sabah sabbah

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Dr. Sabah finished her high school in Jordan and got the fourth rank among the high school students in the kingdom. She got a scholarship to get her BA in English language and literature. In 1995, she also got a scholarship to study two-year Diploma and two-year MA at the University of Jordan in TEFL –Teaching English as a Foreign. In 2009, she joined the Yarmouk University and got her Ph.D., with excellence and honor, majoring in English Language Curriculum and Instruction. Dr. Sabah worked as a teacher of English in Secondary schools, an English Language Supervisor in the Ministry of Education, a pre-and in-service teacher trainer in the Ministry. She attended intensive courses in teaching English pedagogy in Jordan, Britain and America sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the British Council. She also attended training courses in teaching English Literature, the use of the Brain Theory on Learning English, problem solving, and task based instruction. She participated in curriculum design and assessment in Jordan’s Ministry of Education. She worked as an assistant professor in a distinguished university in Saudi Arabia where she taught English Literature and was the chairperson of Assessment Committee and a member in the recruitment committee. In February 2013, she joined the Community College of Qatar. In 2012, Dr. Sabah published more than 20 research papers in international refereed journals. She attended and presented in the Innovation 2014 in Anaheim, California. She also presented a paper in 2014 Humanities Conference, CCQ. In 2015,2016,2017,2018, she presented research papers in TESOL Qatar and TESOL Dubai, Oman, Kuala Lampur, and Colombo. In 2016, she presented a paper in IJAS conference in Las Vegas, USA. On May 24

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Perspectives about Diglossia in the Arab World Dr

This article paper aims to highlight the sociolinguistic phenomenon of “diglossia”. A comprehensi... more This article paper aims to highlight the sociolinguistic phenomenon of “diglossia”. A comprehensive discussion of Ferguson‟s theory of diglossia is presented with more focus on diglossia definition and the use of language varieties. More specifically, some debates launched by Professor El-Hassan, Shaher, (1977) relating to the verification of Ferguson‟s theory for the Arabic language are emphasized. Multi-dimensional characterizations of diglossia in relation to attitudes and usage that included function, prestige, literary heritage, acquisition, standardization, stability, grammar, lexicon and phonology of diglossia in the Arab world are illustrated. Evidence from the Arabic Language are provided to illustrate each dimension. At the end of the article, a comparison between different spoken examples of dialectical expressions of some Arab countries are stated alongside their English-letters transliteration as the practical side of the article with a purpose of elucidating diglossia ...

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ESL Classroom Pedagogy and Differentiation

This book consists of 134 pages. It highlights the new trends in teaching English as a Second Lan... more This book consists of 134 pages. It highlights the new trends in teaching English as a Second Language. The author has cited different references of outstanding researchers and books authors in teaching English Pedagogy. Classroom activities and assessment tips have been compiled from the author's own experiences in teaching English for 20 years. The book includes five chapters. Chapter one is entitled "Approaches, Methods, and Techniques." It starts by defining the terms: approach, method, and technique. Then, a general discussion on the theories of language and theories of learning is conducted followed by detailed information on the chronological emergence of English teaching methods. More focus has been given to highlight the main principles, premises, role of teachers, role of students, and ways of implementing each method . Chapter two includes details about teaching the four language skills. Chapter three sheds light on the use of technical and non-technical tea...

The Effect of College Students' Self-Generated Computerized Mind Mapping on Their Reading Achievement

International Journal of Education and Development using ICT, 2015

INTRODUCTIONReading, as a receptive skill is very important in learning a foreign language. McGin... more INTRODUCTIONReading, as a receptive skill is very important in learning a foreign language. McGinnis and Smith, 1982 (cited in Rizqiya 2013, p. 31) defined reading, as "a purposeful process of identifying, interpreting, and evaluating ideas in terms of the mental content or the total awareness of the reader." Reading consists of two related processes: word recognition and comprehension. "Comprehension is the process of making sense of words, sentences and connected text."(Pang, Muaka, Bernhardt, & Kamill 2003, p.6). These levels can be summarized as "Reading the lines, reading between the lines and reading beyond the lines." (Gray cited in Shermila 1999, p. 27). The successful comprehension of a text is achieved by employing various reading skills, such as making inferences, understanding the organizational pattern of the text, identifying the main idea and sub-ideas, and figuring out the relationship among these ideas and the details given in the text ...

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Perspectives about Diglossia in the Arab World

International Journal of Language & Linguistics, 2020

This article paper aims to highlight the sociolinguistic phenomenon of "diglossia". A comprehensi... more This article paper aims to highlight the sociolinguistic phenomenon of "diglossia". A comprehensive discussion of Ferguson"s theory of diglossia is presented with more focus on diglossia definition and the use of language varieties. More specifically, some debates launched by Professor El-Hassan, Shaher, (1977) relating to the verification of Ferguson"s theory for the Arabic language are emphasized. Multi-dimensional characterizations of diglossia in relation to attitudes and usage that included function, prestige, literary heritage, acquisition, standardization, stability, grammar, lexicon and phonology of diglossia in the Arab world are illustrated. Evidence from the Arabic Language are provided to illustrate each dimension. At the end of the article, a comparison between different spoken examples of dialectical expressions of some Arab countries are stated alongside their English-letters transliteration as the practical side of the article with a purpose of elucidating diglossia in the Arab world

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The Effect of Semantic Mapping and Question Generation Teaching Strategies on English as a Second Language Tertiary Students’ Reading achievement

Arab World English Journal, 2020

This study aimed at investigating the effect of two strategies of teaching reading: 'semantic map... more This study aimed at investigating the effect of two strategies of teaching reading: 'semantic mapping' and 'question generation' on the reading achievement of a sample of 40 female students enrolling in two classes in Level 2 English as a Second Language Foundation Program at the Community College of Qatar. The researcher of the current study tried to find ways to help solve the problems of students' low achievement in reading comprehension tests. Convenient sampling was used to select the two classes as the researcher herself was teaching them. The two classes of 20 students each constituted two experimental groups. One class was taught by the semantic mapping strategy, and the other was taught by students' questiongeneration strategy. A pre-posttests design was used in both experimental groups. T-test computed on the pretests in both classes revealed that the groups were equivalent. The researcher established the validity and reliability of all the components of the study: the preposttest and the instructional material. The instructional material selected for the intervention consisted of four extra expository texts, which are not written in students' textbooks. After analyzing students' results on the pre-post tests using two T-Test statistical analyses, it was found out that there were significant differences in the mean scores of each group on the prepost tests, which reveals that each individual strategy has significantly influenced the group achievement. In order to investigate which teaching strategy was significantly better than the other was a third T-test on the post-tests, mean scores in both groups were computed. The results were in favor of the experimental group, which was taught by the Semantic Mapping Strategy. In light of these findings, the researcher suggested several recommendations directed to ESL instructors, curricula designers, and researchers

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The Factors that Affect Qatari College Students’ Motivation and Attitudes to Learn English

Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2017

This qualitative study investigated the factors that affected the motivation and receptivity of E... more This qualitative study investigated the factors that affected the motivation and receptivity of English as a second language of female students who enrolled in the English Language center of the Foundation Program in the Community College of Qatar in the academic year 2015/2016. Besides, the study attempted to identify the mechanisms that are used by families, teachers, college administrators, and classmates that motivate or demotivate the students. Finally, the study tried to identify how the classroom environment impacted students’ motivation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 students in different ESL levels in which the participants were asked different questions related to the impact of five dimensions on the respondents’ motivation to learn English. These dimensions are concerned about family impact, teachers’ impact, administrators’ impact, classmates’ impact, and impact of the respondents’ willingness and goals to learn the target language. The questions were ...

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The Effect of Jigsaw Strategy on ESL Students’ Reading Achievement

Arab World English Journal, 2016

It is educationally acknowledged that reading is an important skill for acquiring a second langua... more It is educationally acknowledged that reading is an important skill for acquiring a second language academically. However, it has been noticed that students' results in reading in the Foundation program in the Community College of Qatar (CCQ) are not satisfactory. This study used a quasi-experimental pre-posttest design to investigate the effect of using jigsaw cooperative strategy on ELS students' achievement in reading comprehension. Convenience sampling of the two classes was used from the female students enrolling in Level 4 reading classes in the Foundation Program in the Community College of Qatar in the fourth quarter of the academic year of 2013-2014. It is a non-probability sampling technique where two classes were selected because of their convenient accessibility to the researcher as the researcher was supposed to teach them reading. The two classes were assigned randomly to two groups: the experimental group (n=16 students) which was taught seven units in Real Reading Textbook via the jigsaw strategy and the control group (n=10 students) which was taught via the traditional strategy-no grouping. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOV)was used to analyze students' scores on the posttest. The results revealed significant differences in favor of the experimental group.

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The Effect of Study Habits on English Language Achievement

Arab World English Journal, 2016

This study aimed to identify the study habits used by English as Second Language Level three stud... more This study aimed to identify the study habits used by English as Second Language Level three students in the Community College of Qatar (CCQ). It also aimed to find out if there is any difference between the subjects' achievement in reading, writing and grammar as measured by their accumulative averages in the three mentioned language subjects due to their study habits. For the purpose of the study, the subjects' averages were categorized into three levels:low, moderate, and high, according to the successful achievement criteria used in CCQ. The researcher designed a five-Likert questionnaire that included six dimensions of study habits: where to study, how to study, when to study, concentration and memory, management and procrastination, and test anxiety. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 50 students which comprised 37% of a total population of Level 3 female students. Frequencies and percentages to describe demographical variables, means and standard deviations, and one Way ANOVA test were used on the obtained data. The descriptive results showed that the following habits were widespread among students: preparing all study stuff (pencils, pens, highlighters, notebook, book, before starting to study); studying the tough subjects when being most alert; underlining or highlighting the most important ideas on the material being studied; arriving at classes on time (not late); starting with the teachers' handouts when studying, expecting the questions of the test paper in advance. The ANOVA test showed that there are significant differences in the level of students' marks due to concentration and memory in favor of the high achievers. The abstract should be in one single paragraph.

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Negative Transfer: Arabic Language Interference to Learning English

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016

This paper is a survey of literature review whereby the researcher explored previous studies and ... more This paper is a survey of literature review whereby the researcher explored previous studies and pieces of research conducted to investigate the negative effects of Arabic language interference to learning English. Theories of negative language transfer were discussed, definitions of errors and mistakes were highlighted, sources of errors were stated, and different taxonomies of types of errors made by Arab students learning English were listed. It was not a purpose of this paper to discuss the sampling, or the setting of the previous research. Rather, it aimed at pinpointing their findings that can clarify the differences between Arabic and English and how these differences cause Arab learners of English to make mistakes in producing the target language. The researcher elucidated the types of syntactic, lexical, phonological, morphological, and orthographical errors made by the Arab learners of English as quoted from previous literature. Errors in forming tenses, pronouns, relative clauses, adverbs, adjectives, nouns, articles, pronunciation, and punctuation were listed. A lot of examples were used to illustrate these errors. At the end of the current paper, the researcher listed recommendations as a contribution to guide the English as a second language instructors on what might be regarded good pedagogical strategies and techniques to deal with their students' errors.

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Is Standard Arabic Dying?

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

This paper aimed at investigating the issue of the future of the Arabic Language with special att... more This paper aimed at investigating the issue of the future of the Arabic Language with special attention given to exploring the following questions: (1) What are the factors that enhanced the prominent Arabic Language status in the past?(2)What are the phenomena that anticipate the death of the Arabic Language?(3) What are the factors that influenced the Arabic Language and led to the likelihood of its deterioration? (4)What are the best strategies to revive the past prominent status of the Arabic language and to stop its deterioration? More specifically, the paper discussed the status of the Arabic Language with regard to the different chronological stages it experienced during different historical eras. It also explored the influence of colonialism, globalization, current educational systems in the Arab countries and the political Arab scene on the status of the Arabic Language. The paper highlighted different linguistic and social phenomena that anticipate the "death" of the Arabic Language, such as "Arabization", "Englishization", "Diglossia", and "Code-Switching" Authentic visual examples of these linguistic phenomena were provided to elucidate their negative impact on the Arabic Language. More focus was directed to the status of the Arabic Language in the Gulf Countries: conferences and recommendations suggested to protect the standard Arabic Language.In conclusion, this paper, by closely analyzing the current status of the Arabic Language, shed light on the littlerecognized issue of strategic plans to protect the identity of the Arab nations.

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English Language Syllabuses: Definition, Types, Design, and Selection

This article aims at probing the different types of syllabi used to teach English to English nati... more This article aims at probing the different types of syllabi used to teach English to English native and non-native speakers. The researcher used a chronological approach in describing each syllabus type in accordance to its emergence in epistemology of the syllabus design and pedagogical trends in teaching English in the world. Theories of language and learning, characteristics of each syllabus, and pros and cons of the discussed syllabi were highlighted throughout the article. Emphasis was also given to shed light on the interrelationship between syllabi types and pedagogical approaches and techniques. The process of syllabi design was also discussed with examples. The researcher endeavored to cite texts from proponents of authors and scholars who discussed each syllabus. The strategy used in presenting the information in this article was to list main titles and write explanatories to describe the syllabus. Primary and secondary resources were referred to for more ideas. Thus, some...

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