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Peer collaboration in small groups has increasingly been recognized as an instructional technique that promotes interactive skills, socialization, learning and achievement across a range of subjects and disciplines. The study aims to measure Saudi female EFL learners' attitudes toward the effectiveness of cooperative learning (CL) and its impact on their social and academic skills. In the present study, the researchers utilized a quantitative research tool to collect data from the participants. A 25-item Likert-scale opinionnaire was designed with closed-ended statements to measure five variables laid down by Johnson et al. tabulated into five sections. The survey was administered to 100 Saudi female EFL learners at undergraduate level to measure their attitudes toward the effectiveness of CL. The findings of the study indicate that CL enhances EFL learners' social skills, maximizes inter-group relations, mastery of the course content and academic achievement. It further develops EFL learners' individual and group accountability, leadership qualities and decision-making power. It is assumed that EFL learners' cognitive faculties can be activated and optimum results can be obtained if this interactive strategy is implemented in a structured pattern with a properly designed rubric focusing on the five essential components of CL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study analyses the discourses of Islamic Studies textbook to problematise its role in schoolchildren's radicalisation, and normalisation of violence, in the post 9/11 situation in the Taliban's stronghold, South Waziristan. The textbook findings are further substantiated by the field data collected from 40 students of grades 9 and 10, who studied the sampled textbook in the post 9/11 situation. Students' perspectives, which relate their pedagogical experiences of the textbook in public schools, were gathered employing 16 in-depth individual interviews and 8 focus group discussions. Taking insights from Apple and Ball's concepts of 'legitimate knowledge' and 'normalisation' respectively, the findings suggest that the sampled textbook strongly inspired a particular kind of Jihad (holy war), created hate-based 'believers/Muslims' versus 'non-believers/Kuffar' binaries, and profiled communities in opposition to each other. The students strongly identified with the discursive textbook representations, and participated in Jihad both as the Taliban commanders and foot soldiers. Some of them died young, however, the majority survived of which some recanted. Notwithstanding external influences, the study underlines the role that the textbook discourses and their pedagogical practices in schools played in radicalising the whole generation of schoolchildren and normalising the Taliban fronted violence in Pakistan's tribal areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undergraduate students are given research assignments as a formative assessment instrument to promote their self-learning and academic skills, and allow them to practice their creative repertoire to help them meet the pragmatic job-market demand. This paper will describe the extent to which the English-major students at a Saudi University viewed research assignments instrumental in sharpening their academic skills and promoting their academic achievements. Data were collected via a Likert-scale questionnaire and four focus-group interviews. The results showed that the research assignments triggered no significant development in the level of the students' learning for various reasons, such as institutional, interpersonal and to some extent cultural, among others. The students passed research assignments without adequate understanding of the research topics and acquisition of academic skills that resulted in their surface-level learning, indicating very strong negative washback (influence on learning). Therefore, suggestions are presented that undergraduate research assignments should obligate students to comprehend properly, analyse thoroughly, and apply with maximum dexterity what they learn. Also, once the assignments are graded, students must receive adequate constructive feedback, accurately communicated, to help them know where they performed well and where there is room for further improvement. Thus, this study offers direct implications to teaching, learning, and research in higher education, and questions the current oversights in the area of formative assessment and course requirements among teaching academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]