What is the impact of the Libyan Study Abroad Scholarship Programme on returning university-level English teachers? By Nwara Abdulhamid A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the degree of Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies School of Linguistics and Language Studies Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada June 2011 © Copyright 2011, Nwara Abdulhamid Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-83140-3 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-83140-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1*1 Canada ABSTRACT Since 1972, Libya has made considerable efforts to improve teacher standards and to attend to the needs of Libyan public institutions and academia, by funding students to pursue graduate and post-graduate studies abroad. However, since the introduction of the Libyan Study Abroad Scholarship Programme the impact of such programme on returning university-level English teachers has not been examined. By using questionnaires, followed by semi-structured interviews this study investigates the impact of the Libyan Study Abroad Scholarship Programme on teachers' beliefs and classroom practices of three returning university-level English teachers. It examines the teachers' accounts of whether it changed their approaches to teaching, and the nature of those changes. Analyses of the data provide a promising indication that this programme for professional development has had an impact on teachers and their classroom practices. In addition, the analyses found that teacher' beliefs and perception of effective instruction is an important predictor of these outcomes. It also highlighted factors such as student culture, the prevalent Libyan culture of learning, and the lack of supporting resources , which may impede the implementation of teachers' innovative classroom practices. Suggestions are offered in relation to these findings in order to support returning university level teachers after the completion of their degrees abroad. The relationships uncovered in this study between the Libyan Study Abroad Scholarship Programme and future classroom practices of returning university teachers have implications for curriculum innovation, teacher enhancement programmes, and for language classroom research. DEDICATION To all the martyrs of Libya, and in particular those of Misurata, who died for the sake of a free Libyan Nation II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Much of the satisfaction in completing this research work has not only come from the understanding that I have made a learning journey in which I gained new skills and acquired knowledge which I did not have prior to I conducting this research, but also as a result of this study it may help to build a better education system for the new free Libya First and foremost I thank Allah, the Almighty, for the perseverance to complete this study, and it would have not been possible without the help and support of many individuals. I wish to acknowledge and express my gratitude and thanks to these people for their precious contributions. First, I owe my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Janna Fox, for all the time and expertise given during the course of this study. Her expertise in the field, encouragement, supervision, and support from the start to the finalised product enabled me to develop an understanding of the subject, as well as helping me grow as a researcher along the way. I am also grateful to Devon Woods, for his generosity in offering me his understanding, encouragement, and advice when I most needed them, and his care for and interest in my work. I would like to give thanks to my beloved family for being my source of strength and inspiration during this journey. My father and mother who believed in me and made me the person I am today. My thanks also goes to my four brothers Weal, Ayoub, Mohammed and Abdulhamid, my sister Asia, and uncle Mustafa, who have all been supportive in many ways. I am grateful to have all of them in my life. My thanks also go to my dear friends, in particular Maureen, who never hesitated to offer a hand or suggestions during difficult times. I cannot thank them enough for their continuous iii support and friendship which helped me overcome the difficulties of living away from home and family in the current Libyan political situation. My honest appreciation is also extended to the three teachers who participated in the study. I am truly grateful for their time, effort, and commitment. Finally, and above all, I am grateful to my husband, Jamal, and my two children, Jihad and Maria, who helped me find the strength to continue when things got tough. I would have not made it without their unwavering love and their sacrifices on my behalf. IV Contents LIST OF TABLES. 4 LIST OF FIGURES. 4 CHAPTER! 5 Introduction 5 Organisation 10 CHAPTER II 11 1. Historical Background ~ 11 2. The evolution of the Libyan Education 15 3. The characteristics of the educational and classroom culture 22 4. English language teaching in Libya 28 5. ELT in higher education 35 6. The Libyan Study Abroad Scholarship Programme 37 CHAPTER III. 40 Literature Review 40 1) Educational Innovation 42 1.2 What causes innovation? 43 1.3 How does innovation proceed? 47 1.4 What factors affect innovation? 49 1.5 What is the role of the teacher in bringing about innovation? 56 2. Belief Systems 63 2.1 What are beliefs and why is it important to study the belief systems? 63 2.2 Where do the beliefs stem from? 66 2.3 The relationship between teachers' belief, innovation and classroom practices 68 3. Educational Programmes and classroom practices 71 1 CHAPTER IV. 77 METHODOLOGY. 77 1. Selecting a research approach 77 2. Self Study 80 3. The study 81 3.1. Participants 81 3.2. Data Gathering Methods 87 3.3. Data Analysis 91 Chapter V. 95 Results 95 1. Teacher's Charateristics. 96 c) The Graduate programme and its value: 99 2. Significant concepts within graduate studies and how they affected teachers' beliefs and current practices. 101 a) Student-centred approach 101 b) Communicative approaches: 103 c) The effects of these experienced concepts on the two teachers beliefs system 104 d)How they perceive their own practices 113 3. Implementing innovative practices and obstacles that surfaced 116 1. Student Culture 117 • Students' levels: 118 • Students disinterest in the whole learning concept: 120 2. The dominant Libyan educational/learning culture 121 3. Lack of facilities: 123 • Reform and the Libyan educational context 125 4. Graduate studies and how it informed teaching practices 127 Chapter VI 131 2 Discussion 131 1. Evidence of Innovation 132 2. Obstacles to Innovation 140 3. Sustaining Innovation 146 Self-Reflection 151 CHAPTER VII 157 CONCLUSION. 157 Limitations 162 Implications and future research 164 REFERENCES 166 APPENDICES. 185 Appendix I: Ethics Approval Form 185 Appendix II. 186 Questionnaire 186 Appendix III 194 Interview Questions 194 Appendix IV. 196 Interview Transcripts 196 Teacher A 196 Teacher B 214 3 LIST OF FIGURES Figure # Title Page# Figure 1 A Map of Libya 11 Figure 2 Hypothesised theoretical model of factors affecting teachers' implementation 53 Figure 3 Elements of a professional development system 73 Figure 4 The concept map of Teachers A and B 139 Figure 5 Cycle for implementing and sustaining innovation 150 Figure 6 My concept map of professional success prior to graduate studies 153 Figure 7 My concept map of professional success after graduate studies 155 LIST OF TABLES Table # Title Page# Table 1 Basic and Intermediate education: Student/Teacher ratio 21 Table 2 Number of students in Libyan higher education institutions in 2005 22 Table 3 Development of domestic higher education, 1972-2005 22 Table 4 Courses taken at Libyan universities for a Bachelor of Arts in English 36 Table 5 Development of Libyan higher education students overseas, 1970-2005 38 Table 6 Number of students in English speaking higher education institutions abroad 39 from 2005-2011 Table 7 Participants' Demographic information 85 4 CHAPTER I As an individual passes from one situation to another, his world, his environment, expands or contracts.