Difficulties faced by Omani postgraduate students in an English for academic purposes context / Hamed Ahmed Matar Al-Anqodi
This research was conducted to identify the difficulties faced by Omani postgraduates in the use of English for academic purposes (EAP). Seven areas of academic language use at a public university in Malaysia were identified as the focus of this investigation. The study employed a mixed method ap...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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2012
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| Online Access: | http://pendeta.um.edu.my/client/default/search/results?qu=Difficulties+faced+by+Omani+postgraduate+students+in+an+English+for+academic+purposes+context&te= http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/3987/1/Title_page%2C_abstract%2C_content.pdf http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/3987/2/Full_chapters.pdf http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/3987/3/References_%26_appendices.pdf |
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| author | Al-Anqodi, Hamed Ahmed Matar |
| author_facet | Al-Anqodi, Hamed Ahmed Matar |
| author_sort | Al-Anqodi, Hamed Ahmed Matar |
| building | UM Research Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This research was conducted to identify the difficulties faced by Omani postgraduates in
the use of English for academic purposes (EAP). Seven areas of academic language use
at a public university in Malaysia were identified as the focus of this investigation.
The study employed a mixed method approach to utilize both quantitative and
qualitative data obtained through a questionnaire and interviews. A questionnaire and
interviews were designed and administrated to 13 Omani postgraduates from 7 faculties
in the academic year 2010/2011. The students were asked to indicate the problems they
faced in performing the following academic language tasks: note taking, writing critical
reviews, answering exam questions, understanding lecturers, reading and understanding
academic book and journals, participating in group discussion and tutorials and oral
presentations.
In addition, two sets of interviews were administrated after getting the consent from the
interviewees. The interviewees for the first set were two Omani students; one each from
the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Science. The interviewees for the second set
were two lecturers of the same university; one each from the Faculty of Languages and
Linguistics, and the Faculty of Education. The aim of the first set of interview was to
identify the academic language difficulties faced by the Omani students and the reasons
for such difficulties. The aim of the second set of interview was to obtain the lecturers’
perception of the academic language difficulties the Omani students face, their causes
and the possible ways to overcome them.
The study found that ‘writing critical review’ (69.22%) and ‘note taking’ (61.53%) were
the most frequently cited difficulties among Omani postgraduates. This is followed by
‘reading/understanding academic books and journals (46.14%), ‘participating in group discussion and tutorials’ (38.45%),‘answering examination questions’ (30.76%), ‘oral
presentation (30.76%), and ‘understanding lecturers’ (15.38%) respectively.
Analysis of the lecturers’ and students’ interviews confirmed that ‘writing critical
reviews’ was the students’ most frequently cited academic language difficulty.
Lecturers stated that students need to obtain the academic language skills and it requires
immediate action. In addition, the study found that Omani postgraduates faced
academic language difficulties because of the following reasons: poor English language
proficiency, no academic language skills prior to entry and difficulties to adjust to the
new academic culture. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T13:28:19Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | um-3987 |
| institution | University Malaya |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T13:28:19Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | um-39872013-08-17T09:18:55Z Difficulties faced by Omani postgraduate students in an English for academic purposes context / Hamed Ahmed Matar Al-Anqodi Al-Anqodi, Hamed Ahmed Matar P Philology. Linguistics This research was conducted to identify the difficulties faced by Omani postgraduates in the use of English for academic purposes (EAP). Seven areas of academic language use at a public university in Malaysia were identified as the focus of this investigation. The study employed a mixed method approach to utilize both quantitative and qualitative data obtained through a questionnaire and interviews. A questionnaire and interviews were designed and administrated to 13 Omani postgraduates from 7 faculties in the academic year 2010/2011. The students were asked to indicate the problems they faced in performing the following academic language tasks: note taking, writing critical reviews, answering exam questions, understanding lecturers, reading and understanding academic book and journals, participating in group discussion and tutorials and oral presentations. In addition, two sets of interviews were administrated after getting the consent from the interviewees. The interviewees for the first set were two Omani students; one each from the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Science. The interviewees for the second set were two lecturers of the same university; one each from the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, and the Faculty of Education. The aim of the first set of interview was to identify the academic language difficulties faced by the Omani students and the reasons for such difficulties. The aim of the second set of interview was to obtain the lecturers’ perception of the academic language difficulties the Omani students face, their causes and the possible ways to overcome them. The study found that ‘writing critical review’ (69.22%) and ‘note taking’ (61.53%) were the most frequently cited difficulties among Omani postgraduates. This is followed by ‘reading/understanding academic books and journals (46.14%), ‘participating in group discussion and tutorials’ (38.45%),‘answering examination questions’ (30.76%), ‘oral presentation (30.76%), and ‘understanding lecturers’ (15.38%) respectively. Analysis of the lecturers’ and students’ interviews confirmed that ‘writing critical reviews’ was the students’ most frequently cited academic language difficulty. Lecturers stated that students need to obtain the academic language skills and it requires immediate action. In addition, the study found that Omani postgraduates faced academic language difficulties because of the following reasons: poor English language proficiency, no academic language skills prior to entry and difficulties to adjust to the new academic culture. 2012 Thesis NonPeerReviewed application/pdf http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/3987/1/Title_page%2C_abstract%2C_content.pdf application/pdf http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/3987/2/Full_chapters.pdf application/pdf http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/3987/3/References_%26_appendices.pdf http://pendeta.um.edu.my/client/default/search/results?qu=Difficulties+faced+by+Omani+postgraduate+students+in+an+English+for+academic+purposes+context&te= Al-Anqodi, Hamed Ahmed Matar (2012) Difficulties faced by Omani postgraduate students in an English for academic purposes context / Hamed Ahmed Matar Al-Anqodi. Masters thesis, University of Malaya. http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/3987/ |
| spellingShingle | P Philology. Linguistics Al-Anqodi, Hamed Ahmed Matar Difficulties faced by Omani postgraduate students in an English for academic purposes context / Hamed Ahmed Matar Al-Anqodi |
| title | Difficulties faced by Omani postgraduate students in an English for academic purposes context / Hamed Ahmed Matar Al-Anqodi |
| title_full | Difficulties faced by Omani postgraduate students in an English for academic purposes context / Hamed Ahmed Matar Al-Anqodi |
| title_fullStr | Difficulties faced by Omani postgraduate students in an English for academic purposes context / Hamed Ahmed Matar Al-Anqodi |
| title_full_unstemmed | Difficulties faced by Omani postgraduate students in an English for academic purposes context / Hamed Ahmed Matar Al-Anqodi |
| title_short | Difficulties faced by Omani postgraduate students in an English for academic purposes context / Hamed Ahmed Matar Al-Anqodi |
| title_sort | difficulties faced by omani postgraduate students in an english for academic purposes context / hamed ahmed matar al-anqodi |
| topic | P Philology. Linguistics |
| url | http://pendeta.um.edu.my/client/default/search/results?qu=Difficulties+faced+by+Omani+postgraduate+students+in+an+English+for+academic+purposes+context&te= http://pendeta.um.edu.my/client/default/search/results?qu=Difficulties+faced+by+Omani+postgraduate+students+in+an+English+for+academic+purposes+context&te= http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/3987/1/Title_page%2C_abstract%2C_content.pdf http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/3987/2/Full_chapters.pdf http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/3987/3/References_%26_appendices.pdf |