obtained Grades A+, A, B+ and B in 70 English language skills and translation college courses, in addition to the English course scores of students in grades 1 to 11 at a private…

The article proposes a model for integrating TED Talks (TTs) in EFL college listening practice. It shows instructors where TTs can be located, gives reasons for using TTs, criteria for selecting TTs, the listening skills that can be developed, and an instructional strategy. TTs provide a variety of real-life themes, speakers, motivation, and…