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Developing EFL Students’ Comprehension and Improving Writing Through Presentations: Success in the UAE



Author(s)

Laila S. Dahan

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DOI:10.17265/1539-8072/2014.07.005

American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE

In today’s globalized world with English as the lingua franca, many countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), are focusing on English as a medium of instruction (EMI). Due to the many expatriates resident in the UAE English has become the main language of business, industry, and higher education. This paper looks at one of those English medium universities with an American curriculum. Since most American curriculums require substantial amounts of writing, it is important that students become competent at writing in their second language at this particular institution. This paper discusses how a novel assignment, allowing English as a foreign language (EFL) students to present readings in the classroom at an EMI university in the UAE, has helped them become both better readers and writers. Since the majority of the students are native speakers of Arabic, the project was designed with their oral traditions and proficiency in mind.

reading comprehension, presentation skills, improving writing