The overarching aim of this study was to investigate EFL students’ challenges in English-medium business programmes from the perspectives of both students and content teachers. English medium instruction (EMI) has been increasingly used in business study programmes in higher education institutions in English as second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) contexts around the world. Consequently, there has been a growing body of research reporting the experiences of both EMI teachers and students utilizing EMI, particularly in European contexts. However, there is little attention given to EMI in the Middle East and the North and sub-Saharan African contexts. This paper duly reports findings from a large study of students’ experiences on an EMI Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme in Sudan. A qualitative ethnographically-oriented methodology was adopted involving three methods of data collection namely, interviews, classroom observations and collection and analysis of some documentary data. Twenty-one MBA students and ten subject teachers took part in the investigation. Results showed that students experienced a range of challenges which were reportedly perceived to have impacted on students’ academic performance and experiences on the programme negatively. Pedagogical implications for both EMI business education and English for academic purposes (EAP) are presented and discussed.

This paper considers the views and perceptions of Omani engineering students in relation to their lecture comprehension difficulties in an English-medium Engineering programme. It also investigates the students’ coping strategies utilised concerning these lecture comprehension challenges. A qualitative research design was employed to collect data through semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 engineering students. The interview data were coded thematically and analysed inductively. The study attempts to address the following key questions: what lecture comprehension difficulties did these Engineering students encounter in the context of engineering taught through the medium of English? What were the coping strategies used by them to handle those challenges? The results indicate that students, and their teachers, faced a range of challenges and difficulties and that numerous coping strategies were utilised to complete their Engineering studies.

Contract cheating, or “ghostwriting” as it is more commonly known, has become a growing threat to academic integrity in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the world. This survey-based empirical research duly reviews a substantial body of the relevant literature of contract cheating or “ghostwriting” and it looks into this serious and often undetectable phenomenon with the view of exposing some of the implications of this practice and proposing a holistic approach that could assist educators to curb the practice. Focusing on the Omani higher education context, this paper empirically explores this issue from the perspectives of teachers in HEIs with the view of highlighting the seriousness of contract cheating to academic integrity and then making recommendations for HEIs and educators to combat the practice. Three main research questions were addressed: (1) How do teachers in higher education institutions perceive contract cheating? (2) In what way do they believe contract cheating affects academic integrity in HE? (3) What can be done to curb the practice of contract cheating? A qualitative methodology with an open-ended survey and follow-up interviews for the data collection was used. 30 participants voluntarily took part in this research. The findings showed that teachers viewed ghostwriting as a form of plagiarism. They also reported that there were negative consequences on the academic integrity of the assessed written work required of the students enrolled in different degree programmes in the Oman HEIs. At the same time, they made suggestions on ways to combat and curb the practice, such as manual verification and awareness-raising. The data informed both the pedagogical implications highlighted in this study and our recommendations.

Learning-oriented assessment (LOA) is a kind of assessment which is used to promote and stimulate learning, and improve instruction and teaching. Learning-oriented assessment is viewed as crucial to language assessment. Therefore, this paper is an attempt to explore whether teachers support the notion of using LOA in an ELF setting or not ,why do teacher support the use of it, how can LOA be implemented, and what are the possible challenges that might be encountered in implementing LOA. 25 teachers were surveyed to answer the six open-ended questions raised by the study. The findings showed that all teachers are in favour of LOA and they support its use and implementation because they believed that it could help learners to learn better and promote active learning. They believed that the best way for implementing LOA is through training both of teachers and students in using self-evaluation, peer-assessment and portfolio assessment techniques and principles. Moreover, assessment tasks should be made as learning tasks and should be well-aligned with the curriculum objectives and goals, and timely feedback should be given to students to scaffold their learning.

Using English to teach and learn academic subjects in higher education (HE) across the globe is increasing in popularity. The overarching aim of this study is to examine the impact of English-medium instruction (EMI) on Omani engineering students’ academic performance and their studies in an English-medium engineering programme in Oman. This paper reports on findings from a larger project that was intended to investigate Omani engineering students’ experience of learning through the medium of English in one of the Colleges of Technology in Oman. The study adopted a qualitative interpretative approach with a case study strategy and a purposive sampling technique to look into the impact of EMI on Omani engineering students’ academic performance and their studies. The sample included 12 Omani engineering and 8 engineering instructors who were interviewed along with five classroom observations. The data were collected and generated through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. They were analysed manually, inductively and thematically using Braun and Clarke’s model (2006). The findings showed that EMI had both positive and negative impacts on the students’ academic performance and their studies.

Differentiated assessment (DA) seeks to address the individual differences between students and provides them with the appropriate assessment strategy. This paper looks into the possibility of impelemting differentiated assessment in a public college in Oman. Additionally, it attempts to explore teachers' views about the possibility of implementing DA and to what extent do they support the idea of using DA and why. Further, it strives to identify some institutional, instructional and pedagogical challenges which might hinder the implementation of differentiated assessment and to find some best possible ways and strategies for implementing it in this context in question. A questionnaire was administered to 40 teachers to answer the study questions and to propose an assessment model on differentiated assessment. The results revealed that all the participants strongly support the idea of implementing the use of differentiated assessment in the Department of English Language and Literature (DELL), however, there are many institutional and pedagogical challenges need to be considered. Some recommendations and pedagogical implications were presented.