The role of presentation-based activities in enhancing speaking proficiency among Saudi EFL students: A quasi-experimental study.

In the world of English as a Foreign Language pedagogy, the efficacy of interactive instructional methods, particularly presentation-based activities, has garnered increasing attention. This study aimed to elucidate the potency of such activities in boosting the speaking prowess of Saudi English students. Employing a purposive sampling technique, 16 male students were methodically selected and partitioned into experimental and control groups. Through a quasi-experimental design, the study assessed linguistic proficiency using a detailed pre- and post-intervention rubric. Empirical findings revealed a significant enhancement in the experimental group's speaking skills after immersion in presentation-driven tasks. This was evident in improved fluency and coherence, enriched lexical resources, heightened grammatical range and accuracy, superior pronunciation, more compelling content delivery, and enhanced engagement and interaction skills. Crucially, this observed improvement in speaking skills among participants may be attributed to enhanced self-confidence fostered through their engagement in presentation-based activities, an integral facet of efficacious language learning. This research underscores the importance of integrating practical tasks in EFL curricula and aligns with previous academic discourses that emphasise the virtues of hands-on learning. These insights hold significant implications for educators, curriculum designers, and education policymakers in refining EFL instructional practices and fostering genuine language mastery.

Academic expectations among international students from North-Western China: A case of technology use during and post COVID-19.

This study examines the influence of the COVID-19 crisis on academic expectations among international students from north-western China. According to past studies, academic expectations are multifaceted, making it critical to test the methods employed to assess this fundamental trait. The outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in various significant changes in education, which have shifted from traditional to online or mixed formats. As a result, examining international students' academic expectations along with their interactions with adopted technologies is a topic that addresses the current situation and issues. A mixed approach, comprising two different instruments (questionnaire and interview), was followed to achieve this primary objective. While a survey with a questionnaire was undertaken with 551 international students, divided into two groups, ten students were interviewed during and after the lockdowns. The findings revealed that COVID-19 had a significant impact on the academic expectations of students as well as many elements such as training for employment, personal and social development, international student mobility, motivation, social pressure, and social interaction with the help of supporting technologies. In terms of gender, men outperformed women in motivation, social interaction, training for employment, and personal and social development factors. Similarly, as per the grade variable (undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral), the same higher trend was seen in postgraduates. Based on these findings, a set of recommendations was put forward. In the future, technology will be helpful in China's educational sector, such as online group collaboration, open education, managing student retention, and supervising teachers' recruitment.

The prevalence of the academic learning difficulties: An observation tool.

This study seeks to develop an effective observation tool to determine the prevalence of various academic learning difficulties among school students at the primary level in Sana'a City, Yemen. A measure comprising of 34 items has been processed by the EFA and CFA for contriving ALD's psychometric properties. The study sample comprised 714 students between 6 - 14 years of age. The study's findings revealed that the observation tool under development could measure the prevalence of various academic learning difficulties to a great extent with accuracy. The learning difficulties were classified under five categories based on observation scores. The observed raw scores were standardised after taking the standard deviation from the sample's mean value into consideration. The study's findings suggested that the gender and grade of the subjects affected academic learning difficulties significantly. A brief discussion of the educational implications of these findings has also been presented.