Omani University Research Articles

Effective University Instructors as Perceived by Turkish and Omani University Students

This study investigated the characteristics of effective university instructors as perceived by 547 students. The students came from institutions in two different countries, Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman and Süleyman Demirel University in Turkey. They were asked to indicate the personality and the teaching characteristics they felt were essential qualities of an effective university instructor. The students’ responses were also assessed based on gender, year of study, and grade point average (GPA). According to the findings, an effective university instructor respects students as people, recognizes their identity, listens to their concerns and challenges, and is someone students can depend on for support when needed. With regard to teaching characteristics, an effective instructor is the one who treats students equally, builds their confidence, comes prepared for the lesson, and is clear and easy to be understood. Female students placed more value on personality characteristics. In addition, freshmen students were more concerned about optimizing the learning environment by having effective instructors who possess effective personality and teaching characteristics. There were no significant differences between students based on GPA. Finally, the Omani students rated both the personality and teaching characteristics more highly than the Turkish students.

Emotional Intelligence in Language Instruction in Oman: The Missing Link?

The field of English Language Teaching (ELT) has long sought to identify traits of good language learners, in an effort to teach these traits to less successful language learners (Rubin, 1975). Emotional Intelligence has recently come to the forefront of research on language learning and teaching, and is now increasingly recognized as an important predictor of success in academic achievement in general, and success in learning a language (Goleman, 1995; Rastegar and Karami, 2013; Sucaromana, 2012). Recent years have seen a proliferation of research linking Emotional Intelligence to success in the English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. Hence researchers have recommended explicit Emotional Intelligence instruction in language classrooms. With the importance of English in today’s globalized world, and the greater need to communicate in English, fostering a student’s communicative ability is important, particularly in an EFL context like Oman. The Government of Oman has invested heavily in English language instruction, but unfortunately, the investment has not paid off. While there exists a substantial volume of research identifying possible reasons for students’ inadequate grasp of English even after years of language instruction both at the school and university levels, research linking emotional skills and language learning success in Oman is lacking. This article investigates whether a lack of Emotional Intelligence skills could be one of the reasons for the failure of students to achieve competence in English. Results from questionnaires of multiple choice and open-ended questions distributed to 60 university students at a large public university in the Sultanate of Oman show that a lack of Emotional Intelligence impacts a student’s ability to learn. The authors conclude that directly focusing on Emotional Intelligence skills in Omani university classrooms could result in improving students’ overall achievement both at university in general, and in English specifically.

Influence of demographic factors on the entrepreneurial intentions of university students in Oman

This paper aims to examine the relationship of four critical demographic factors, namely, Father’s occupation, Gender, Experience and Level of education on the entrepreneurial intention of Omani university students. The study uses a structured questionnaire to conduct a survey which is administered to the students of Dhofar University. The data collected are analyzed and it is found that there is a high level of intentions among students to start entrepreneurial ventures. Moreover, demographic factors are found to be influencing the entrepreneurial intention. Among the demographic factors experience is found to have the maximum influence on the entrepreneurial interest. The results suggest a need to provide students with on job training for gaining experience along with their educational programs. As an increase in experience will lead to a higher entrepreneurial intention of students and thus the likelyhood of a student becoming an entrepreneur will increase. Furthermore, universities and government should promote entrepreneurship training programs taking into account the Father’s occupation, Gender, Experience and Education Levels of students

Influence of Shyness, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Risk Taking on University Students’ Academic Achievement: A Path Analysis

The current study aimed to investigate whether the samples academic achievement can be predicted by the direct and indirect influences of the independent variables: shyness, uncertainty avoidance, and risk taking. The sample consisted of two groups: 77 Omani university students, and 68 non-Omani university students. The study applied Darwish’s (2000) uncertainty avoidance scale, and Goss, Gilbert & Allan (1994) shame scale (ISS), while the risk taking scale was constructed by the researcher. Additionally, path analysis was used to test the study hypotheses. Results concluded that shyness (5%, p < .01), uncertainty avoidance (5%, p < .01), and risk taking (16%, p < .01) were all significant negative predictors of academic achievement. As for gender and nationality, results did not indicate an influence on academic achievement (p >.05).

Peer Tutoring Effects on Omani Students’ English Self-Concept

Based on the social cognitive learning theory (1997), peer learning can be viewed as an effective way of enhancing learning. In this study, peer tutoring, a form of peer learning, was examined. The current study investigated the influence of a peer tutoring program implemented at Sultan Qaboos University on students’ English self-concept. 125 Omani university students participated in the study. The Students English Self-Concept Scale (SESCS) and the Tutorial Programs Factors Scale (TPFS) were utilized to collect the data. The findings demonstrated that peer tutoring has a positive influence on English self-concept. Three tutorial program factors were found to positively predict English self-concept. Implications for EFL teachers, and recommendations for future research were discussed.

Making a Case for New Directions in English Language Teaching Research at an Omani University: A Critical Qualitative Content Analysis Report

Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) has been the sole English Language Teaching (ELT) research enterprise in the Sultanate of Oman through the Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Curriculum and Methods of Teaching English degree program it launched in the early 1990s. Eighty-two theses have been completed so far about topics pertinent to ELT in the Sultanate of Oman. However, a review of those theses has shown that the discussion of these topics lacks a critical dimension that can advance Omani ELT at the micro and macro levels. This critical qualitative study, therefore, sets out to make a case for new directions in ELT research at the M.Ed. in ELT program at SQU. The discussion should lead to better understanding of the multiple ELT problems in the Sultanate of Oman and have implications for other similar contexts.

Effects of Dietary Patterns, Dietary Glycemic Load and Physical Activity Level on the Weight Status of Healthy Female Omani University Students

Effects of Dietary Patterns, Dietary Glycemic Load and Physical Activity Level on the Weight Status of Healthy Female Omani University Students

Recognising English accents in the community: Omani students' accent preferences and perceptions of nativeness

Previous research has revealed that although EFL students may claim to prefer British/US accents they often have difficulty identifying them, especially when such accents may differ from ‘standard’ accents presented in ELT materials. In the Gulf, English is widely used as a lingua franca or as a second language by the large expatriate workforce. Particular accents in English characteristic for L1 speakers of Arabic or South Asian languages are commonly heard in the education and service sectors. This study investigates whether Omani university students are able to distinguish between native English speaker (NES) and non-native English speaker NNES EFL teachers' accents commonly heard in their educational context and their evaluations of these accents as pedagogical models. Specifically, the study seeks to ascertain whether a relationship exists between students' assumptions regarding the NES status of an EFL teacher and their evaluations of the teacher's accent as a suitable model for pronunciation. Results show that, in most cases, a moderate to strong correlation exists between these two variables, particularly among students who claim that having a NES teacher is desirable for the purpose of improving pronunciation.

Risky driving behavior among university students and staff in the Sultanate of Oman

BackgroundThere is a well developed literature on research investigating the relationship between various driving behaviors and road crash involvement. However, this research has predominantly been conducted in developed economies dominated by western types of cultural environments. To date no research has been published that has empirically investigated this relationship within the context of the emerging economies such as Oman. ObjectiveThe present study aims to investigate driving behavior as indexed in the driving behavior questionnaire (DBQ) among a group of Omani university students and staff. MethodsA convenience non-probability self-selection sampling approach was utilized with Omani university students and staff. ResultsA total of 1003 Omani students (n=632) and staff (n=371) participated in the survey. Factor analysis of the BDQ revealed four main factors that were errors, speeding violation, lapses and aggressive violation. In the multivariate logistic backward regression analysis, the following factors were identified as significant predictors of being involved in causing at least one crash: driving experience, history of offenses and two DBQ components, i.e., errors and aggressive violation. ConclusionThis study indicates that errors and aggressive violation of the traffic regulations as well as history of having traffic offenses are major risk factors for road traffic crashes among the sample. While previous international research has demonstrated that speeding is a primary cause of crashing, in the current context, the results indicate that an array of factors is associated with crashes. Further research using more rigorous methodology is warranted to inform the development of road safety countermeasures in Oman that improves overall Traffic Safety Culture.