Mahsoub Aly | Benha University (original) (raw)

Papers by Mahsoub Aly

The present study was undertaken to investigate the correlation between EFL students' strategic l... more The present study was undertaken to investigate the correlation between EFL students' strategic listening and their listening comprehension skills. Eighty secondary school students participated in this study. Participants' strategic listening was measured by a Strategic Listening Interview (SLI), a Strategic Listening Questionnaire (SLQ) and a Strategic Listening Checklist (SLC) with think-aloud protocol. Their listening comprehension skills were measured by an EFL listening comprehension test. A Pearson correlation analysis was run to test the correlation between strategic listening and listening comprehension test scores. The findings revealed that the relationship between strategic listening and listening comprehension was positive and significant. The higher the level of strategic listening these students obtained, the higher the score they attained on the listening comprehension test and vice versa.

The main concern of the present study is to investigate the strategies followed by the EFL studen... more The main concern of the present study is to investigate the strategies followed by the EFL students in the translation process. This problem has been dealt with through answering the following two questions: 1-What are the strategies followed by the EFL student teachers in the translation process? 2-What are the educational implications for enhancing the teaching of translation at faculties of education? Since it is a think aloud protocol-based case study, the final sample of the present research consisted of 12 students in three different years (first, third and fourth) in the English language section at Benha Faculty of Education. A translation test was developed and face-validated by a jury of three experts in the field. It consisted of ten Arabic sentences to be translated from Arabic into English and two English paragraphs to be translated into Arabic. The test was administered, in the university year 2002-2003, to 12 students. The test subjects produced the translations on their own and alone, one by one separately, as they preferred. Before they started the translations, one-hour meeting was held for each year to raise the students' awareness as well as to train them to think aloud while they translate. They were also asked to verbalize everything that came into their minds while performing the translation task. They were told that the objective of the investigation was to find out aspects of mental translation procedures. After these instructions, they were given the test sheet and a cassette recorder. Two dictionaries, a monolingual and a bilingual, were intentionally brought to the test room, for those who need to use them. During the test, they proceeded in the way s/he normally liked. There was no limited time for completing the test. After the translations had been recorded, they were transcribed for subsequent qualitative and quantitative analysis which revealed the strategies followed by the sample to solve the problems they faced when they translated into the two languages. Finally, Some educational implications and recommendations for translation instruction were suggested.

The present study aimed at identifying the democratic practices that can be followed in the EFL u... more The present study aimed at identifying the democratic practices that can be followed in the EFL university classes and investigating their effect on the students' attitude towards the English language learning at the postgraduate level. A democratic practices list was identified. These practices were followed in EFL classes all the academic year by both the students and/or the instructor. A democratic practices scale of 40 items was developed and administered to the students to rate them. Another scale of 12 items was developed to examine the effect of using the democratic practices on the students ' attitude towards English language course. The findings of the first scale showed that the democratic practices were followed and practiced in EFL classes during the academic year 2003-2004. Four items of freedom of self-expression were agreed to by the students without gender differences. Eleven items of the mutual respect dimension, except item no. 2: "The instructor use...

مجلة کلية التربية. بنها, 2018

The present study aimed at developing English language planning strategy of second year distingui... more The present study aimed at developing English language planning strategy of second year distinguished governmental language preparatory school pupils using the a WebQuest model. Fifty participants from second year at Hassan Abu-Bakr Distinguished Governmental Language School at Al-Qanater Al-Khairia (Qalubia Governorate) were randomly assigned into two groups: experimental group (N=25) and control group (N=25). Two main instruments were used: writing strategies questionnaire and think-aloud protocol. The instruments were administered before and after the experiment. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses were conducted. T-test was used to compare the mean scores of the control group and the experimental one in the pre-post applications. Results showed that the experimental group pupils have developed their English language planning strategy. It was concluded that the WebQuest model was effective in developing English language planning strategy of the participants. It was also recommended that the WebQuest model should be integrated into writing instruction programmes.

The present study aimed at developing the memoir writing skills as a creative non-fiction genre o... more The present study aimed at developing the memoir writing skills as a creative non-fiction genre of second year distinguished governmental language preparatory school pupils using the a WebQuest model. Fifty participants from second year at Hassan AbuBakr Distinguished Governmental Language School at Al-Qanater Al-Khairia(Qalubia Governorate) were randomly assigned into two groups: experimental group (N=25) and control group (N=25). Two main instruments were used: a creative writing pre-test, and a creative writing posttest with a scoring rubric. Quantitative data analyses were conducted. T-test was used to compare the mean scores of the control group and the experimental one in the pre-post applications. Results showed that the experimental group pupils have developed their skills in memoir writing (eleven skills were developed while one skill is not). It was concluded that the "WebQuest" model was effective in fosteringthe memoir writing skills of the participants. It was...

مجلة كلية التربية : جامعة بنها, 2014

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of using a multimedia-bas... more The objective of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of using a multimedia-based program for developing EFL speaking fluency skills among second year, English section student teachers. The sample of the present study consisted of thirty students at Sadat Faculty of Education, Minufiya University, Egypt. The study sample was taught using the multimedia-based program. The tool of the present study was an EFL speaking fluency test with a rubric for assessing the participants' performance. The test was applied to the study sample before using the multimedia-based program in order to measure the level of the participants in EFL speaking fluency skills. Then, the test was reapplied after using the program. Results of the study revealed that the study sample's EFL speaking fluency skills were developed after using the program. Accordingly, the multimedia-based program was found to be effective in developing EFL speaking fluency skills among second year student teachers.

Online Submission, 2006

The present study examined the effectiveness of using the contract learning strategy on special d... more The present study examined the effectiveness of using the contract learning strategy on special diploma students' achievement and attitudes towards English language; a strategy that has been used in the filed of education in general and teaching English language in particular. The subjects of the present study consisted of 41 graduate students (male and female, majored in different disciplines) enrolled in the special diploma (Curriculum Planning and Development Section) studying the ESP Readings Course, during the academic year 2005-2006, in the Faculty of Education, Benha University, Egypt. To achieve the study objectives, a learning contract was developed in Arabic and distributed to the subjects for signature in the first class. In the last class, an achievement test in English was applied to the subjects. In addition to that, an evaluation questionnaire and an open-ended questionnaire were developed in Arabic and administered to examine the effectiveness of the suggested contract learning strategy on the students' attitudes. The findings revealed that the subjects' seriousness and commitment to the learning contract motivated them and they, as a result, scored highly on the achievement test. Most of them (n=39 out of 41) passed the achievement test successfully. Most subjects reported positive attitudes toward English language in general and ESP Readings course in particular. Thus, the contract learning strategy was effective in the present study.

Online Submission, Jan 11, 2008

Although there are many websites designed and published on the Internet for learning and teaching... more Although there are many websites designed and published on the Internet for learning and teaching English, little use of them is done by both Egyptian EFL teachers and students. The textbook is usually their main concern and focus. That is why the present study draws more light on the importance of language teaching and learning websites and evaluates some of them so as to introduce them to both for use. This problem was tackled through answering the following questions: 1-What are the websites available online for learning and teaching English as a foreign language? 2-What are the points of strength and weakness of some of these sites? 3-How can these sites be utilized by the Egyptian teachers and students for teaching and learning English as a foreign language? A 63-item evaluation criteria checklist was used to assess the six selected websites. It covered eight dimensions as follows: Authority, Purpose, Coverage, Currency, Objectivity, Accuracy, Technical Aspects (navigation, design and structure, and access), and Usefulness for TEFL Teachers and Students. The participants (n=17-postgraduate students at Benha University) visited them and responded to the evaluation criteria checklist for identifying the points of strength and weakness of each website. The six websites, as a whole, were reported by the participants very useful for learning and teaching English. Based on the findings of evaluation, educational implications and recommendations for the utilization of these sites for teaching and learning English in Egypt were suggested.

Online Submission, 2006

The present study investigated the Egyptian postgraduate students' difficulties in writing abstra... more The present study investigated the Egyptian postgraduate students' difficulties in writing abstracts in English. In order to achieve the objectives of this study, a list of criteria for writing a good and effective abstract has been developed in the light of the review of literature. Besides, a content analysis of 35 abstracts written in English and published in Egyptian education journals, theses and dissertations (16 Master degree and Ph.D. theses and 19 journal articles) was carried out to identify the difficulties encountered by the postgraduate students. The analysis revealed that the grammatical difficulties (f=402) were the highest, followed by the educational terminology and technical writing difficulties (f=274) and finally the lexical difficulties (f=256). Finally, recommendations for overcoming these difficulties were suggested.

Online Submission, 2004

The main concern of the present study is to investigate the strategies followed by the EFL studen... more The main concern of the present study is to investigate the strategies followed by the EFL students in the translation process. This problem has been dealt with through answering the following two questions: 1-What are the strategies followed by the EFL student teachers in the translation process? 2-What are the educational implications for enhancing the teaching of translation at faculties of education? Since it is a think aloud protocol-based case study, the final sample of the present research consisted of 12 students in three different years (first, third and fourth) in the English language section at Benha Faculty of Education. A translation test was developed and face-validated by a jury of three experts in the field. It consisted of ten Arabic sentences to be translated from Arabic into English and two English paragraphs to be translated into Arabic. The test was administered, in the university year 2002-2003, to 12 students. The test subjects produced the translations on their own and alone, one by one separately, as they preferred. Before they started the translations, one-hour meeting was held for each year to raise the students' awareness as well as to train them to think aloud while they translate. They were also asked to verbalize everything that came into their minds while performing the translation task. They were told that the objective of the investigation was to find out aspects of mental translation procedures. After these instructions, they were given the test sheet and a cassette recorder. Two dictionaries, a monolingual and a bilingual, were intentionally brought to the test room, for those who need to use them. During the test, they proceeded in the way s/he normally liked. There was no limited time for completing the test. After the translations had been recorded, they were transcribed for subsequent qualitative and quantitative analysis which revealed the strategies followed by the sample to solve the problems they faced when they translated into the two languages. Finally, Some educational implications and recommendations for translation instruction were suggested.

Online Submission, Jun 1, 2005

The present study aimed at identifying the democratic practices that can be followed in the EFL u... more The present study aimed at identifying the democratic practices that can be followed in the EFL university classes and investigating their effect on the students' attitude towards the English language learning at the postgraduate level. A democratic practices list was identified. These practices were followed in EFL classes all the academic year by both the students and/or the instructor. A democratic practices scale of 40 items was developed and administered to the students to rate them. Another scale of 12 items was developed to examine the effect of using the democratic practices on the students' attitude towards English language course. The findings of the first scale showed that the democratic practices were followed and practiced in EFL classes during the academic year 2003-2004. Four items of freedom of self-expression were agreed to by the students without gender differences. Eleven items of the mutual respect dimension, except item no. 2: "The instructor used tough utterances in his treatment with students in the EFL classes", five items of taking responsibility, three of taking decisions, six items of equality, six items of justice dimension and 3 items of common interest dimension were used and practiced in the EFL classes. Few gender differences had been reported. The second scale revealed that the students benefited very much from the English language course taught accompanying the democratic practices. All the students reported their positive attitudes towards leaning the EFL classes because they were very useful to them.

Online Submission, 2011

ED527447 - The Effectiveness of Using an Explicit Language Learning Strategy-Based Instruction in... more ED527447 - The Effectiveness of Using an Explicit Language Learning Strategy-Based Instruction in Developing Secondary School Students.

Online Submission, 2011

ED527448 - A Correlation Study between EFL Strategic Listening and Listening Comprehension Skills... more ED527448 - A Correlation Study between EFL Strategic Listening and Listening Comprehension Skills among Secondary School Students.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the correlation between EFL students' strategic l... more The present study was undertaken to investigate the correlation between EFL students' strategic listening and their listening comprehension skills. Eighty secondary school students participated in this study. Participants' strategic listening was measured by a Strategic Listening Interview (SLI), a Strategic Listening Questionnaire (SLQ) and a Strategic Listening Checklist (SLC) with think-aloud protocol. Their listening comprehension skills were measured by an EFL listening comprehension test. A Pearson correlation analysis was run to test the correlation between strategic listening and listening comprehension test scores. The findings revealed that the relationship between strategic listening and listening comprehension was positive and significant. The higher the level of strategic listening these students obtained, the higher the score they attained on the listening comprehension test and vice versa.

The main concern of the present study is to investigate the strategies followed by the EFL studen... more The main concern of the present study is to investigate the strategies followed by the EFL students in the translation process. This problem has been dealt with through answering the following two questions: 1-What are the strategies followed by the EFL student teachers in the translation process? 2-What are the educational implications for enhancing the teaching of translation at faculties of education? Since it is a think aloud protocol-based case study, the final sample of the present research consisted of 12 students in three different years (first, third and fourth) in the English language section at Benha Faculty of Education. A translation test was developed and face-validated by a jury of three experts in the field. It consisted of ten Arabic sentences to be translated from Arabic into English and two English paragraphs to be translated into Arabic. The test was administered, in the university year 2002-2003, to 12 students. The test subjects produced the translations on their own and alone, one by one separately, as they preferred. Before they started the translations, one-hour meeting was held for each year to raise the students' awareness as well as to train them to think aloud while they translate. They were also asked to verbalize everything that came into their minds while performing the translation task. They were told that the objective of the investigation was to find out aspects of mental translation procedures. After these instructions, they were given the test sheet and a cassette recorder. Two dictionaries, a monolingual and a bilingual, were intentionally brought to the test room, for those who need to use them. During the test, they proceeded in the way s/he normally liked. There was no limited time for completing the test. After the translations had been recorded, they were transcribed for subsequent qualitative and quantitative analysis which revealed the strategies followed by the sample to solve the problems they faced when they translated into the two languages. Finally, Some educational implications and recommendations for translation instruction were suggested.

The present study aimed at identifying the democratic practices that can be followed in the EFL u... more The present study aimed at identifying the democratic practices that can be followed in the EFL university classes and investigating their effect on the students' attitude towards the English language learning at the postgraduate level. A democratic practices list was identified. These practices were followed in EFL classes all the academic year by both the students and/or the instructor. A democratic practices scale of 40 items was developed and administered to the students to rate them. Another scale of 12 items was developed to examine the effect of using the democratic practices on the students ' attitude towards English language course. The findings of the first scale showed that the democratic practices were followed and practiced in EFL classes during the academic year 2003-2004. Four items of freedom of self-expression were agreed to by the students without gender differences. Eleven items of the mutual respect dimension, except item no. 2: "The instructor use...

مجلة کلية التربية. بنها, 2018

The present study aimed at developing English language planning strategy of second year distingui... more The present study aimed at developing English language planning strategy of second year distinguished governmental language preparatory school pupils using the a WebQuest model. Fifty participants from second year at Hassan Abu-Bakr Distinguished Governmental Language School at Al-Qanater Al-Khairia (Qalubia Governorate) were randomly assigned into two groups: experimental group (N=25) and control group (N=25). Two main instruments were used: writing strategies questionnaire and think-aloud protocol. The instruments were administered before and after the experiment. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses were conducted. T-test was used to compare the mean scores of the control group and the experimental one in the pre-post applications. Results showed that the experimental group pupils have developed their English language planning strategy. It was concluded that the WebQuest model was effective in developing English language planning strategy of the participants. It was also recommended that the WebQuest model should be integrated into writing instruction programmes.

The present study aimed at developing the memoir writing skills as a creative non-fiction genre o... more The present study aimed at developing the memoir writing skills as a creative non-fiction genre of second year distinguished governmental language preparatory school pupils using the a WebQuest model. Fifty participants from second year at Hassan AbuBakr Distinguished Governmental Language School at Al-Qanater Al-Khairia(Qalubia Governorate) were randomly assigned into two groups: experimental group (N=25) and control group (N=25). Two main instruments were used: a creative writing pre-test, and a creative writing posttest with a scoring rubric. Quantitative data analyses were conducted. T-test was used to compare the mean scores of the control group and the experimental one in the pre-post applications. Results showed that the experimental group pupils have developed their skills in memoir writing (eleven skills were developed while one skill is not). It was concluded that the "WebQuest" model was effective in fosteringthe memoir writing skills of the participants. It was...

مجلة كلية التربية : جامعة بنها, 2014

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of using a multimedia-bas... more The objective of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of using a multimedia-based program for developing EFL speaking fluency skills among second year, English section student teachers. The sample of the present study consisted of thirty students at Sadat Faculty of Education, Minufiya University, Egypt. The study sample was taught using the multimedia-based program. The tool of the present study was an EFL speaking fluency test with a rubric for assessing the participants' performance. The test was applied to the study sample before using the multimedia-based program in order to measure the level of the participants in EFL speaking fluency skills. Then, the test was reapplied after using the program. Results of the study revealed that the study sample's EFL speaking fluency skills were developed after using the program. Accordingly, the multimedia-based program was found to be effective in developing EFL speaking fluency skills among second year student teachers.

Online Submission, 2006

The present study examined the effectiveness of using the contract learning strategy on special d... more The present study examined the effectiveness of using the contract learning strategy on special diploma students' achievement and attitudes towards English language; a strategy that has been used in the filed of education in general and teaching English language in particular. The subjects of the present study consisted of 41 graduate students (male and female, majored in different disciplines) enrolled in the special diploma (Curriculum Planning and Development Section) studying the ESP Readings Course, during the academic year 2005-2006, in the Faculty of Education, Benha University, Egypt. To achieve the study objectives, a learning contract was developed in Arabic and distributed to the subjects for signature in the first class. In the last class, an achievement test in English was applied to the subjects. In addition to that, an evaluation questionnaire and an open-ended questionnaire were developed in Arabic and administered to examine the effectiveness of the suggested contract learning strategy on the students' attitudes. The findings revealed that the subjects' seriousness and commitment to the learning contract motivated them and they, as a result, scored highly on the achievement test. Most of them (n=39 out of 41) passed the achievement test successfully. Most subjects reported positive attitudes toward English language in general and ESP Readings course in particular. Thus, the contract learning strategy was effective in the present study.

Online Submission, Jan 11, 2008

Although there are many websites designed and published on the Internet for learning and teaching... more Although there are many websites designed and published on the Internet for learning and teaching English, little use of them is done by both Egyptian EFL teachers and students. The textbook is usually their main concern and focus. That is why the present study draws more light on the importance of language teaching and learning websites and evaluates some of them so as to introduce them to both for use. This problem was tackled through answering the following questions: 1-What are the websites available online for learning and teaching English as a foreign language? 2-What are the points of strength and weakness of some of these sites? 3-How can these sites be utilized by the Egyptian teachers and students for teaching and learning English as a foreign language? A 63-item evaluation criteria checklist was used to assess the six selected websites. It covered eight dimensions as follows: Authority, Purpose, Coverage, Currency, Objectivity, Accuracy, Technical Aspects (navigation, design and structure, and access), and Usefulness for TEFL Teachers and Students. The participants (n=17-postgraduate students at Benha University) visited them and responded to the evaluation criteria checklist for identifying the points of strength and weakness of each website. The six websites, as a whole, were reported by the participants very useful for learning and teaching English. Based on the findings of evaluation, educational implications and recommendations for the utilization of these sites for teaching and learning English in Egypt were suggested.

Online Submission, 2006

The present study investigated the Egyptian postgraduate students' difficulties in writing abstra... more The present study investigated the Egyptian postgraduate students' difficulties in writing abstracts in English. In order to achieve the objectives of this study, a list of criteria for writing a good and effective abstract has been developed in the light of the review of literature. Besides, a content analysis of 35 abstracts written in English and published in Egyptian education journals, theses and dissertations (16 Master degree and Ph.D. theses and 19 journal articles) was carried out to identify the difficulties encountered by the postgraduate students. The analysis revealed that the grammatical difficulties (f=402) were the highest, followed by the educational terminology and technical writing difficulties (f=274) and finally the lexical difficulties (f=256). Finally, recommendations for overcoming these difficulties were suggested.

Online Submission, 2004

The main concern of the present study is to investigate the strategies followed by the EFL studen... more The main concern of the present study is to investigate the strategies followed by the EFL students in the translation process. This problem has been dealt with through answering the following two questions: 1-What are the strategies followed by the EFL student teachers in the translation process? 2-What are the educational implications for enhancing the teaching of translation at faculties of education? Since it is a think aloud protocol-based case study, the final sample of the present research consisted of 12 students in three different years (first, third and fourth) in the English language section at Benha Faculty of Education. A translation test was developed and face-validated by a jury of three experts in the field. It consisted of ten Arabic sentences to be translated from Arabic into English and two English paragraphs to be translated into Arabic. The test was administered, in the university year 2002-2003, to 12 students. The test subjects produced the translations on their own and alone, one by one separately, as they preferred. Before they started the translations, one-hour meeting was held for each year to raise the students' awareness as well as to train them to think aloud while they translate. They were also asked to verbalize everything that came into their minds while performing the translation task. They were told that the objective of the investigation was to find out aspects of mental translation procedures. After these instructions, they were given the test sheet and a cassette recorder. Two dictionaries, a monolingual and a bilingual, were intentionally brought to the test room, for those who need to use them. During the test, they proceeded in the way s/he normally liked. There was no limited time for completing the test. After the translations had been recorded, they were transcribed for subsequent qualitative and quantitative analysis which revealed the strategies followed by the sample to solve the problems they faced when they translated into the two languages. Finally, Some educational implications and recommendations for translation instruction were suggested.

Online Submission, Jun 1, 2005

The present study aimed at identifying the democratic practices that can be followed in the EFL u... more The present study aimed at identifying the democratic practices that can be followed in the EFL university classes and investigating their effect on the students' attitude towards the English language learning at the postgraduate level. A democratic practices list was identified. These practices were followed in EFL classes all the academic year by both the students and/or the instructor. A democratic practices scale of 40 items was developed and administered to the students to rate them. Another scale of 12 items was developed to examine the effect of using the democratic practices on the students' attitude towards English language course. The findings of the first scale showed that the democratic practices were followed and practiced in EFL classes during the academic year 2003-2004. Four items of freedom of self-expression were agreed to by the students without gender differences. Eleven items of the mutual respect dimension, except item no. 2: "The instructor used tough utterances in his treatment with students in the EFL classes", five items of taking responsibility, three of taking decisions, six items of equality, six items of justice dimension and 3 items of common interest dimension were used and practiced in the EFL classes. Few gender differences had been reported. The second scale revealed that the students benefited very much from the English language course taught accompanying the democratic practices. All the students reported their positive attitudes towards leaning the EFL classes because they were very useful to them.

Online Submission, 2011

ED527447 - The Effectiveness of Using an Explicit Language Learning Strategy-Based Instruction in... more ED527447 - The Effectiveness of Using an Explicit Language Learning Strategy-Based Instruction in Developing Secondary School Students.

Online Submission, 2011

ED527448 - A Correlation Study between EFL Strategic Listening and Listening Comprehension Skills... more ED527448 - A Correlation Study between EFL Strategic Listening and Listening Comprehension Skills among Secondary School Students.