Kassim Shaaban

The Relationship between Perceptions of Teaching Concerns, Teacher Efficacy, and Selected Teacher Characteristics.

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between teacher characteristics (gender, grade level taught, experience), personal and general teacher efficacy, and the perception of teaching concerns. Participants included 292 Lebanese teachers from diverse school backgrounds with a wide range of teaching experience. They completed a standard teacher efficacy questionnaire and another questionnaire that assessed their concerns about their professional practice. Results indicated that experience and personal efficacy were negatively related to the perception of teaching concerns whereas gender, grade level taught, and general efficacy were not related to the perception of any of the categories of teaching concerns. The results also revealed that beginning teachers and those with low sense of personal efficacy were concerned about the task of teaching and the impact they make as teachers more than their highly experienced and more personally efficacious counterparts. Implications for teacher development and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Effect of Religion, First Foreign Language, and Gender on the Perception of the Utility of Language

This study investigates the linguistic attitudes of college students in Lebanon towards the languages that help define the multilingual character of the country, namely, Arabic, French, and English. One hundred seventy-six (n = 176) students completed a 31-item questionnaire that assessed their attitudes towards the utility of each of the 3 languages. The results of the study show that students perceived the foreign languages, French and English, as more useful than the native language, Arabic, in the domains of science, technology, and business. In addition, although the study shows no statistically significant differences in the attitudes of male and female students, it shows that the variables of religion and first foreign language studied at school influenced the linguistic attitudes of the participants. The results are discussed in light of the religious and socioeconomic composition of the Lebanese society.

Bilingual Education in Lebanon

Lebanon has been one of the very few countries in the world where foreign language education is introduced in the first year of schooling; it starts with three-year-old children at the level of the Nursery in private schools and with five-year-old children in second year kindergarten (KGII) in state-sponsored schools (which are schools fully or partially supported by the state). These students study French/English as a foreign language at the rate of 8 hours a week in the Elementary, 6 hours in the intermediate, and 4 hours in the secondary moving gradually from language to literature to philosophy and psychology. Furthermore, since the early 1920’s, English/French has been used as a medium of instruction for mathematics, sciences. and social studies at all levels in most private schools; in public schools, it has been the medium of instruction in mathematics and sciences in the intermediate and secondary cycles (grades 6–12).

An integrated approach to foreign language learning in Lebanon

This article describes the procedures followed in developing a theme‐based English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum to be implemented nation‐wide in the Republic of Lebanon. The description covers the procedures followed in forming curricular objectives, developing perspectives on instruction, setting criteria for material selection and adaptation, and devising evaluation guidelines. These objectives were grounded in some national policy initiatives and based on a variety of curricular plans. Similarly, the perspectives on instruction, material development, and evaluation guidelines were developed based on widely accepted theoretical views and effective applications in foreign language education.

A Proposed Framework for Incorporating Moral Education into the ESL/EFL Classroom

This paper addresses the issue of incorporating moral education in the English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) classroom in light of the increasing calls for having teachers take on a more pro-active role in the moral development of their students. The moral education model recommended in this study includes the development of fundamental values, principles, and attitudes; continuous character growth that allows learners to become concerned, informed, and involved citizens; and laying down the foundations of a critical approach to controversial issues. The rationale that the study adopts for introducing moral education in ESL/EFL curricula is based on the assumption that it helps learners in developing their linguistic and cognitive skills, social awareness, emotional well-being, critical thinking, and a tolerant world view, goals that are compatible with the new approaches and methods of teaching ESL/EFL. The framework proposed for the implementation of this process includes tentative issues/themes, language skills, learning outcomes, methods of instruction and evaluation, materials and resources, and instructional activities.

Assessment of Young Learners' Achievement in ESL Classes in the Lebanon

This paper discusses student evaluation policies and practices that should go hand in hand with the new Lebanese English language curriculum that was introduced in 1997. The focus of the paper is on new methods and techniques of assessment in pre-school and elementary school classes. The main argument in the paper is that the evaluation of the achievement of young learners in ESL classes has to reflect the objectives of the curriculum and its suggested methods of teaching. As the curriculum has adopted a thematic content-based approach whose major features are integration of language and content as well as language skill integration, the traditional paper and pencil tests cannot cover the great variety of activities and performance tasks that take place in the elementary ESL classroom. Therefore, this paper considers alternative forms of assessment, mainly performance-based assessment and portfolios, which, in congruence with the principles and dynamics of the new curriculum, treat assessment as an integral part of teaching culminating in formative rather than summative evaluation.