Towards the Development of Standard Intended Learning Outcomes for English Requirement Courses at Yemeni Universities.

Abstract

English requirement courses (ERCs) are crucial for developing undergraduate students’ skills in English at many Arab and international universities. This study investigated the status of ERCs in Yemen in light of similar Arab and international experiences as well as from the perspectives of teachers and students at Yemeni universities, highlighting the need for the transition towards outcomes-based instruction. The descriptive analytical method was adopted to examine the status of ERCs at Yemeni universities and then compare them to their Arab and international counterparts, using a checklist for the titles, credit hours, and number of ERCs. Furthermore, two questionnaires for teachers and students, covering content, teaching strategies and evaluation, were administered separately to samples of 24 teachers and 439 students, selected from 8 public and private universities. Results revealed that there is a mismatch between what is taught in ERCs and what is required by the labor market and students’ specific needs. ERCs seem to be content-based rather than outcomes-based. There is also inconsistency across ERCs in terms of target learning items, which may well be due to the absence of standard intended learning outcomes. To help improve ERCs at Yemeni universities, a proposed framework for ERCs learning outcomes along with a few recommendations were suggested