TEXT 8. ENGLISH IN OMAN

Because English is the modern world’s lingua franca, it is now playing a vital role in Oman. It is an essential instrument for the country’s “integration into the rest of the world “and for the “Omanization” process, a government endeavor to replace expatriate workforce with nationals (Al-Mahrooqi & Tuzlukova, 2010, p. 13). Al -Issa (2007) holds that “Oman needs English – the only official foreign language in the country – as a fundamental tool for ‘modernization’, ‘nationalization’ and the acquisition of science and technology.” (pp. 199-200). Currently, English is also important for the internationalization of the country’s higher education system. In Altbach’s (2010) opinion:

English is not only the preeminent language of science and scholarship in the 21st century, but it is the language of engagement with the international academic community. Thus, SQU [Sultan Qaboos University] staff and students must be fluent in English. In most scientific fields, English is the primary language of knowledge dissemination, and the journals are in English. Even in the Middle East, where Arabic is widely spoken, English tends to be the key tool of academic discourse (p. 7).

In the Omani job market, a good command of English and a communicative ability certainly prove a competitive advantage (Al-Mahrooqi & Tuzlukova, 2010; Al-Issa, 2007). Thus, Oman has invested heavily in teaching it at all levels, from grade one to undergraduate and postgraduate degrees (Al-Mahrooqi & Asante, 2010). In fact, most Omani higher education institutions, public and private, teach all their science-based majors in English. They also teach many specializations in the humanities (e.g. education and the arts) in it. Unfortunately, this investment has not yet yielded expected gains. A majority of public school leavers lack the linguistic and communicative skills required for their future academic or professional success (Al-Mahrooqi & Asante, 2010, Moody, 2009). Hence the majority entering higher education need an English foundation program (Al-Issa, 2011), which might last up to two years.

There are several reasons for this. One is the curriculum, which does not do well in equipping students with communicative competence or performance. It is a top-down, centralized process, seeking to ensure that all students graduate with a range of information or knowledge deemed important by decision makers. (Al-Issa, 2011).

Furthermore, teaching methodology remains firmly teacher-centered, despite repeated calls for communicative language teaching (Al-Balushi, 2001). These factors, coupled with an environment that uses English as a foreign language only, play a major role in producing students’ low proficiency in the language and a lack of communicative ability.

(Source: Rahma Al-Mahrooqi. English Communication Skills: How Are They Taught at Schools and Universities in Oman? (2012). English Language Teaching Vol. 5, No. 4, 161-167.)