Institute of Educational Studies Department of Curricula and Instruction

The Effectiveness of a Proposed Islamic Arabic-Culture -Based Programme in Developing English Language Listening and Reading Comprehension Skills of Students at AlAzhar Preparatory Institutes and Their Attitudes Towards English Language
A Thesis Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the (Degree of PhD in Education (TEFL

Prepared by Montasir Mohammed Abdelwahab

Supervised by Dr. Ali Ahmed Madkour Professor of Curricula & Instruction Ex-Dean of the institute of Educational Studies Cairo University 1431 / 2010 Dr. Zeinab Ali AlNaggar Professor of Curricula &EFL Instruction Faculty of Education Ain Shams University

Summary The researcher devoted this chapter to give a brief summary of the current study. It included the questions of the study, the purpose, the limitations, the hypotheses as well as the methods and the procedures. It .also included the recommendations and suggestions for further research Among the main four language skills, listening and reading are of vital importance. They are receptive skills that enable learners to receive a significant comprehensible input. Such an input can be used later on in speaking or in writing. In addition, preparing students able to communicate in English should be considered one of the main objectives of teaching English at Al-Azhar Institutes. Such communication involves the ability to listen and read well in English as well as speak and write fluently in English. Being able to communicate in English will allow them to use the English language in their future study and career as well as in conveying the true teachings of Islam to foreigners from English speaking countries. Teaching listening or reading is not only to develop the main skills of a language but also to develop listening and reading comprehension as well. It is important for a learner to listen or read but it is more important to understand what he listens to or reads. We should teach our students how to deal with a text effectively. The effect of culturally familiar topics on improving listening and reading comprehension has been highlighted by many researchers. Many studies pinpointed that the involvement of familiar cultural aspects in listening or reading passages helps increase listening and reading comprehension of students and form positive attitudes towards learning .English That indicates the possibility of using Islamic Arabic culture in developing the skill of listening and reading comprehension because students at Al-Azhar Institutes have their own background knowledge about their own culture. Therefore, their attitudes towards learning English language can be increased in general and their skills of listening and reading comprehension can be developed in particular as well. Moreover, this is a main objective of the present study, which aims at developing listening and reading comprehension of third year students at Al-Azhar preparatory Institutes through using Islamic cultural content familiar to them, and at the same time, they have background knowledge about it. As a result, it will develop their listening and reading
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comprehension skills and form positive attitudes towards learning English language. It is obviously known that the culturally familiar content should be one of the most important bases in planning and designing English foreign language textbooks at Al-Azhar institutes. They should be taught in a context that suits the students' needs and interests. This principle has become a name for a new trend in teaching languages. It is called contextualization. Through examining some related studies and reviewing the literature, it has become clear that we can use our Islamic Arabic culture to develop the skills of listening and reading comprehension for students at Al-Azhar Preparatory Institutes. The EFL textbooks prescribed for students at AlAzhar Institutes should have their own nature and characteristics that cope with the nature of study at these institutes and assert the identity of their learners. Adopting this approach will help them fulfill their message and pinpoint the need to build a programme based on the Islamic Arabic culture to develop the listening and reading comprehension skills for students at Al-Azhar Preparatory institutes. Such skills are considered a base to develop speaking and writing skills as well. We need to change the EFL textbooks at Al-Azhar institutes to highlight students identity and develop their language skills in general and their listening and reading comprehension skills in particular. It is very important to discuss this matter objectively and scientifically. By facts and figures we will discover that we are in a great need to tackle this critical issue in a scientific research. Statement of the problem The problem of the present study could be stated in the low level of the pupils at Al-Azhar preparatory institutes concerning the English language listening and reading comprehension skills. In addition, what they learn in English is not closely related to their studies or to their culture. This leads to their low proficiency in the language skills and in their negative attitudes towards learning English. Consequently, the present study attempted to participate in solving this problem through answering the following questions; "What is the effectiveness of a proposed program based on Islamic Arabic culture in developing EFL listening and reading comprehension skills as well as attitudes towards learning English as a foreign language among Al-Azhar third year preparatory stage

students?" This main question was divided into the following sub-questions: 1. What are the EFL listening and reading comprehension skills necessary for Al-Azhar third year preparatory stage students? 2. What are the theoretical bases of a program designed in the light of Islamic Arabic culture for developing the EFL listening and reading comprehension skills of Al-Azhar third year preparatory stage students? 3. What are the components of a program designed in the light of Islamic Arabic culture for developing the EFL listening and reading comprehension skills of Al-Azhar third year preparatory stage students? 4. How far is the proposed program effective in developing Al-Azhar third year preparatory students overall EFL listening and reading comprehension skill? 5. How far is the proposed program effective in developing Al-Azhar third year students attitudes towards learning English as a foreign language? Hypotheses of the study There is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores .1 of the experimental group exposed to the proposed program based on Islamic and Arabic culture and the control group receiving regular instruction on the post- test in overall listening comprehension in favour .of the experimental group There are statistically significant differences between the mean .2 scores of the experimental group and the control group on the post- test in each listening comprehension sub- skill (literal, inferential and critical) in . .favour of the experimental group 3. There is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the experimental group exposed to the proposed program based on Islamic and Arabic culture and the control group receiving regular instruction on the post- test in overall reading comprehension in favour of the experimental group. There are statistically significant differences between the mean .4 scores of the experimental group and the control group on the post- test in each reading comprehension sub- skill (literal, inferential and critical) in .favour of the experimental group There is a statistically significant difference between the mean .5 scores of the experimental group exposed to the proposed program based on Islamic and Arabic culture and the control group receiving regular
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instruction on the post- test of the attitude scale in favour of the .experimental group There is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores .6 of the experimental group on the pre-test and the post- test in overall .listening comprehension in favour of the post- test There are statistically significant differences between the mean scores .7 of the experimental group on the pre-test and the post- test in each listening comprehension sub-skill (literal, inferential and critical .comprehension) in favour of the post- test There is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores .8 of the experimental group on the pre-test and the post- test in overall .reading comprehension in favour of the post- test There is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores .9 of the experimental group on the pre-test and the post- test in each reading comprehension sub-skill (literal, inferential, and critical .comprehension) in favour of the post- test There is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores .10 of the experimental group on the pre-test and the post- test in the attitude .scale in favour of the post- test Aims of the study 1. Identifying the EFL listening and reading comprehension skills necessary for AlAzhar third year preparatory students. 2. Developing the attitudes of students at AlAzhar institutes towards learning English language. 3. Constructing a proposed program based on Islamic Arabic culture to develop Al-Azhar third year preparatory students listening and reading comprehension skills. 4. Measuring the effectiveness of the proposed program in developing AlAzhar third year preparatory students listening and reading comprehension skills. Limitations of the study Since it is beyond the limits of a single study to consider a wide range of factors, this study was confined to: 1. Two intact third year preparatory classes at Al-Azhar institutes in Giza (Al-Omrania preparatory institute for girls and El-Badrashin preparatory
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institute for girls). These two classes were randomly assigned to be the control and experimental groups. Therefore, results of the present study can be generalized only within that population. 2. A limited duration for implementing the proposed program based on Islamic Arabic culture (three months- five periods per week). 3. A proposed program designed by the researcher and based on Islamic Arabic culture of twenty listening and reading comprehension lessons taught over sixty-one classroom periods (forty five - minutes each) to develop Al-Azhar third year preparatory students' listening and reading comprehension skills as well as their attitudes towards learning English. 4. Developing only listening and reading comprehension skills necessary for Al-Azhar third year preparatory students. 5. Developing AlAzhar third year preparatory students' attitudes toward learning English as a foreign language. Sample of the study The study was confined to third year students at Al-Azhar preparatory institutes who study the series of Hello! Instruments of the study The researcher used the following Instruments;
1- A checklist to identify the listening comprehension skills

needed for third year students at Al-Azhar preparatory institutes in EFL.

2- A checklist to identify the reading comprehension skills needed

for third year students at Al-Azhar preparatory institutes in EFL. 3- A checklist to choose the suitable topics to be implied in the proposed programme 4- A listening comprehension pre-post test to be administered to the experimental and control groups before and after applying the proposed programme. 5- A reading comprehension pre-post test to be administered to the experimental and control groups before and after applying the proposed programme.
6- A pre-post attitudes scale be administered to the experimental

and control groups before and after applying the proposed programme.

Method of the Study The study followed the descriptive analytic approach in collecting data related to previous studies on the listening and reading comprehension skills in general and in EFL in particular as well as on the Islamic Arabic culture and its relation to developing EFL in general and developing listening and reading comprehension in particular. The same approach was used to collect data related to the attitudes towards learning English as a foreign language. The study also followed the quasi- experimental approach. The researcher administrated a pre-post test of listening and reading comprehension and attitudes scale to the experimental and control groups to test the effectiveness of the suggested programme, which was applied to the experimental group in developing these skills. Results The results of the study supported the ten hypotheses of the study. The experimental group out-performed the control group on the post-test in overall listening comprehension as well as in overall reading comprehension performance. It was also proved that the experimental group performed much better in each listening comprehension sub-skill and each reading comprehension sub-skill separately. Furthermore, the experimental group students achieved tangible progress in their listening and reading comprehension after the implementation of the program as compared to their listening and reading comprehension before the program application. Hence, these positive findings of the study proved the effectiveness of the proposed program based on Islamic Arabic culture in developing third year preparatory students overall listening and reading comprehension, and listening and reading comprehension .sub- skills as well The same result applied on the performance of the students concerning the attitude scale. The experimental group's attitude towards learning English as a foreign language at Al-Azhar preparatory institutes changed positively because of applying the proposed programme based on the Islamic Arabic culture. The programme positively affected the students' attitudes towards learning English as a foreign language at Al.Azhar institutes In the light of the post-test results of the present study, the researcher could safely say that the programme implemented was effective and :accounted for
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a) The statistically significant difference between the experimental and the control groups' mean scores on the post-test in favour of the experimental group in overall listening and reading comprehension and in .each listening and reading comprehension sub-skills b) The statistically significant differences between the mean scores attained by the experimental group before and after the treatment in favour of the post-test in overall listening and reading comprehension and .in each listening and reading comprehension sub-skills c) The statistically significant difference between the experimental and the control groups' mean scores on the post-test in favour of the .experimental group in the attitude scale d) The statistically significant differences between the mean scores attained by the experimental group before and after the treatment in .favour of the post-test in the attitude scale :Recommendations

On the basis of the above conclusions, the following recommendations : are presented For Students Listening and reading materials should be varied, motivating, (1) interesting, and suitable to students' linguistic proficiency levels. In addition, visual support should be incorporated into listening and reading comprehension sources to facilitate learners' active reconstruction of the .original intentions of the speakers or the writers Foreign language materials should be carefully selected to suit the (2) specific cultural background of the learners so that cultural conflict and foreign language resistance can be avoided, and global communication .can be enhanced Students' opinions concerning EFL curriculum at Al-Azhar (3) institutes should be put into consideration while selecting or building .EFL curricula for them :For Al-Azhar curriculum designers Modifying the English language courses taught at Al-Azhar (1) institutes in a way that integrates the teaching of all language skills .with our Islamic Arabic culture

English foreign language programms should be designed in a way that (2) permits a systematic and graded presentation of language and students' .own culture In presenting cultural elements in English courses, care should be (3) taken to avoid the superiority of the foreign culture on students' own culture. Cultural tolerance, not cultural bias should be adopted. In addition, a more balanced blend of the foreign culture and the the .students' culture should be introduced English language courses should be designed to develop and foster (3) .favourable attitudes towards learning English as a foreign language A panel of educational experts, curriculum planners and textbook (4) writers should be constituted by Al-Azhar Sector Administration to develop appropriate curriculum and/or to write textbooks in line with our social, cultural and religious values. The proposed panel should also include some representatives from the teachers, supervisors, and students. A native speaker having rich experience of writing and editing textbooks .of English should also be on the panel of authors A committee of experts and educators may be formed at the national (5) level of Al-Azhar to evaluate the English language textbooks before they .are introduced or taught at any stage at Al-Azhar institutes In conclusion, it is thought that adopting similar programmes could (6) offer hopes to match the challenges of EFL instruction at Al-Azhar institutes and help in producing a bright future for EFL at Al-Azhar institutes. Selection and compilation of materials must be carefully done in order to compile curriculum, which is suitable for the needs and culture of students at Al-Azhar institutes. Schools and programs should conduct a thorough needs analysis so that teachers and courses can match the needs, interests, and levels appropriate for students. Teachers should also dig deep in order to understand the interests and challenges facing young students at Al-Azhar institutes and make efforts to develop texts which captivate their minds and interests. They should also tap into the factors that motivate students at Al-Azhar institutes, and make efforts to capitalize their potential and help them to reach their goals. Teachers should discipline themselves, make efforts to maintain classrooms, which are beacons for the students, and make efforts to maintain discipline in .the classroom :For Teachers EFL teachers at Al-Azhar Institutes should give special attention to (1) listening and reading in their classes. More time and effort should be
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exerted to develop these skills and students should be given more choice .with respect to listening and reading texts Teachers should be trained on how to teach listening and reading (2) comprehension skills in context rather teaching them in isolation. English teachers are recommended to use appropriate strategies and activities including activities employed during the pre, during, and post listening or reading stages to help learners become more competent with respect to .listening or reading comprehension Inferential and critical comprehension have to be given more (3) consideration in the listening or the reading programmes especially for students at the preparatory stage at Al-Azhar institutes. Students need more than literal interpretation of the listening or reading material. They .need to read between the lines from the very beginning learner-centered activities should be given priority over teacher (4) centered or explanatory instruction. Learners should be the centre of the learning process so that they can become motivated during the learning .process :Suggestions for Further Studies Further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of other .1 programmes based on Islamic Arabic culture in developing students' .speaking and writing skills More studies are needed with different student populations in other .2 areas with the purpose of investigating the effectiveness of similar programmes based on Islamic Arabic culture in developing their listening .and reading comprehension skills Further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of other .3 .programmes based on Islamic Arabic culture at the primary stage Further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of other .4 .programmes based on Islamic Arabic culture at the secondary stage Further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of other .5 .programmes based on Islamic Arabic culture at the university stage More programmes are needed to be developed to produce preachers .6 able to speak foreign languages, particularly English to probagate the real .message of Islam to speakers of other languages

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