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Friday | may 20, 2011

Vol. III, Issue 8

H! There!

FABULOUS FIFTEEN
The English and Translation Society is a nice, cozy corner SQU students love to get together to dab their hands in things beyond their textbooks. Thats where they discover and rediscover themselves! So what makes this society such a fabulous place to be? As ETS marked the 15th anniversary of its successful existence last month with activity-rich Open Day, Team H!SQU get up, close and personal with its members past and present
Hilal Al Mamari Graduate Student International Education

pologies for our failure to reach out to you in April. If we say technical glitches we are sure you will take that with a bit of derision and a touch of sarcasm, but truth must be told, and that, unfortunately, is the truth. The heat is on us, literally and figuratively. May is the month that sets the mercury quite high all of a sudden, making it a particularly difficult time of year for all of us to get adjusted to the all-new reality. After enjoying a few months of cool winter and a couple of weeks of lovely spring wasnt it really a shade longer and a lot better than the previous years? the sudden change to a sizzling summer is unpleasant, though we all know for a fact that when winter comes summer cannot be far behind. The other heat that gets piled on this time of year is the one thats related to exams, and this is especially so for those who are in their final year. Theres no escaping both these heats as such: groaning and grumbling are not going to get us to any cooler, cozier corner. Summer or winter, theres one cozy little space students at SQU love to gather together and try their hands at things that make them cool things that raises the heat on campus! And thats the English and Translation Society. Last month, ETS members celebrated the 15th anniversary of the society by organising Open Day. That was a fabulous occasion for Team H!SQU to thumb through the 15-year history of this vibrant students society. ETS, as we know it today, was formed when the two prominent students groups, the English Society and the Translation Society, merged in 2003, inheriting a rich and colourful past. It was wonderful to listen to the tales recounted by past members of ES and TS on how it all began and how it got going. ES, TS or ETS, the underlying spirit was one of camaraderie and a sense of sharing that helped members discover their hidden potential and hone the innate talent in the company of like-minded souls. There were moments, ranging from aha! to ouch, but inspiring was the passion that sparkled in their eyes when they began talking about their days at ETS. We are forced to cut down on many of our regular features in this edition, and you will understand why we had to do that when you turn this page. Dr Rahma this time chose to share with us her experience as an observer in a classroom in the US. At first, we thought we could split the article into two and spread them out in two editions, but we were afraid the long, one-month gap may spoil the overall feel the article seeks to generate in the readers. So here it is, in full, and we hope you will love the experience once you have navigated through the more than 2000 words Rahma carefully picked up to sum up her different experience. So, guys and girls, happy reading! Cheers till next issue Team H!SQU
H!SQU is brought out by the English and Translation Society at SQU. Email your views/suggestions/articles to hi-ets@hotmail.com or hi@timesofoman.com. For more information visit www.englishsqu.net

Hummal Al Bulushi Fromer member of ETS

Editorial Coordinators

Ahmed Al Hadhrami & Sumaiya Al Kindi

Mr Wise
The heats on, but theres always a way to chill out!

STUDIED English/Education and am now working as a demonstrator in the same department where I graduated from. I am interested in learning languages and conducting research in linguistics and bilingualism. I joined ETS when I was in my second year after being invited by a friend for several times and soon I became an active member, especially in acting and speaking courses. The activities I was involved helped me sharpen my language skills as I found a space where I could practically use what I was learning inside class. ETS taught me the meaning of taking responsibility and the art of time management and dealing with different personalities. I cannot refer to ETS for the last 10 years, but I can say that in the last 5 years, and that is the time I spent in it, ETS has made tremendous changes in terms of the quality of its works as well as the type of its activities. I have been witnessing that every year the dreams and hopes of the members become bigger than before and they want to achieve something bigger than what previous members had achieved. I wish the members keep their eyes focused on the ultimate goals of ETS and do their best to achieve the goals regardless of the difficulties and problems that they face. Problems are there to be solved, and difficulties are there to be challenged.

BECAME a member in my third year at SQU, 2002-2003, when it was still the English Society and Translation Group. The long and somewhat hard process of unifying the two groups into the English and Translation Society meant that instead of becoming the ES president in 2003/2004 I became the first English Group head and the deputy president of ETS (now theres one president and two deputy heads). It was an interesting year as we were trying to figure out our new roles. I was a member of both groups before the unification, so I had an important role in making the unification real rather than just on paper. In 2004/2005, I became the head of ETS. It was my last and best year at SQU. I enjoyed every moment of being the leader of ETSit was a great feeling. ETS is quite different from the English Society that was established in 1996. There is a clear difference in the type of activities and events that ETS holds. I can see much more creativity and diversity of activities. Nowadays the members are much more tech-savvy! ETS has contributed a lot to help me shape up as an individual. I wouldnt have been where I am right now without ETS. Its from where I picked up my first important lessons in leadership and communication as well as time management and multi-tasking. As a member and then as its head, I had to deal with students from both genders.

I am now a more confident public speaker and as a teacher and professional in the educational field thats a great quality to have. Learn as much as you can, balance school and ETS, read a lot and enjoy your time as ETS member thats what I would love to tell the present bunch. It is one of the most interesting experiences you would ever have in your life so dont miss the fun waste any moment. I would always cherish the small time we spent together as members to eat or relax after a big event like Open Day, Translation Week or cultural nights. It was fun to get to know other members. I cherish the time we spent in the offices of the English Group and the Translation Group in the College of Arts. I must have spent more time in both rooms than I really did in classrooms in my fifth year at SQU!

Said Al Hatmi English Language Teacher

TS is an effective destination for anyone really keen on improving his or her English language skills. Its one nice platform to discover and hone your hidden talent. ETS to me is what gave me the first great lessons in teamwork. Its where I got to know that the fruits of hard work taste amazingly sweet.

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excellent experience. Over years, ETS has changed, a lot, for the better. My ETS experience helped me a great deal when I was looking for a job. I remember one of the directors who interviewed me saying, we have nothing to argue about, for these certificates are the true evidence of your potential and achievements. If anything, I would love to see the current ETS members give more time, thought and energy for creativity.

Saleh Al Sharji Current head of ETS

HE English and Translation Society is one of the most active students societies that supports and enriches students academic and non-academic studies. At Sultan Qaboos University ETS encourages people to learn the English language and to hone ones skills in various aspects of life. This fantastic society has contributed a lot to enhance my knowledge. Being the head of ETS has made me more organised, devoted and punctual. Now, in its 15th year (established on November 26, 1996,) ETS has the curiosity of a teenager, the energy of a youth, the dedication of an adult.

Ahmed M. Al Matani ESL lecturer & Student Council Adviser at Modern College of Business and Sciences

Abeer Al Hadhrami Former member of ETS

HAT does ETS mean to me? A good question but theres no one single word to sum up what it really was to me. Joining ETS was one of my most awesome decisions. It instilled in me the enthusiasm to dream and go full steam with them. At present, I am the acting director of ESL at MCBS, and I owe a great to deal to ETS and the support of its fantastic bunch of members that helped me land a job as an ESL instructor at MCBS soon after my graduation. In the 15th year of ETS, I would like to extend my congratulations to its loyal old stalwarts and awesome current members.

Ali Al Bulushi Former head of ETS

Salim Al Waaili Head of the Teaching & Learning Department, CET

BECAME a member when it was just the English Society, and in 1999 I became its treasurer. Then, in the fall of 2002, I was elected its head, a position I held until spring 2003. ES, now ETS, helped sharpen my talents and personality. I could polish my English writing and speaking skills as well as leadership and communication skills through interaction with a wide range of people. Another impressive thing was that it helped me learn and develop new skills and make new friends. My advice to new members of ETS is: be patient and keep working hard. You may not seem to figure out now how much its really helping you, but when it is time to finally bid goodbye to ES you will realise what you are going to miss. Of course, you need to study well ETS activities should not come in the way of your academic pursuits and excellence. The key to success lies in how well you could take part in ETS activities without ever compromising on academic studies. The late-night work together and the early morning return the next day to finish off what we had left off in the night are still fresh in my mind. The team spirit was excellent, the feedback after an event got over was inspiring, there was a sense of giving and taking that was a wonderful phase of my life.

Muna Al Battashi Postgraduate & research coordinator at the College of Commerce

TS was a source of entertainment and means of self discovery for me when I was at SQU. I joined ETS in 2005 and greatly enjoyed being a member. In the initial days I loved poetry sessions and participation in events organisation. I was nominated to the post of vice-president in 2007, which was a big thing for me at SQU. It was a pleasant experience to work with and coordinate a group of 50 or more. A year later I headed the group and that was a milestone of sort in the history of ELS: that was the first time a female was named to lead the group. It was an

TS is the secret key to my success. I owe it a lot. ETS contributed to my career in a big way. It added weight to my CV. Employers always seek people who have coped well under pressure and who are good at taking initiatives and making decisions. Thanks to my three-year experience as head of the English Group, I have received six job offers, three of which with Masters scholarships! The hard and creative work in ETS has helped me a lot in my career. As an EFL college teacher, I understand that teaching English is a challenging profession. I must prepare for my lessons in a way that makes the learners love English classes. This of course requires a variety of activities and motivation to use English. Yes, it is ETS that is making my professional life easier and enjoyable today! I could easily come up with loads of great moments. But if you ask me if there were any painful ones: here it is: one day I was working on the Pygmalion play as a stage manager. I was in the theatre workshop with the carpenters when one huge column fell on my toe. Ouch Members notes, the minutes of ETS meetings, badgesI still keep these relics of a wonderful past neatly in a folder. Its one treasure trove of fantastic, nostalgic memories that I would never part with. We have always been skeptical about presidential transitions, but it has always been proved that new generations of ETS do really try hard to leave their stamp of personality. So far, so great! And greater days are ahead.

dream that came true! That would nicely sum up the moment I became a member of ETS. Joining an English club was a goal I set for me when I was a high school student. I joined ETS in my first year at SQU, and at first I was interested in improving my English through participating in extracurricular activities. As weeks went by, I was thrilled to realise that what I was gaining from ETS was more than just improving my language. It was a whole new life experience that shaped the person that I am today. I vividly remember the first time I stood on stage as a presenter, the first time I came on stage as an actor and the first time I got the first prize in drama. Ironically, when I joined the group I was the youngest member and when I graduated I was the oldest member and the members ended up referring to me as the grandma of ETS. Words really fail me to express my feelings when I look back at those wonderful years. There were such great, supportive friends as Aqeel Al Ajmi who was the head of the group when I joined ETS, Rasha Al Maamari, Waleed Al Shukaili, Badr Al Jahwari, Osama Al Farsi, Said Al Hatemi, Zahra Al Shukaili and Ahmed Al Hadhrami. Thank you friends. Thank you ETS.

Hania Al Kamisi Former member of ETS & a teacher

STARTED off as a student in courses ETS was running for SQU students. Soon I found myself involved in ETS programmes such as cultural nights, workshops and Open Days. As months rolled by, I became a teacher in the courses ETS and led the library group of the society. I really loved working late with other members and under pressure for big events like Open Days. Looking back, I could confidently say that the experience and skills I picked up at ELS have really helped me when I began my professional career as a teacher. ETS is of course more active now. Its website is more advanced; it has better interaction with other educational and non-educational institutes; the activities are on a higher scale and the standards are getting better and by the day. My advice to the current team of ETS: work hard and keep up the good show. Grab the opportunities you get at ETS and develop your language and personal skills. Skys the limit!

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Friday | may 20, 2011

Vol. III, Issue 8

School viSit
attached to the bookcase standing next to the door. The bookcase was full and on top of it sat a miniature world globe. Another bookcase stood near the wall at the students left-hand side. As I mentioned earlier, most of the lesson dealt with cards that the teacher was displaying. Some had French words written on one side and their translation on the other. Almost all the words had to do with food or something related to it such as laying the table. The teacher read the French words and asked the students to respond chorally. While they were doing this she flipped the card to show them the English translation. The teacher sometimes directed students attention to parts of speech, whether a word was a noun, a verb or adjective and one thing that I liked was that she sometimes compared what people say in English with what they say in French. However, she did that mostly at the word level. Something else I found interesting was that the teacher asked a student to take charge of the cards. The student went to the front of the classroom and began questioning his colleagues, one at a time, thus giving him a sense of empowerment. Student involved in answering had to repeat all the words and their meanings and hence a lot of precious time was wasted in the process. Many students were not listening and were not motivated to participate. After a student finished answering correctly, the teacher stamped a seal of some sort on the students notebook. Although students seemed to like this, it took a lot of time because students were searching for their notebooks and the teacher was not paying attention to the rest of the class while the stamping process was going on. Finishing that activity, the teacher brought out another set of cards. These contained the names of places such as church, school, home. Like the former set of cards, these also contained the French words on one side and their translation on the other. The same procedures were followed with those cards as was the case with the first ones. Then the teacher started asking students in English how they would say something in French. For instance, she asked How would you say there is a church in this town? Students replied in French, one at a time. Again, those responding with the right answer had their notebooks stamped with the teachers seal. Meanwhile, some students were paying attention while others were turning around and not paying any attention at all. What was more these were engaged in disruptive behaviour and distracting other students. At first, the teacher did not seem to be bothered and kept working with the cards. Then, she tried to make them attentive by saying attention in French. However, some students were still, for example, drawing pictures and passing them to each other. Some were never involved though at times they had their hands raised. My impression was that much time was either wasted or spent unwisely. English was generally spoken, and the use of French was restricted to discrete words or simple sentences. I attended three French classes. The method of

oday, I will share with you a story from the journal I kept while I was in America, which stands as a historical record of the time I spent there and the valuable experiences I lived through. Hope you find it an insightful and interesting read. Friday, February 25, 2000, saw my very first visit to an American school. I arrived at five minutes after nine as was instructed by the principal when I called her office to make the appointment. In front of the main entrance was a big group of students supervised by a teacher. I could not understand why they were standing there, but I came to learn later that they were waiting for a bus to take them to another school because they usually did that on Fridays. I headed for the principals office, which was to the right of the entrance, introduced myself, and said what I was there for. The principal welcomed me and invited me to sit until someone could show me to a classroom. While I sat there students were pouring into the office. That was surprising to me because it doesnt happen in my own country, Oman, where the principals office is considered a sacrosanct area, off limits to students unless ordered to be there in cases of misbehaviour or disputes. Something else that struck me was the manner in which students talked to the principal and staff there. While this did not seem to bother the staff, it appeared very disrespectful to me. I felt quite annoyed! The students were there for different reasons. Some came with a question in mind; others came to ask for permission not to attend school. For example, a girl with a broken leg came in and was granted leave, but a boy who brought no excuse from his parents was refused. This practice does not exist in Omani schools. Students wanting to miss school just miss it. Parents are involved only in parents conferences, and these are rarely held. In fact, they are held only when problems erupt between a student and a teacher or between fellow students. The principal was very busy. She went into her office to meet with someone and did not come out until I have left. I was still waiting when classes started. Then, a women working in the office called the teacher, Miss Morrocio, whose class I was going to observe and asked her to send a student to the office. The student came and escorted me to the classroom, which was on the fourth floor. As I left the office I noticed a big bulletin board festooned with announcements of schedules and events. I did not see much in the way up to the fourth floor because the student and I were using the stairs, but I paid particular attention to what was on the fourth floors hallway. The classroom was towards the end of the hallway on the right, so I got to see what was displayed on its walls. There were posters and pictures and students artwork too. Everything was presented at students eye level, and was very clear to see and read. The hallway was very quiet. I noticed some empty classrooms because the doors were open. Most of the busy classrooms had their doors shut, except the class I entered, Miss Morrocios. As I approached the

Dr Rahma Al Mahrooqi

door, Miss Morrocio was already engaged in teaching. In her hands were flash cards which she displayed for the students to read and guess their meaning. My first reaction was surprise because the students were replying in a foreign language (I figured out it was French, good for me!) which I did not speak or even understand! I knocked at the door, and the teacher came to welcome me. I introduced myself and told her about the purpose of my visit and I was surprised because she did not seem to know about it, though I had called several times and requested that she be notified. Nevertheless, I went inside and sat at the back of the class. The first thing I noticed was the class size. There were seventeen students, a mixture of males and females. The teacher mentioned that not all students were present because they had gone to another school, a weekly practice (done every Friday). They were seated randomly in four rows. The students on my right and those in front of me rarely participated. Those on my left paid the most attention. In front of the students was the teachers desk, centred in the middle and blocking the students view of the blackboard! On the wall to my right was another blackboard, which was never used in

any of the three French classes which I attended. Next to the blackboard was a board decorated with many colourful pictures. One featured all the flags of the world, among them was the Omani flag. I was pleased to see it! There were also pictures of people from different cultures wearing their national costumes. One picture presented those people from different cultures united together in a circle. I was glad to see this because it encourages cultural tolerance and decreases ethnocentricity among students. There was an overhead projector, which was not used during the classes I observed. At the back of the classroom there was a table and a chair. I did not know what it was used for until I saw a disruptive student summoned to go back and sit there. I did not think that such a practice would exist in American schools. I thought that there were always better ways to deal with disruptive behaviour other than just excluding the student from being part of the lesson. However, I did not really blame the teacher because she did try to make that particular student pay attention but all her attempts failed. It was amazing for me to see the abundance of material available for student use: for example, blank paper, scissors, pens, pencils, and a sharpener

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teaching and the content were exactly the same despite the fact that I noticed some differences in students language proficiency. The English as a second language class (ESL) was the fourth class I observed. Here, the teacher made the students introduce themselves to me. There were students from Ukraine, South Korea, Russia, Japan, China, Yugoslavia and Jordan. All were at the advanced level and the class was on literature. The title of the book they used was Elements of Literature. It contained short stories and had a tape for every one. The teacher mentioned to me that after reading each story, students listened to the tape to hear the right pronunciation of words and to give them a better feel for the story. Unfortunately, the teacher informed me that a test, not a lesson, had been scheduled for the class, but she said that, for my sake, she would

do a revision of a story taught previously. One student summarized the story and I was surprised at how fluent and accurate her language was. The teacher then asked a couple of comprehension questions but the students could not give correct answers. The teacher wanted to give out the test papers, but she could not find them. Because the papers were nowhere to be found, the test was given orally. This was ineffective because the first part of the test involved multiple choice questions. Students could not keep track of all the choices and so they kept asking the teacher to repeat the questions and choices. Again, much time was wasted. The second part of the test was on comprehension and many students finished fast and handed in their scripts. Then they sat down waiting for the others to finish.

The teacher started correcting the tests of those who had finished but when the bell rang not all the students had finished. They had to hand in their papers and go to another classroom. It was surprising for me to see that students had to move from one classroom to another. Such a practice does not exist in Oman, where teachers must move from one class to another. However, as my cooperating teacher said, both systems have positive and negative sides. If teachers have a lot of material to carry to every class, that will be cumbersome for them. On the other hand, having students move from one class to another might waste time and fill the corridors with noise. I did not notice anybody walking in the corridor while the classes were taking place. I finally left the classroom and went out into the silent corridor. On my way to the principals office, I

walked to the third and second floors to get a better idea of what was displayed on them. There were different kinds of posters, students artwork, pictures of some famous American people, and boards displaying pictures of students who had excelled academically. The library was closed, so I did not get the chance to take a look at it. My cooperating teacher taught six hours a day, so she had no time to show me around the school. Everyone in the office was extremely busy, maybe because it was Friday and the end of the week! Although I was not totally satisfied with the classes I attended, I still appreciate the experience. I know that not all teachers, or even methods of teaching, are created equal. Out there in the American schools are some fantastic teachers who do their jobs excellently.