Teaching English in Oman

Introduction
In our ever-globalizing world, nations are forced to adapt in order to place their citizens in a prime position alongside the rest of the world. The countries in the Arabian Gulf are no exception; with their extensive dependence on wealth from natural resources, in recent years there has been an emphasis on long-term investments in human capital—educate your people and you guarantee their livelihood for generations to come. Oman, a country with a rich and long history, has been in the throes of a renaissance that began in 1970 with the ascension of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to the throne. With the change in power came modern Oman’s current path—one equipped with sophisticated infrastructure, an educated and generally literate society, and huge potential for the future. As an increasingly vital language, proficiency in the English language is a valuable skill—one that gives a competitive edge in this global world. To capitalize on this advantage, the Omani government has decided that its students should be exposed to and proficient in English; thus, Omani students study English all the way through their pre-university schooling, from grade one until grade twelve. Once in university, students in most specialties take all of their classes in English. Omani students have been learning English in schools for decades and, yet, 4 many are still not functional, upon entering university, in the English language. This research sought to investigate why this trend exists. In our ever-globalizing world, nations are forced to adapt in order to place their citizens in a prime position alongside the rest of the world. The countries in the Arabian Gulf are no exception; with their extensive dependence on wealth from natural resources, in recent years there has been an emphasis on long-term investments in human capital—educate your people and you guarantee their livelihood for generations to come. Oman, a country with a rich and long history, has been in the throes of a renaissance that began in 1970 with the ascension of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to the throne. With the change in power came modern Oman’s current path—one equipped with sophisticated infrastructure, an educated and generally literate society, and huge potential for the future. As an increasingly vital language, proficiency in the English language is a valuable skill—one that gives a competitive edge in this global world. To capitalize on this advantage, the Omani government has decided that its students should be exposed to and proficient in English; thus, Omani students study English all the way through their pre-university schooling, from grade one until grade twelve. Once in university, students in most specialties take all of their classes in English. Omani students have been learning English in schools for decades and, yet, 4 many are still not functional, upon entering university, in the English language. This research sought to investigate why this trend exists.
Task

 

Process

You are aware of the extent of the attention we accord to the development of human

resources in order to provide our young sons and daughters with wider and better

opportunities of education, training and employment. There can be no doubt that the

human being is the basic component and the cornerstone of any viable civilisation. We,

therefore, once again reaffirm the importance of this element in the development and

modernisation of society.

(From a speech of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said in 2006)

English language teaching (ELT) in Oman is a relatively new enterprise. It has been intro-

duced to the Omani education system in 1970, when His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said

came to the throne and started establishing the modern Omani nation-state. Oman has ever

since acknowledged the importance of English, a lingua franca and the only official for-

eign language in the Sultanate, as a tool that serves multiple purposes locally and globally.

English in Oman receives political, economic, and legislative support from the elite as repre-

sented in the government, which determines its place on the social hierarchy (Al-Issa 2002,

2006c). English in Oman has institutionalized domains like the business, education, and

media (Al-Busaidi 1995) and is central to Oman’s continued national development (Al-Issa

2002, 2006c, 2007b). People in Oman learn English for science and technology acquisition,

pursuing higher education, travelling to non-Arabic and English-speaking countries, finding

a white-collar job and cultural analysis and understanding (Al-Issa 2002, 2007b). The last

purpose is best interpreted through watching Hollywood films and other English language

programs and reading English language printed materials, which introduce Omanis to the

English-speaking countries’ cultures and help them see its different aspects through the tool

of language.

However, facts and figures about ELT in Oman show that the vast majority of the stu-

dents who leave Grade 12 and join different public and private higher education academic

institutions lack the ability to use language effectively and appropriately in all four skills

throughout the range of social, personal, school, and work situations required for daily living

in a given society. The same largely applies to the hundreds of students who are awarded

scholarships to English-speaking and non-Arabic speaking countries every year to study for

their First Degree. These students learn English in their respective foundation programs,

despite spending 9 years receiving formal instruction in English at their different schools

throughout the Sultanate (Al-Issa 2009b, 2010a).

Hence, the government decided to revolutionize ELT over a decade ago to meet the present

and future challenges and demands of the local and global market. This has been material-

ized in the form of introducing the Basic Education System (BES) in 1999, which introduces

English language from Grade 1, stresses Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), and

incorporates educational technology within ELT and the other subjects on the national cur-

riculum. This has come at the expense of the former General Education System (GES), which

completely phased out in June 2010 across the Sultanate.

1 Rationale

Barkhuizen and Gough (1996) stress that “the success of language-in-education policy is

measured by the effectiveness of its implementation” (p. 461). This article attempts to inves-

tigate the perceptions of the first BES graduates about the implementation of the system, any

perceived changes in their language, and the implications this can have to ELT in the neigh-

boring Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCCC)—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi

123

English language teaching reform in Sultanate of Oman 143

Arabia & the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.)—the Middle East and North Africa countries

and other “expanding circle countries” (Kachru 1986), which might be embarking on ELT

reform projects endeavours.

In addition, there has been scarcity of written and published research on the different

aspects of ELT policy and planning in Sultanate of Oman. The authors of this article hope to

make some significant contribution to this important, but overlooked area.

The writers of this article further hope to communicate the results of this study to the

stakeholders at the Ministry of Education to help them understand the factors disturbing the

implementation of ELT reform in Oman. By doing so, the stakeholders will be in a good situ-

ation to point to the source(s) of the problem and act accordingly. Discussion of the literature

on ELT in the subsequent sections will help to provide practical solutions to the current ELT

policy implementation problems in the Omani ELT system.

2 Educational reform

Educational reform is intellectually, physically and financially demanding and challenging

and driven by political, cultural, economic and ideological reasons. Effective educational

reform, according to Oliver (1996), must involve the establishment of new targets, strategies

and stake holders.

2.1 Public education

Oman, a young nation-state and an oil-producing country in the Gulf, established a national

mass education policy and invested heavily in education over the past 40 years or so through

formal schooling and successfully improved the level, quantity and quality of human capital.

As a result, literacy rates of males and females have increased significantly over the four

decades. Education has been free for all since His Majesty the Sultan came to power on 23

rd

July 1970. This has contributed to reducing literacy rates significantly.

According to the data retrieved from the Ministry of Education database in 2010, the

number of schools rose from three schools of about 900 students in 1970 to 207 schools

and about 55,752 students in 1975/1976 and to 953 schools and 488,797 students in 1995.

However, schools then were equipped with chalk and blackboards and basic furniture (chairs

and desks, ceiling fans and lights). Classrooms were barrack-like (35–50 students in each

classroom) and schools were equipped with libraries that included some printed materials.

Schools operated according to two shifts—morning 7:30–11:30, and afternoon 12:00–4:00.

Textbooks and other relevant educational printed materials were mainly imported. Formal

tests dominated the assessment scene.

Moreover, the Ministry of Education trained a number of inspectors during the 1970s.

These inspectors visited the different schools throughout the Sultanate on a regular basis

and reported their observations to a central authority at the Ministry. Such reports had an

important impact on the career paths of the inspected academic and administrative staff.

In addition, expatriate teachers outnumbered their Omani counterparts. However, some of

these teachers lacked proper academic and educational qualifications and training, and hence

would travel all the way from their respective regions (sometimes for up to 400 km) to attend

in-service training sessions in Muscat. The case was not very different with regard to the

Omani teachers, who too lacked proper training and qualification, as many of them were grad-

uates of the Teacher Training Institutes (TTI), which were opened in 1977, and transformed

into Intermediate Teacher Training Colleges (ITTC) in 1984, and eventually transformed into

123

144 A.S. Al-Issa, A.H. Al-Bulushi

Colleges of Education in 1995. The difference between the three institutions is substantial

and lies in the academic and administrative structure and quality and quantity of types of

knowledge presented to the prospective teachers.

Oman has witnessed seven 5-year educational plans starting since 1976–1980, which at-

tempted to achieve a balance between quality and quantity. Today, the number of schools

throughout the Sultanate has exceeded 1,050 and the number of students has exceeded

560,000, out of which only less of one quarter of this number find seats in the (free) public

higher education institutes available throughout the country.

A large number of schools throughout the Sultanate have been equipped with a resource

centre, which include computers with access to the Internet, LCD projectors, slides projec-

tors, OHPs, printers, scanners, videos, video cameras, digital cameras, different computer

software, and a wide range of printed and educational materials.

Moreover, textbooks and other pertinent printed materials are produced in-house. Class-

rooms, which have become relatively smaller in size, are equipped with a whiteboard and

markers and are air-conditioned, as the temperature in summer (May–August) sometimes

exceeds 50

C.

In addition, Omani teachers have gradually started to outnumber their expatriate coun-

terparts in most disciplines, especially in the female sector. Furthermore, teachers who have

graduated from the TTI and ITTC were enrolled in special programs to help them upgrade

their skills and knowledge about their respective fields. Also, teachers have been attending

different in-service training programs in their respective regions and senior/master teachers

have been appointed to assist the less experienced, new arrivals to the system and fresh grad-

uates in developing to become better teachers. These senior/master teachers are trained to

do action research and keep portfolios. Moreover, experienced and qualified Omani teacher

trainers have been appointed in the different regions of the Sultanate.

In 1998–1999, the Ministry of Education introduced the BES as an “ambitious” scientific

and pedagogic education development project, which consists of 10 years of schooling and

covers substantial changes in areas such as the school system, curriculum content, textbook

development, means of assessment and teacher training.

This is followed by the introduction of the Post-Basic or Secondary Education, which lasts

for 2 years of schooling (Grades 11 and 12), and is designed to continue developing basic

skills like proper communication skills, problem solving skills, use of mathematics skills,

personal and social skills, and information technology literacy. These skills are important

for employment and career planning and are set to be achieved through adopting student-

centred learning, internationally recognized curriculum and assessment standards based on

learner outcomes and authentic assessment of student performance, problem-solving teach-

ing approach, development of individual differences, and development of employability skills

and universal competencies (Ministry of Education 2008).

An example of the curriculum reform adopted is offering a host of optional courses for stu-

dent to choose from such as English Language Skills, Graphic Design, Economic Geography,

Artistic Skills, Computer Business, Computer science, Geography and Modern Technology,

Musical Skills, Physical Education and some others, from where each student should choose

three. Another example is asking all students to study research methodology and complete a

project during the 2 years of the Post-Basic Education (Ministry of Education 2008).

The Ministry of Education further allocated the Best Teacher Award some years back

to honour distinguished individual teachers from all public schools across the Sultanate,

provided they satisfy a certain set of criteria. For example, 250–300 teachers representing

different schools and subjects were declared recipients of the award from across the country

in 2010 and honoured with a Certificate and a Laptop.

123

English language teaching reform in Sultanate of Oman 145

Certain criteria such as a minimum of 4 years teaching experience, adherence to rules

and regulations, punctuality and attendance, professional efficiency, skill and competence in

using computers, professional innovation and creativity, effort made to pursue professional

development, students’ attainment and ability to cope with pressure have been specified to

help determine the best teacher.

2.2 Public Higher Education

Pollock (2007) acknowledges that the GCCC have started to diversify their economies to

relinquish dependency on oil revenues, as industry in the region is demanding increasingly

skilled labour to meet human resource needs. Oman, more specifically, and according to

Gonzalez et al. (2008) “...is dealing with a less than certain economic future because its oil

reserves ... are quickly being depleted” (p. 147).

Hence, the Omani government has made substantial efforts to diversify higher education

to produce citizens that can contribute to a knowledge-based and diverse economy in order

to meet the requirements and challenges of higher education, the local labour market and

globalization. One important achievement has been the opening of Sultan Qaboos University

(SQU), the only public university in the country, which at present consists of nine colleges,

has nine research centres, and includes 15,000 students enrolled in the different Bachelors,

Master and Ph.D. programs. English is the medium of instruction in the science-based col-

leges and some humanities-based courses like Translation, English Language Literature, ELT

and Commercial Law, for example.

Furthermore, seven Higher Colleges of Technology have been opened throughout the Sul-

tanate offering a Bachelors degree in different technology-based programs like surveying,

networking, oil and gas, human resources, data bases, etc.

There are also further 16 institutes for health sciences throughout Oman, which offer

different programs in health-related disciplines such as physiotherapy, medical records, lab-

oratory sciences, nutrition, general nursing, etc.

There is further one campus for the College of Banking and Financial Studies in Mus-

cat, which offers a Bachelors degree if programs related to banking and finance such as

Accounting, Banking, Business, Computing, and Insurance.

Moreover, in 2005–2006 five out of the six Colleges of Education were converted to Col-

leges of Applied Sciences and started to offer four major programs: Communication Studies,

Information Technology, Design and International Business Administration. English is once

again the medium of instruction in all the aforementioned colleges and institutes.

In addition, the Ministry of Higher Education offers over 100 fully and partially-sponsored

scholarships available annually for students to read for their Bachelors, Master and Ph.D.

degrees mainly in the English-speaking countries in disciplines not on offer in the existing

functioning colleges and universities in the Sultanate. Many of these students, especially at

the undergraduate level, require a language improvement component prior to embarking on

their respective academic program. The cost of these English courses (tuition fees) ranges

from US$ 5,000–10,000 per calendar year. There are also additional fees paid by the govern-

ment to the students on these scholarships. These include living, airfare tickets, books and

clothes. Each student in each of the English-speaking country costs the Omani government

approximately between US$ 23,000–27,000 per academic year.

As part of the electronic Oman government initiative, applications for higher education—

public and private—places have been merged under one unified online system—Higher

Education Admissions Centre. Each higher education institute publishes the minimum entry

requirement for each of its degrees and the student selects his or her choices in order of

123

146 A.S. Al-Issa, A.H. Al-Bulushi

preference. When the Ministry of Education publishes Grade 12 results in mid July, these

results are fed automatically into the system and offers are made in early August.

Oman Accreditation Council (OAC) was also established recently to monitor and supervise

accreditation and quality control of higher education institutes in Oman. It is thus noteworthy

that based upon international literature and international benchmarks, OAC decided in 2007

that students enrolling in any of the aforementioned institutes are required to attend a General

Foundation Program (GFP) as a compulsory entrance qualification for Omani degree pro-

grammes for one 6–12 months in which they study English Language, Maths, Computing and

General Study Skills as these four areas provide a comprehensive intellectual base relevant

to all further study, and to the development of broad thinking and life skills in general.

However, a student is exempted from undertaking a component of a GFP if s/he has already

met the required learning outcomes for that area of learning. If a student satisfies the standards

for English (an IELTS score of at least 5.0 with none of the four areas of writing, speaking,

listening and reading below 4.5, or a TOEFL score of at least 500), math and computing

during entry testing then s/he will be awarded the certificate of attainment for the entire GFP.

It is noteworthy that almost 1,900 students out of 2,700 students accepted at SQU in

2010–2011 were required to join the GFP English Language component due to failing to

pass the Exit test administered by the Language Centre at SQU. The exit test is equivalent to

5.0 on IELTS.

2.3 Private education

In 1972–1973, there were only two private schools with 115 students. Today, the number

of schools grew to over 150 private schools with over 30,000 students. All private schools

teach English from Kindergarten 1 and Science and Maths in English. All these schools

use imported materials. There is a kind of reliance on the private schools to provide more

advanced education services, as in the case of teaching English using imported materials and

teaching Math and Science through English from Grade One. Besides, private schools in

Oman enjoy greater autonomy than the public schools.

2.4 Private higher education

It is interesting to note that Qatar and the U.A.E., which have imported and invited high

quality universities to establish branch campuses as an innovative solution to the problem

of providing an internationally competitive education without having to build local capacity

from scratch (Pollock 2007). However, Oman has witnessed the opening of seven private

universities and 19 colleges since 1995 with a student enrolment exceeding 33,000 in all col-

leges. These colleges and universities are affiliated with internationally-recognized academic

institutions in the English-speaking countries and offer mostly science-based programs like

Medicine, Engineering and Applied Sciences, which are all taught in English.

2.5 Educational reform implications

 

Evaluation

1. Introduction

Education is developing rapidly over time. There is regular reform going on in different places which can include

developing teaching styles and methods, curriculum design and better understanding of the learning process.

Educationalists intend to develop different aspects of education including curriculum development.

Continuous development of the curriculum is taking place in all over the world. In some places, governments

have their own curriculum officers and basically develop their own curricula. However, there are other countries

that depend on different publishers who intend to write, revise and develop the curriculum over a period of time.

In both these cases, a need to evaluate the curriculum is significant in order to update the methodology utilized,

the content and other curriculum features (Al-Jardani, 2011).

The field of Curriculum Evaluation is still developing and when looking closely at the Curriculum Evaluation

books and articles, it shows that the aspects covered in this area if compared to other issues in Education are still

not enough (Al-Jardani, 2011). This important aspect of Curriculum Evaluation is vital and needs a lot of work,

especially in developing a systematic approach for Curriculum Evaluation in the long-term.

A lack of a framework for Curriculum Evaluation in the Ministry of Education in Oman for the public has been

observed (Al-Jardani, 2011). This has resulted in a miscommunication between the curriculum departments and

the practitioners in the field. Building and publicizing a framework helps to show the role and responsibility of

each in developing and evaluating the curriculum.

2. Literature Review

In this section, the concept of Curriculum Evaluation will be discussed. It will cover the some aspects of

curriculum evaluation. This starts with a definition of curriculum evaluation.

Different definitions of Curriculum Evaluation are found in the existing literature about the topic. It can be defined

as a systematic process for collecting and analyzing all relevant information for the purpose of judging and

assessing the effectiveness of the curriculum to promote improvement (Nichols et al., 2006; Simons, 1987 in

Marsh, 2004: 106; Brown, 1989: 223 in Brown, 1995: 218). The definition consists of key words such as

systematic, process, collect and analyse, relevant information, curriculum effectiveness’ assessment, and to

improve.

Curriculum Evaluation can be either a small-scale task involving a very limited number of participants if it is

classroom based, or a massive large-scale task involving a number of schools, teachers, parents, officers and some

community members. An action research exercise conducted by a teacher in his/her class with learners can also be

part of Curriculum Evaluation. On the other hand, an internal or external evaluator evaluating a whole curriculum

covering several schools, a large number of teachers and learners, and which may additionally cover the schools’

surroundings, may also constitute Curriculum Evaluation.

www.ccsenet.org/ijel International Journal of English Linguistics Vol. 2, No. 5; 2012

41

There are some common characteristics of different types of Curriculum Evaluation. It starts with needs analysis

which is on-going as it never finishes (Brown, 1995). This shows that there is a need for Curriculum Evaluation

within any curriculum system and within any teaching and learning process. It cannot be merely one short task and,

although that can be a part of the overall evaluation, it cannot be all of it. Generally, Curriculum Evaluation helps

to connect all other elements of curriculum and also to highlight positive and negative issues related to these

elements, such as the aims, goals and purpose of different subjects, guidelines for course design, teaching and

learning principles and others. Brown (1995: 217) says that the absence of Curriculum Evaluation will result in the

other elements lacking cohesion.

A need for both internal (insider) and external (outsider) evaluation is necessary. Moreover, evaluation should

cover both the result of the curriculum and the planning of it, too. (Nation & Macalister, 2010: 123; Marsh, 2004).

These points and others will be discussed in the coming sections of the Curriculum Evaluation section of this

thesis.

3. Method

The paper utilized a document analysis method to highlight some of the key issues to English and English

Curriculum development and evaluation in Oman. Document analysis as a method, is used to study the common

document within the area of research (Krippendorff, 1980: 21, 112; Bell, 1999). The document which is used for

this paper is the English Language Curriculum Framework and some other relevant documents.

The English Language Curriculum Framework published by the English Section is produced by the English

section in the Human Sciences department. It included sections related to curriculum development. It covers the

aims of the curriculum in general and each levels aims and specific objectives. It also covers the coursebook

components.

4. English in Oman

English in Oman is seen as an important foreign language. It is utilized in both government and private

organizations. However, it is used more in private associations, as they are linked more closely to international

organizations. From this perspective, people in Omani society see the need to focus more on how English is taught

in classrooms. They also see the importance of teaching English as a means for communication and develop

children’ abilities to use it authentically—for example, filling in English forms and writing e-mails. Parents see the

target language importance for their children as a tool or as a gate to the future. 

Conclusion

At the end of writing my research, God Almighty has guided me by highlighting all the information related to the research, and we have brought out the scientific aspect, as well as the theoretical side of the research. These aspects may require more effort, in addition to a thorough study on the subject of the research. And after this study, we have some matters suggesting that the researcher benefit after that which is (Teaching English curriculum ), and we recommend the researchers after that with a number of recommendations and topics that are not closely related to the subject of the research, which works to enrich the science.