Mira M Alameddine | Lebanese University (original) (raw)
Papers by Mira M Alameddine
Addressing Feminist and Gender Issues in ESL Classrooms: An Exploratory Study, 2024
Abstract Sexist incidents are encountered everywhere. These incidents are the result of a lack of... more Abstract
Sexist incidents are encountered everywhere. These incidents are the result of a lack of inclusion and the presence of gender discrimination in the educational sector. Since the 1990s, the use of sociopolitical issues, including gender and sexuality issues, has been discussed in ESL/EFL. There is an inherent male bias in some textbook examples which can have different repercussions for male and female students. Moreover, schools make it challenging for females to achieve and be self-confident because of stereotypes and the “self-fulfilling prophecy.” To establish equity, gender, and diversity in Lebanese schools, the problem of sexism must be addressed and solved.
Educators in Lebanon are of two types: those who believe that teachers’ sole role in ESL classrooms is to teach English as a language and nothing else; and those who believe that we should address the issue; ESL/EFL teachers have a social and moral role to play.
This paper discusses the attitudes of 27 ESL teachers from Beirut- Lebanon towards including gender and feminist issues in their ESL classrooms. It presents strategies for ESL teachers to follow in their classrooms to ensure gender equity and inclusion. To understand the feelings, values, and perceptions that shape and influence the teachers' so-called ideas, 5 teachers and 5 coordinators were interviewed. Based on the collected and analyzed data, most participants were interested in sociopolitical issues and welcomed any training.
Keywords: Lebanon, Gender, Feminism, Teaching, ESL/EFL.
American Journal of Science Education Research , 2024
Abstract This investigation aims to obtain an insight into how physics teachers, who teach the L... more Abstract
This investigation aims to obtain an insight into how physics teachers, who teach the Lebanese curriculum, understand
teaching critical thinking. It also aims at discovering which strategy these teachers use to teach critical thinking if they do. To
investigate these, two research questions were addressed: “How are teachers using strategies to teach critical thinking in
physics classrooms?” and “What are the best strategies that teach critical thinking in physics classrooms?” To answer these
questions, an exploratory study was conducted where the descriptive data revealed that the most widely used strategy in physics
classrooms is lecturing; yet the way it is being implemented does not cater to students’ acquisition of critical thinking skills.
Professional development regarding teaching critical thinking in physics classes is recommended.
Keywords: Critical thinking, teaching strategies, physics education, Lebanese physics curriculum, problem-solving, simulations,
labs, hands-on, lecture, and discussion.
IAFOR journal of education, Jun 1, 2024
Because intercultural communication has become one of the most demanded skills in the current dig... more Because intercultural communication has become one of the most demanded skills in the current digitalized world, many educational institutions aspire to graduate students who possess intercultural skills and are able to successfully communicate with people from diverse cultures. However, intercultural communication has not received much attention in the Lebanese context, especially in schools. To this end, this paper examined the Lebanese high school directors’ perceptions of intercultural communication. As pragmatists, the researchers employed quantitative and qualitative methods to better understand the problem under investigation. Using a snowball sampling, they surveyed the perceptions of 55 Lebanese directors in private and public high schools and interviewed two informants in the Center for Educational Research and Development. The collected data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Then, the derived conclusions were compared to ensure trustworthiness of the findings. Major findings showed that though intercultural communication is a learning outcome in most schools, it is mostly taught at the knowledge level in the foreign language classrooms. Assessment of this outcome was neither systematic nor consistent. It was also shown that directors in private schools tended to be more informed than those in the public sector. Recommendations are made for enhancing intercultural communication skills in Lebanese educational institutions. Keywords: cultural diversity, curriculum design, intercultural communication, intercultural competence, Lebanon, schools
IAFOR Journal of Education: Language Learning in Education, 2024
Because intercultural communication has become one of the most demanded skills in the current dig... more Because intercultural communication has become one of the most demanded skills in the current digitalized world, many educational institutions aspire to graduate students who possess intercultural skills and are able to successfully communicate with people from diverse cultures. However, intercultural communication has not received much attention in the Lebanese context, especially in schools. To this end, this paper examined the Lebanese high school directors’ perceptions of intercultural communication. As pragmatists, the researchers employed quantitative and qualitative methods to better understand the problem under investigation. Using a snowball sampling, they surveyed the perceptions of 55 Lebanese directors in private and public high schools and interviewed two informants in the Center for Educational Research and Development. The collected data were analyzed quantitatively and
qualitatively. Then, the derived conclusions were compared to ensure trustworthiness of the findings. Major findings showed that though intercultural communication is a learning outcome in most schools, it is mostly taught at the knowledge level in the foreign language classrooms.
Assessment of this outcome was neither systematic nor consistent. It was also shown that directors in private schools tended to be more informed than those in the public sector. Recommendations are made for enhancing intercultural communication skills in Lebanese educational institutions.
Keywords: cultural diversity, curriculum design, intercultural communication, intercultural
competence, Lebanon, schools
American academic & scholarly research journal, Apr 30, 2013
When it comes to business ethics, views diverge and conflict. There are those who believe that et... more When it comes to business ethics, views diverge and conflict. There are those who believe that ethics can’t be taught but is rather a development, such as Aristotle; and there are those who like Socrates, believe that ethics is knowing what we ought to do, and therefore this knowledge can be learned. In the Lebanese society that faces ethical crises, ethical education becomes important. When business students are taught that “business is business” and business deals are “not a matter of ethics, but of business” in class, it becomes difficult to show them that “good ethics, is good business”. In such conditions ethical education becomes imperative. Teaching ethics means that one believes that people can change, that ethical behavior can be taught. However, is this applicable? Can we teach Hitler or Bernard Madoff ethics or as Orwin (2009) implies “Can we teach pigs to fly?” This paper investigated the effects of learning business ethics on various Lebanese university students who have successfully completed the course’s objectives. The participants were the researcher’s students in two local universities, which caused limitations of the results for they couldn’t be generalized. The results revealed that ethics course(s) did positively affect the students’ behavior.
American academic & scholarly research journal, Jul 31, 2012
Teaching Business English (L2) for target learners whose L1 is Arabic requires certain procedures... more Teaching Business English (L2) for target learners whose L1 is Arabic requires certain procedures. Instructors must address problems that their Arabic learners will probably face in acquiring Business communication in L2. This paper will discuss the major problems that learners whose L1 is Arabic face in learning Business English which is L2 and what the role of the instructor is in guiding the learners to overcome these obstacles and acquire the desired skills. Instructors need to address the four problems that their Arab learners are probably going to encounter. These problems are: 1) negative transfer; 2) the difference in writing strategies; 3) prepositional knowledge; and 4) collocational patterns. Thus, instructors have to teach the learners to overcome negative transfer, include practices that guide the learners to overcome the differences in strategies of business communication that exist between L1 and L2 and address the cultural differences between the two main languages.
INTED proceedings, Mar 1, 2016
The diversity of the 21st-century classroom creates several difficulties for teachers who most pr... more The diversity of the 21st-century classroom creates several difficulties for teachers who most probably did not encounter such multiplicity as students. The practice of differentiating instruction helps teachers address the required standards, yet be able to respond to their learners' needs. Differentiation permits teachers to focus on important skills in each content area while at the same time be attentive to their learners' individual differences. It also helps them integrate assessment into their instruction, and provide their learners with multiple opportunities to learning. The result is a classroom where all learners acquire knowledge. Differentiated Instruction "is a model of instruction that revolves around the belief that students learn in many different ways" (Verde, 2004). It "provides materials and tasks at varied levels of difficulty with varying degrees of scaffolding, through multiple instructional groups; encourages student success by varying ways in which students work alone or collaboratively, in auditory or visual modes, or through practical or creative means" (Tomlinson, 2000). At CiS, we differentiate our instruction because we can maximize our learners' growth by meeting them at the level they are and helping them progress. In our classes we use technology since we believe that it helps us meet the needs of our learners in every lesson we give since technology assists us in pacing lessons for each of our student's learning level. However, it's important to know how to successfully assimilate technology into our instruction. The most vital principle of technology integration is that we need to focus on the outcome of the instruction, and not technology itself (Gibson, 1977). We only use technology to help facilitate our students' learning process for it allows changes in the lessons in terms of content, channels of input and the means of output. Moreover, through technology, our classes become a great stage for cooperative learning. Tools such as Comic Creator, Character Trading Cards, Acrostic Poems, Cube Creator and sites such as Podcasts, Webcams, Discovery School and iLearn are used in most classes at CiS to enhance learners' experiences. In this paper I will share the LWIS-CiS-DT's experience in using technology to advance learning using differentiated instruction.
INTED proceedings, Mar 1, 2016
Lebanon is one of the smallest countries in the world where programs for the gifted and talented ... more Lebanon is one of the smallest countries in the world where programs for the gifted and talented (GT) do not officially exist. There are some attempts to accommodate for the GT in various private schools that cater for learners from high socioeconomic status. These schools offer some enrichment programs and differentiated instruction/activities to high-achieving learners. The programs presented are attempts to nurture the talent and ability of learners with total grade average above 85/100 by providing these learners with a variety of enhancement activities (Sarouphim, 2009). The major cause for this lack of proper education for the GT in Lebanon is that the educational body lacks the basic understanding of what GT is. Moreover, the procedures for identifying, referring and assessing GT learners are not well-known nor easily available. Hence, it becomes imperative to come up with such tools and prepare the educational body for such a task. The aim of this paper is to share LWIS-City International School-DT (LWIS-CiS) experience in designing and developing a comprehensive system for the GT. Based on the findings of the literature review and LWIS-CiS personal experience, this paper describes the 3 phases of developing and implementing the GT program. Phase 1: the creation and administration of the Activity Hour, in which all leaners (gifted or not) participate in activities that would build their critical thinking skills and creativity. Phase 2: the training of teachers to identify and refer gifted learners for formal assessment. This phase also prepares and endows teachers with skills and strategies they can use in their regular classrooms. Phase 3: developing personalized action plans for the identified gifted learners. This program can later be adopted in all Lebanese schools-private and public.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Oct 1, 2016
International journal on social and education sciences, Jan 15, 2022
English language has become a cosmopolitan language. It is the lingua franca of the 21st century.... more English language has become a cosmopolitan language. It is the lingua franca of the 21st century. This fact has turned learning the language to a must since it is the international language of communication. As teachers of English for more than 20 years, we have come to realize that to be successful in class, we need to learn and use English as a tool that helps us access information from other cultures and be able to transfer this knowledge and skill to our learners. We also need to provide our learners with enough exposure to English as used in context. However, this is not enough to turn our learners into 21st century citizens of the world. We need to help them become critical thinkers. This has become even harder with the move to online learning due to COVID 19 pandemic. This paper aims at exploring the perceptions of English language instructors in four local Lebanese universities regarding 21st-century critical thinking skills and the instructors' abilities to promote such skills in their classes. Twenty-seven teachers filled a questionnaire, and five participants were interviewed. Descriptive data were analyzed. The data revealed the perceptions and practices of these instructors. The study concludes with recommendations.
World Journal of Advance Healthcare Research, Apr 8, 2005
Bullying is a dangerous phenomenon because it is a continuous act that causes problems at school,... more Bullying is a dangerous phenomenon because it is a continuous act that causes problems at school, university and even at work. Bullying comes in different forms; and one way of addressing this phenomenon has been through mediation programs that aim for student-peer mediation and that create a safe environments at schools. This present study investigated teachers’ perceptions of teachers being bullied by their superiors or having witnessing other teachers being bullied. It also investigates whether teachers believed measures against bullying were taken on the part of management. 154 professionals participated in the study. According to the surveyed teachers, their superiors don’t bully them. The data gathered indicated that these superiors do not humiliate them in public nor in private. Very few teachers admitted to being humiliated by their superiors (between 6% and 24%). Moreover, some teachers in Lebanon experience bullying and that female superiors were more prone to ...
Bullying is a dangerous phenomenon because it is a continuous act that causes problems at school,... more Bullying is a dangerous phenomenon because it is a continuous act that causes problems at school, university and even at work. Bullying comes in different forms; and one way of addressing this phenomenon has been through mediation programs that aim for student-peer mediation and that create a safe environments at schools. This present study investigated teachers' perceptions of teachers being bullied by their superiors or having witnessing other teachers being bullied. It also investigates whether teachers believed measures against bullying were taken on the part of management. 154 professionals participated in the study. According to the surveyed teachers, their superiors don't bully them. The data gathered indicated that these superiors do not humiliate them in public nor in private. Very few teachers admitted to being humiliated by their superiors (between 6% and 24%). Moreover, some teachers in Lebanon experience bullying and that female superiors were more prone to be the bullies and not much is being done regarding addressing the issue of bullying. An alarming finding is the fact that one teacher admitted to solving bullying incidents through beating the bully. The study reveals that mediation should be implemented in Lebanese schools to teachers as well.
The Making of a 21st Century English Language Teacher during the Pandemic, 2022
English language has become a cosmopolitan language. It is the lingua franca of the 21st century.... more English language has become a cosmopolitan language. It is the lingua franca of the 21st century. This fact has turned learning the language to a must since it is the international language of communication. As teachers of English for more than 20 years, we have come to realize that to be successful in class, we need to learn and use English as a tool that helps us access information from other cultures and be able to transfer this knowledge and skill to our learners. We also need to provide our learners with enough exposure to English as used in context. However, this is not enough to turn our learners into 21st century citizens of the world. We need to help them become critical thinkers. This has become even harder with the move to online learning due to COVID 19 pandemic. This paper aims at exploring the perceptions of English language instructors in four local Lebanese universities regarding 21st-century critical thinking skills and the instructors' abilities to promote such skills in their classes. Twenty-seven teachers filled a questionnaire, and five participants were interviewed. Descriptive data were analyzed. The data revealed the perceptions and practices of these instructors. The study concludes with recommendations.
TEACHING ACADEMIC WRITING THROUGH THE USE OF REFLECTIONS
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2016
American Academic Scholarly Research Journal, Apr 1, 2013
When it comes to business ethics, views diverge and conflict. There are those who believe that et... more When it comes to business ethics, views diverge and conflict. There are those who believe that ethics can’t be taught but is rather a development, such as Aristotle; and there are those who like Socrates, believe that ethics is knowing what we ought to do, and therefore this knowledge can be learned. In the Lebanese society that faces ethical crises, ethical education becomes important. When business students are taught that “business is business” and business deals are “not a matter of ethics, but of business” in class, it becomes difficult to show them that “good ethics, is good business”. In such conditions ethical education becomes imperative. Teaching ethics means that one believes that people can change, that ethical behavior can be taught. However, is this applicable? Can we teach Hitler or Bernard Madoff ethics or as Orwin (2009) implies “Can we teach pigs to fly?” This paper investigated the effects of learning business ethics on various Lebanese university students who have successfully completed the course’s objectives. The participants were the researcher’s students in two local universities, which caused limitations of the results for they couldn’t be generalized. The results revealed that ethics course(s) did positively affect the students’ behavior.
Addressing Feminist and Gender Issues in ESL Classrooms: An Exploratory Study, 2024
Abstract Sexist incidents are encountered everywhere. These incidents are the result of a lack of... more Abstract
Sexist incidents are encountered everywhere. These incidents are the result of a lack of inclusion and the presence of gender discrimination in the educational sector. Since the 1990s, the use of sociopolitical issues, including gender and sexuality issues, has been discussed in ESL/EFL. There is an inherent male bias in some textbook examples which can have different repercussions for male and female students. Moreover, schools make it challenging for females to achieve and be self-confident because of stereotypes and the “self-fulfilling prophecy.” To establish equity, gender, and diversity in Lebanese schools, the problem of sexism must be addressed and solved.
Educators in Lebanon are of two types: those who believe that teachers’ sole role in ESL classrooms is to teach English as a language and nothing else; and those who believe that we should address the issue; ESL/EFL teachers have a social and moral role to play.
This paper discusses the attitudes of 27 ESL teachers from Beirut- Lebanon towards including gender and feminist issues in their ESL classrooms. It presents strategies for ESL teachers to follow in their classrooms to ensure gender equity and inclusion. To understand the feelings, values, and perceptions that shape and influence the teachers' so-called ideas, 5 teachers and 5 coordinators were interviewed. Based on the collected and analyzed data, most participants were interested in sociopolitical issues and welcomed any training.
Keywords: Lebanon, Gender, Feminism, Teaching, ESL/EFL.
American Journal of Science Education Research , 2024
Abstract This investigation aims to obtain an insight into how physics teachers, who teach the L... more Abstract
This investigation aims to obtain an insight into how physics teachers, who teach the Lebanese curriculum, understand
teaching critical thinking. It also aims at discovering which strategy these teachers use to teach critical thinking if they do. To
investigate these, two research questions were addressed: “How are teachers using strategies to teach critical thinking in
physics classrooms?” and “What are the best strategies that teach critical thinking in physics classrooms?” To answer these
questions, an exploratory study was conducted where the descriptive data revealed that the most widely used strategy in physics
classrooms is lecturing; yet the way it is being implemented does not cater to students’ acquisition of critical thinking skills.
Professional development regarding teaching critical thinking in physics classes is recommended.
Keywords: Critical thinking, teaching strategies, physics education, Lebanese physics curriculum, problem-solving, simulations,
labs, hands-on, lecture, and discussion.
IAFOR journal of education, Jun 1, 2024
Because intercultural communication has become one of the most demanded skills in the current dig... more Because intercultural communication has become one of the most demanded skills in the current digitalized world, many educational institutions aspire to graduate students who possess intercultural skills and are able to successfully communicate with people from diverse cultures. However, intercultural communication has not received much attention in the Lebanese context, especially in schools. To this end, this paper examined the Lebanese high school directors’ perceptions of intercultural communication. As pragmatists, the researchers employed quantitative and qualitative methods to better understand the problem under investigation. Using a snowball sampling, they surveyed the perceptions of 55 Lebanese directors in private and public high schools and interviewed two informants in the Center for Educational Research and Development. The collected data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Then, the derived conclusions were compared to ensure trustworthiness of the findings. Major findings showed that though intercultural communication is a learning outcome in most schools, it is mostly taught at the knowledge level in the foreign language classrooms. Assessment of this outcome was neither systematic nor consistent. It was also shown that directors in private schools tended to be more informed than those in the public sector. Recommendations are made for enhancing intercultural communication skills in Lebanese educational institutions. Keywords: cultural diversity, curriculum design, intercultural communication, intercultural competence, Lebanon, schools
IAFOR Journal of Education: Language Learning in Education, 2024
Because intercultural communication has become one of the most demanded skills in the current dig... more Because intercultural communication has become one of the most demanded skills in the current digitalized world, many educational institutions aspire to graduate students who possess intercultural skills and are able to successfully communicate with people from diverse cultures. However, intercultural communication has not received much attention in the Lebanese context, especially in schools. To this end, this paper examined the Lebanese high school directors’ perceptions of intercultural communication. As pragmatists, the researchers employed quantitative and qualitative methods to better understand the problem under investigation. Using a snowball sampling, they surveyed the perceptions of 55 Lebanese directors in private and public high schools and interviewed two informants in the Center for Educational Research and Development. The collected data were analyzed quantitatively and
qualitatively. Then, the derived conclusions were compared to ensure trustworthiness of the findings. Major findings showed that though intercultural communication is a learning outcome in most schools, it is mostly taught at the knowledge level in the foreign language classrooms.
Assessment of this outcome was neither systematic nor consistent. It was also shown that directors in private schools tended to be more informed than those in the public sector. Recommendations are made for enhancing intercultural communication skills in Lebanese educational institutions.
Keywords: cultural diversity, curriculum design, intercultural communication, intercultural
competence, Lebanon, schools
American academic & scholarly research journal, Apr 30, 2013
When it comes to business ethics, views diverge and conflict. There are those who believe that et... more When it comes to business ethics, views diverge and conflict. There are those who believe that ethics can’t be taught but is rather a development, such as Aristotle; and there are those who like Socrates, believe that ethics is knowing what we ought to do, and therefore this knowledge can be learned. In the Lebanese society that faces ethical crises, ethical education becomes important. When business students are taught that “business is business” and business deals are “not a matter of ethics, but of business” in class, it becomes difficult to show them that “good ethics, is good business”. In such conditions ethical education becomes imperative. Teaching ethics means that one believes that people can change, that ethical behavior can be taught. However, is this applicable? Can we teach Hitler or Bernard Madoff ethics or as Orwin (2009) implies “Can we teach pigs to fly?” This paper investigated the effects of learning business ethics on various Lebanese university students who have successfully completed the course’s objectives. The participants were the researcher’s students in two local universities, which caused limitations of the results for they couldn’t be generalized. The results revealed that ethics course(s) did positively affect the students’ behavior.
American academic & scholarly research journal, Jul 31, 2012
Teaching Business English (L2) for target learners whose L1 is Arabic requires certain procedures... more Teaching Business English (L2) for target learners whose L1 is Arabic requires certain procedures. Instructors must address problems that their Arabic learners will probably face in acquiring Business communication in L2. This paper will discuss the major problems that learners whose L1 is Arabic face in learning Business English which is L2 and what the role of the instructor is in guiding the learners to overcome these obstacles and acquire the desired skills. Instructors need to address the four problems that their Arab learners are probably going to encounter. These problems are: 1) negative transfer; 2) the difference in writing strategies; 3) prepositional knowledge; and 4) collocational patterns. Thus, instructors have to teach the learners to overcome negative transfer, include practices that guide the learners to overcome the differences in strategies of business communication that exist between L1 and L2 and address the cultural differences between the two main languages.
INTED proceedings, Mar 1, 2016
The diversity of the 21st-century classroom creates several difficulties for teachers who most pr... more The diversity of the 21st-century classroom creates several difficulties for teachers who most probably did not encounter such multiplicity as students. The practice of differentiating instruction helps teachers address the required standards, yet be able to respond to their learners' needs. Differentiation permits teachers to focus on important skills in each content area while at the same time be attentive to their learners' individual differences. It also helps them integrate assessment into their instruction, and provide their learners with multiple opportunities to learning. The result is a classroom where all learners acquire knowledge. Differentiated Instruction "is a model of instruction that revolves around the belief that students learn in many different ways" (Verde, 2004). It "provides materials and tasks at varied levels of difficulty with varying degrees of scaffolding, through multiple instructional groups; encourages student success by varying ways in which students work alone or collaboratively, in auditory or visual modes, or through practical or creative means" (Tomlinson, 2000). At CiS, we differentiate our instruction because we can maximize our learners' growth by meeting them at the level they are and helping them progress. In our classes we use technology since we believe that it helps us meet the needs of our learners in every lesson we give since technology assists us in pacing lessons for each of our student's learning level. However, it's important to know how to successfully assimilate technology into our instruction. The most vital principle of technology integration is that we need to focus on the outcome of the instruction, and not technology itself (Gibson, 1977). We only use technology to help facilitate our students' learning process for it allows changes in the lessons in terms of content, channels of input and the means of output. Moreover, through technology, our classes become a great stage for cooperative learning. Tools such as Comic Creator, Character Trading Cards, Acrostic Poems, Cube Creator and sites such as Podcasts, Webcams, Discovery School and iLearn are used in most classes at CiS to enhance learners' experiences. In this paper I will share the LWIS-CiS-DT's experience in using technology to advance learning using differentiated instruction.
INTED proceedings, Mar 1, 2016
Lebanon is one of the smallest countries in the world where programs for the gifted and talented ... more Lebanon is one of the smallest countries in the world where programs for the gifted and talented (GT) do not officially exist. There are some attempts to accommodate for the GT in various private schools that cater for learners from high socioeconomic status. These schools offer some enrichment programs and differentiated instruction/activities to high-achieving learners. The programs presented are attempts to nurture the talent and ability of learners with total grade average above 85/100 by providing these learners with a variety of enhancement activities (Sarouphim, 2009). The major cause for this lack of proper education for the GT in Lebanon is that the educational body lacks the basic understanding of what GT is. Moreover, the procedures for identifying, referring and assessing GT learners are not well-known nor easily available. Hence, it becomes imperative to come up with such tools and prepare the educational body for such a task. The aim of this paper is to share LWIS-City International School-DT (LWIS-CiS) experience in designing and developing a comprehensive system for the GT. Based on the findings of the literature review and LWIS-CiS personal experience, this paper describes the 3 phases of developing and implementing the GT program. Phase 1: the creation and administration of the Activity Hour, in which all leaners (gifted or not) participate in activities that would build their critical thinking skills and creativity. Phase 2: the training of teachers to identify and refer gifted learners for formal assessment. This phase also prepares and endows teachers with skills and strategies they can use in their regular classrooms. Phase 3: developing personalized action plans for the identified gifted learners. This program can later be adopted in all Lebanese schools-private and public.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Oct 1, 2016
International journal on social and education sciences, Jan 15, 2022
English language has become a cosmopolitan language. It is the lingua franca of the 21st century.... more English language has become a cosmopolitan language. It is the lingua franca of the 21st century. This fact has turned learning the language to a must since it is the international language of communication. As teachers of English for more than 20 years, we have come to realize that to be successful in class, we need to learn and use English as a tool that helps us access information from other cultures and be able to transfer this knowledge and skill to our learners. We also need to provide our learners with enough exposure to English as used in context. However, this is not enough to turn our learners into 21st century citizens of the world. We need to help them become critical thinkers. This has become even harder with the move to online learning due to COVID 19 pandemic. This paper aims at exploring the perceptions of English language instructors in four local Lebanese universities regarding 21st-century critical thinking skills and the instructors' abilities to promote such skills in their classes. Twenty-seven teachers filled a questionnaire, and five participants were interviewed. Descriptive data were analyzed. The data revealed the perceptions and practices of these instructors. The study concludes with recommendations.
World Journal of Advance Healthcare Research, Apr 8, 2005
Bullying is a dangerous phenomenon because it is a continuous act that causes problems at school,... more Bullying is a dangerous phenomenon because it is a continuous act that causes problems at school, university and even at work. Bullying comes in different forms; and one way of addressing this phenomenon has been through mediation programs that aim for student-peer mediation and that create a safe environments at schools. This present study investigated teachers’ perceptions of teachers being bullied by their superiors or having witnessing other teachers being bullied. It also investigates whether teachers believed measures against bullying were taken on the part of management. 154 professionals participated in the study. According to the surveyed teachers, their superiors don’t bully them. The data gathered indicated that these superiors do not humiliate them in public nor in private. Very few teachers admitted to being humiliated by their superiors (between 6% and 24%). Moreover, some teachers in Lebanon experience bullying and that female superiors were more prone to ...
Bullying is a dangerous phenomenon because it is a continuous act that causes problems at school,... more Bullying is a dangerous phenomenon because it is a continuous act that causes problems at school, university and even at work. Bullying comes in different forms; and one way of addressing this phenomenon has been through mediation programs that aim for student-peer mediation and that create a safe environments at schools. This present study investigated teachers' perceptions of teachers being bullied by their superiors or having witnessing other teachers being bullied. It also investigates whether teachers believed measures against bullying were taken on the part of management. 154 professionals participated in the study. According to the surveyed teachers, their superiors don't bully them. The data gathered indicated that these superiors do not humiliate them in public nor in private. Very few teachers admitted to being humiliated by their superiors (between 6% and 24%). Moreover, some teachers in Lebanon experience bullying and that female superiors were more prone to be the bullies and not much is being done regarding addressing the issue of bullying. An alarming finding is the fact that one teacher admitted to solving bullying incidents through beating the bully. The study reveals that mediation should be implemented in Lebanese schools to teachers as well.
The Making of a 21st Century English Language Teacher during the Pandemic, 2022
English language has become a cosmopolitan language. It is the lingua franca of the 21st century.... more English language has become a cosmopolitan language. It is the lingua franca of the 21st century. This fact has turned learning the language to a must since it is the international language of communication. As teachers of English for more than 20 years, we have come to realize that to be successful in class, we need to learn and use English as a tool that helps us access information from other cultures and be able to transfer this knowledge and skill to our learners. We also need to provide our learners with enough exposure to English as used in context. However, this is not enough to turn our learners into 21st century citizens of the world. We need to help them become critical thinkers. This has become even harder with the move to online learning due to COVID 19 pandemic. This paper aims at exploring the perceptions of English language instructors in four local Lebanese universities regarding 21st-century critical thinking skills and the instructors' abilities to promote such skills in their classes. Twenty-seven teachers filled a questionnaire, and five participants were interviewed. Descriptive data were analyzed. The data revealed the perceptions and practices of these instructors. The study concludes with recommendations.
TEACHING ACADEMIC WRITING THROUGH THE USE OF REFLECTIONS
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2016
American Academic Scholarly Research Journal, Apr 1, 2013
When it comes to business ethics, views diverge and conflict. There are those who believe that et... more When it comes to business ethics, views diverge and conflict. There are those who believe that ethics can’t be taught but is rather a development, such as Aristotle; and there are those who like Socrates, believe that ethics is knowing what we ought to do, and therefore this knowledge can be learned. In the Lebanese society that faces ethical crises, ethical education becomes important. When business students are taught that “business is business” and business deals are “not a matter of ethics, but of business” in class, it becomes difficult to show them that “good ethics, is good business”. In such conditions ethical education becomes imperative. Teaching ethics means that one believes that people can change, that ethical behavior can be taught. However, is this applicable? Can we teach Hitler or Bernard Madoff ethics or as Orwin (2009) implies “Can we teach pigs to fly?” This paper investigated the effects of learning business ethics on various Lebanese university students who have successfully completed the course’s objectives. The participants were the researcher’s students in two local universities, which caused limitations of the results for they couldn’t be generalized. The results revealed that ethics course(s) did positively affect the students’ behavior.