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English language teaching reform in Sultanate of Oman : the case of theory and practice disparity

Sultanate of Oman is one out of many developing countries around the world which have valued English as a very important international language and a tool for achieving multiple purposes. In 1970, the government accepted English as the only official foreign language and allocated huge budgets and re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational research for policy and practice 2012-06, Vol.11 (2), p.141-176
Main Authors: Ali S. Al-Issa, Ali H. Al-Bulushi
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Sultanate of Oman is one out of many developing countries around the world which have valued English as a very important international language and a tool for achieving multiple purposes. In 1970, the government accepted English as the only official foreign language and allocated huge budgets and resources for its implementation through education. However, almost three decades after this, it was found that students exiting the English language teachering (ELT) system in Oman suffer from various inadequacies in their English language proficiency, which has had negative implications for Oman's national development. This has driven the government to attempt to revolutionise English language teaching through pursuing a reform plan, Basic Education System (BES). This paper examines the attitudes of 141 freshmen, who have exited the BES and joined Sultan Qaboos University in September 2009, about their teachers and the curriculum. The results have shown that there have hardly been any significant changes in the BES reform project, as compared to the previously implemented system, General Education System mainly due to implementation shortcomings. [Author abstract, ed]
ISSN:1570-2081
1573-1723
DOI:10.1007/s10671-011-9110-0