English

 RESEARCH PROJECTS
 ARTICLES, BOOKS, AND REPORTS
 ABSTRACTS, PRESENTATIONS, AND PROCEEDINGS
 MASTER'S THESES
 
 

RESEARCH PROJECTS
 

How middle eastern university students view plagiarism.

The purpose of this research is to measure the attitudes, feelings, and values of Middle Eastern EFL (English as a Foreign Language) university students toward plagiarism. With the knowledge gained from this study, educators can better understand their students’ writing habits by considering the cultural factors that highlight these measures. M. Ghaleb.
 
 

Design of computer-assisted language learning facility

Islamic College, Tripoli, Lebanon, 1998-1999. M. Ghaleb.
 
 

Assistance for Physical and educational design

Islamic College (new elementary school) in Tripoli, Lebanon, 1998. M. Ghaleb.
 
 

Exile, existentialism, and identity in Emily Nasrallah’s Flight Against Time

The purpose of this article was to examine exile and identity from the philosophical perspective of Sartrean existentialism in Emily Nasrallah’s Flight Against Time (1981). The interpretation, based on contemporary travel theory and historical context, aimed at elucidating the concepts of personal choice and individual moral responsibility as illustrated by the lives of Lebanese characters torn between war at home and exilic existence. Research complete and an article submitted for publication. S. Hout.
 
 

Critical encounters: feminism, femininity, and orientalism in Freya Stark’s The Southern Gates of Arabia

The purpose of this article was to locate points of intersection and possible negotiations among discourses of feminism, femininity, and orientalism/colonialism in the hitherto undermentioned travelogue The Southern Gates of Arabia (1936) by the British imperialist Freya Stark. The interpretation is aimed at showing how the multiplicity of subject positions complicates the encounter with the cultural Other and, consequently, ensures a measure of reciprocity. Research complete and an article submitted for publication. S. Hout.
 
 

Grain of utopia: the desert as literary oasis in Paul Bowles’ The Sheltering Sky and Wilfred Thesiger’s Arabian Sands

American Paul Bowles and Briton Wilfred Thesiger produced texts that poetically rendered the effect of the desert on the Western adventurer. Both authors share the same post-war Orientalist view of a pristine world—the North African Sahara and the Empty Quarter, respectively—slowly but surely vanishing. The focus is on the depiction of the desert as, paradoxically, both an open and a closed space, contributing either to the liberation or to the suffocation of the Western subject in search of a utopian niche away from civilization. The yellow sands and the blue skies become a green oasis but sometimes also a mirage, i.e. a (fake/failed) utopia, in mid-twentieth century Orientalist discourse. S. Hout.
 
 

Home, exile, and identity in contemporary Lebanese literature

This is the working title of a book-length study of six examples of Lebanese exilic literature published in English, French, and Arabic in the last two decades. The focus is on the Civil War’s two most tangible consequences: expatriation and cultural displacement, resulting in a (re)definition of Lebanese (Arab) identity in contemporary novelistic prose. Of interest are the effects of exile – whether voluntary or involuntary—on perceptions of the homeland and home-based identity. The language of the selections is an integral component of the relationships among the concepts of home, exile, and personal and/or national identity. S. Hout.
 
 

National curriculum project

A textbook planned for the third secondary humanities class in English.  It is scheduled for publication in September 2000 by the National Center for Educational Research and Development (NCERD). M. Mikati, N. Bacha, H. Choukair, and M. Maalouf. 
 
 

Pater and Wilde: a study in influence

An article tracing the full influence of all of Walter Pater’s works on the literature of Oscar Wilde. The article argues that Pater’s influence on Wilde was deeper and more far-reaching than critics have so far acknowledged. C.S. Nassar.
 
 

Oscar Wilde among the Semites

An article showing that Wilde’s literary anti-Semitism is contradicted in his letters and private life. The argument is that Wilde’s literary anti-Semitism is a response to George Eliot’s idealization of England’s Jewish community in her novel, Daniel Deronda. C.S. Nassar.
 
 

The Resurrection of Dorian Gray

This novel is a sequel to Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. In it, Dorian is resurrected only to relive his past life nightmarishly. C.S. Nassar.
 
 

Assessment of young learners’ achievement in ESL classes

This study discusses student evaluation policies and practices that should go hand in hand with the new Lebanese English language curriculum that was introduced in 1997. The focus of the paper is on new methods and techniques of assessment in pre-school and elementary school classes. As the new curriculum has adopted a thematic content-based approach whose major features are integration of language and content as well as language skill integration, the traditional paper and pencil tests cannot cover the great variety of activities and performance tasks that take place in the elementary ESL classroom. Therefore, this paper considers alternative forms of assessment, mainly performance-based assessment and portfolios, which, in congruence with the principles and dynamics of the new curriculum, treat assessment as an integral part of teaching culminating in formative rather than summative evaluation. K. Shaaban.
 
 

Attempts to regulate the expansion of the English language in Lebanon

The use of English as a foreign language and a medium of instruction for mathematics and sciences has remained up to 1946 the privilege of some private educational institutions. After experiencing some setbacks during the French mandate (1920-1943), English started to gain grounds against French due to various internal and external factors. Various policy decisions were taken by the various Lebanese governments for independence in order to maintain a balance among the operating languages in the country (Arabic, French, and Englis). The last of these decisions is a government decree that establishes trilingualism rather than bilingualism as the framework for education. K. Shaaban.
 
 

Effect of gender, proficiency level, first foreign language, and university major on students’ motivation to learn English as a foreign language

This study investigates the motivation of university-bound students to learn English as a foreign language. Data were gathered through administering a modified version of the motivation scale developed by Wen (1997) to 180 students enrolled in the University Orientation Program. The results analyzed so far show that integrative motivation, effort, valence, expectancy, and ability were perceived by these students as internally related determinants of motivation for learning English as a foreign language. The results also indicated that female students had a higher level of motivation than their male counterparts; similarly, low proficiency students were better motivated than more proficient ones. Finally, the results showed that the student’s first foreign language and major at the university had no significant effect on their motivation. K. Shaaban and G. Ghaith.
 
 
 
 

ARTICLES, BOOKS, AND REPORTS
 

Ghaleb, M. L., Computerized testing in EFL classes. In Testing in the English Language. Beirut: Hariri Foundation, 1999.

———, Writing, grade one. In Teacher Training Handbook for English as a First Foreign Language, coordinated by K. Shaaban. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Writing, grade four. In Teacher Training Handbook for English as a First Foreign Language, coordinated by K. Shaaban. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Writing, grade seven. In Teacher Training Handbook for English as a First Foreign Language, coordinated by K. Shaaban. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Writing, grade ten. In Teacher Training Handbook for English as a First Foreign Language, coordinated by K. Shaaban. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Writing, grade seven. In Teacher Training Handbook for English as a Second Foreign Language, coordinated by K. Shaaban. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Writing, grade ten. In Teacher Training Handbook for English as a Second Foreign Language, coordinated by K. Shaaban. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Study skills, grade one. In Teacher Training Handbook for English as a First Foreign Language, coordinated by K. Shaaban. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Study Skills, Grade Four. In Teacher Training Handbook for English as a First Foreign Language, coordinated by K Shaaban. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

Ghaleb, M. L., Abou Khalil, J., Ghannage, R. K., Rifai, N. S., and Yakzan, J. F., Let’s Learn Together (Teacher Book), Grade One. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Let’s Learn Together (Student Book), Grade One. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Let’s Learn Together (Work Book), Grade One. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

Ghaleb, Mary L., & Khoury, M., Study skills, grade seven. In Teacher Training Handbook for English as a First Foreign Language, coordinated by K. Shaaban. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

Hout, S., Christina Dodwell (1951-). In Dictionary of Literary Biography, 204, British Travel Writers, 1940-1997, ed. B. Brothers, and J. Gergits. Farmington Hill, MI: Gale Research, 39-49, 1999.

———, Secularism, satire, and scapegoatism in Chateaubriand’s Itineraire de Paris a Jerusalem. In Historicizing Christain Encounters with the Other, ed. Hawley, J. , 90-102. London: Macmillan, 1998.

———, Wilfrid (1840-1922) and Anne Blunt (1837-1917). In Dictionary of Literary Biography, 174, British Travel Writers, 1876-1909, ed. Brothers, B. and Gergits, J. , 41-53. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1997.

———, Viewing Europe from the Outside: Cultural Encounters and Critiques in the Eighteenth-Century Pseudo-Oriental Travelogue and the Nineteenth –Century ‘Voyage en Orient’. The Age of Revolution and Romanticism: Interdisciplinary Studies,ed. G. May. New York: Peter Lang, 1997.

Khalaf, R., Lebanon: Four Journeys to the Past. Beirut: Dar Al Nahar, 1998.

Khoury, M. & Ghaith, G., Themes: (student book, workbook, teacher’s manual). Grade 7- Basic Education. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

Iskandarani, R., Jabbour, G., Ideas for a workshop on pre-writing strategies. The Teacher Trainer, 11, 14 – 16, 1997.

Mikati, M., Abou Ayash, A., Bacha, N., Choukair, H., and Maalouf, M., Themes (Second Secondary Humanities, English). Sin El-Fil, Lebanon: NCERD, 1999.

Mikati, M., Bahous, M., Koleilat Kanafani, J., Karam, M., and Noureddine, A., English in Progress (Grade 4 English). Sin El-Fil, Lebanon: NCERD, 1998. 

Nassar, C.S., Sophocles’s Oedipus the King. The Explicator, 55 (3), 187-189, 1997.

———, On originality and influence: Oscar Wilde’s technique. The Eighteen-Nineties Society Journal, 24, 37-47, 1997.

———, Wilde’s ‘La Sainte Courtisane’. The Explicator, 56 (1), 28-30.

———, Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Salih’s Season of Migration to the North. The Explicator , 56 (2), 105-108, 1998.

———, Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan and Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession.The Explicator , 56 (3), 137-138, 1998.

———, Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and Salome. The Explicator, 57(1), 33-36, 1998.

———, Wilde’s Salome. The Explicator, 58 (1), page numbers not yet available, 1999.

———, Exploring the demonic subconscious: Rossetti’s "Proserpina." ANQ, 12 (2), 23-26, 1999.

———, Wordsworth’s “Expostulation and Reply” and “The Tables turned.” The Explicator, 58(3), page numbers not yet available, 1999.

———, The English Literary Decadence: An Anthology. Lanham: University Press of America, 1999.

Shaaban, K., The English curriculum: objectives and textbooks. ELT Seminar: innovations and change in ELT. Beirut: Congregation des Soeurs des Saints Coeurs, pp. 31-36, 1998.

Shaaban, K. and Ghaith, G., Lebanon’s language-in-education policies: from bilingualism to trilingualism. Language Problems and Language Planning, 23 (1), 1999.

———, The relationship between perceptions of teaching concerns, teacher efficacy, and selected teacher characteristics. Teaching and Teacher Education, 15 (5), 1999.

Shaaban, K., Ghaleb, M., Iskandarani, R., & Khoury, M., Teacher Training Handbook for English as a First Language: First Grade of Basic Education. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Teacher Training Handbook for English as a First Language: Fourth Year of Basic Education. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Teacher Training Handbook for English as a First Language: Seventh Grade of Basic Education. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Teacher Training Handbook for English as a First Language: First Year Secondary. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Teacher Training Handbook for English as a Second Foreign Language: First Year Secondary. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

———, Teacher Training Handbook for English as a Second Foreign Language: First Year Secondary. Beirut: NCERD, 1999.

Shaaban, K., Iskandarani, R., eds., Teaching English to Student-Teachers Majoring in English. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

Shaaban, K. , Iskandarani, R., & Jabbour, G., Teaching English to Young Lebanese Learners. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.

Shaaban, K., Sakakini, A., Iskandarani, R., Jabbour, G., & Abboud, S., Teaching English to Subject Matter Student-Teachers. Beirut: NCERD, 1998.
 
 
 
 

———, Evaluation guidelines and formats for a theme-based approach curriculum. AUB Division of Education Summer Workshop, AUB, September 11, 1997.

Ghaleb, M. L. and Ghaith, G. M. How Middle Eastern university students perceive plagiarism. 33^rd Annual Convention of TESOL, New York, NY, March 9-13, 1999, 149.

———, (1999). How Middle Eastern university students view plagiarism. 33^rd Annual Conference of Teachers of English for Students of Other Languages (TESOL), New York City, NY, March 9-13, 1999.

Shaaban, K., Bilingual education and ESL: achievements and challenges. TESOL Meeting, New York, 1999.

———, Does assessment adequately inform instruction? TESOL Meeting, Seattle, March, 1998.

Shaaban, K and Ghaith, G., The prospects and problems of the New English curriculum. Seminar of the Lebanese Association for Educational Sciences, May, 1997.
 
 
 
 

Shibel, R., The image of the female body in Toni Marrison’s Sula and Alice Walker’s Possessing the Secret of Joy (1998). C.S. Nassar.

Shidrawi, S., George Eliot and the bildungsroman: Middlemarch as a novel of female development (1998). S. Hout.