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The present study is an attempt to investigate the problems resulting from the lexical choice in the translation of the Holy Qur'an to emphasize the importance of the theory of "Frame Semantics" in the translation process. It has been conducted with the aim of measuring the difference in concept between the two languages Arabic and English. In order to find out this difference two words have been chosen from the Qur'an to see how the different English frames can affect the translation of the Holy Qur'an. In addition to that the paper aims to reveal the strategies used by translators to avoid such effect. We also intended to see which factors that can mostly affect the translation of the Qur'an: the linguistic background or the cultural knowledge. Four hypotheses were coined to deal with the difference in frame knowledge (conception) between Arabic and English. The analysis of the data showed that the linguistic background contributed more to the translators' ability than the cultural knowledge. Arank ordering for the five translations performed in the present study resulted in that the first rank (completely appropriate) was assigned to Yusuf Ali's translation and the second position was booked by Pickthall's translation.

The present study is an attempt to raise some points that should be considered when translating the Quranic Text into English. We have looked into some samples of translations, selected from well known English translations of the Holy Quran and critically examined them. There were some errors in those translations, due to linguistic factors, owing to the differences between the Arabic and the English Language systems. Some errors were due to the cultural background of the translator which intentionally or unintentionally has affected the translation. Many samples were discussed and suggestions for corrections were made. Then further recommendations were given to be used as guidelines for similar future attempts. We concluded that the simulation of old words in drafting a translation does not fit with the English language as a target language. As this use of archaic stylistics would lead to further complications, which makes the language of translation look strange and complicated.

This study emerges from the need of English Language Teachers in Sudan and Jordan to lay appropriate assessment strategies to meet the anticipated educational objectives among the learners of English. It is also hoped to improve language assessment in similar educational environments in the Arab world. We intended to find out the level of consistency between the educational objectives of the English language syllabus and the English language examinations in these two countries. These examinations are expected to have some beneficial washback on English pedagogy in general and on reading and writing skills in particular. These tests can be used as benchmark for the effectiveness of the teaching and the learning performance in the classroom. We found that most of the reading questions in EL examination focus on testing the low order of thinking such as knowledge and comprehension; which negatively affect the critical thinking abilities among these young learners. The study yielded many other findings but the most important is the negligence of testing speaking and listening skills which renders the standardized English language examinations in Sudan and Jordan to be incomprehensive, but on the other hand the study revealed that these examinations had some content validity.

A dictionary is an important device for both: EFL teachers and EFL learners. It is highly needed to conduct effective teaching and learning. Many investigations were carried out to study the foreign language learners' habits in the use of their dictionaries in reading, writing, testing and translating. This paper is shedding light on this issue; by pooling efforts carried out by researchers in forms of papers, articles and theses, on how EFL learners behave towards dictionaries in different learning situations. Different learning techniques have been discussed, to add to other experiences in the pedagogy of foreign languages. The findings of these surveys are collected here to enhance the work of foreign language teachers and learners in their classes, as well as it would be of practical help to textbook designers and lexicographers.

The destiny of any nation begins in its classroom where young people are equipped with knowledge and skills to lead the nation. Higher education is the corner stone in development where the work force is trained to lead the social, economic, political and cultural change. In such a competitive global economy the human capital is the most valuable asset. Higher education institutes are training units, where labor force is made. These institutes are also incubators of scientists and technologists where researchers are qualified to make the scientific and technological change. This role is absent in higher Arab Education Institutes; so this paper aims at specifying the internal and external challenges that are facing higher education institutions in the Arab world; in addition to searching the degree of responsiveness of these institutions to face these challenges, and how to integrate them with the requirements of development and labor market needs.

This paper investigates the impact of content validity of language tests on both teacher and learner. Educational evaluation produces too much stress in both teacher and learner, but it is given less attention by the teacher than any other teaching tasks. This inconvenience comes from the doubt with which this topic is approached. Tests are supposed to focus on core syllabus constituents to find how much the learner achieved. In this attempt we went through some examinations that seemed to lack content validity. We found that when the exam lacked this feature, most of the teaching would be focused in the techniques of examination rather than doing real teaching. It was also found that students did not refer to their textbooks as source of knowledge but exerted all efforts only to collect marks. The result of these practices yielded failure in the achievement of pedagogical objectives of language education.

The theme behind this paper is to review the language policy and language planning in the Sudan, after the institutionalization of peace; by exploring the recent policy of political factions in the North and the South towards languages in post-war Sudan. This effort aims at encouraging non-Arabic speaking-ethnic-groups to accept the Arabic language as lingua franca, by allowing it an official status in education and government offices. The paper also aims at encouraging the Arabic speaking majority in the North, to take the initiative to study and learn the most dominant local Sudanese-African languages, and be familiar with their oral and written literature; as well as realizing the role of these languages in enriching the cultural heritage in our country and making unity an attractive choice.

Examinations--among other things--are tools of quality control by which we can measure the attainment of the national educational goals. High-quality examinations are means of evaluation that can help teachers modify their teaching techniques, as well as helping learners adjust their learning strategies. Examinations are also benchmarks that can assist decision makers to judge the success of their educational, social and political aims. This paper explores the features of the Sudan School Certificate English Examinations (SSC) from the perspective of content validly and comprehensiveness. The data was collected through a questionnaire and analytically processed by machine to come out with some findings that: the (SSC) English Examinations in their recent forms are incomprehensive and lack content validity. They are proficiency tests rather than scholastic standardized achievement examinations. Therefore, they have negative backwash in language education development in our country.