Women's Scientific Research Committee

  On February 10, 2021, the Women's Scientific Research Committee of the Bachelor of Arts in English program organized the first session of webinars on academic writing by Dr. Nada Alqarni.   "Understanding your writing strategies is important in becoming a confident writer", said Dr. Alqarni. Academic writing is a product of many considerations (i.e., audience, purpose, consideration, style, flow, and presentation), as she further illustrated. Dr. Alqarni explained the significance of employing hedging, whose job is to make things fuzzier, implying that the writer is less than fully committed to the certainty of the referential information given. She further illustrated that hedging can be expressed through the use of a variety of structures. Additionally, she explained when to use hedges, emphasizing that their appropriate use is central to developing an academic, communicative competence as it assists the writers in establishing "a relationship with the reader and with the authorities in the field".   Following this introductory section, Dr. Alqarni moved to explain the parts of the academic research paper. The introduction, the purpose of the introduction, and common mistakes that the authors should steer clear of in writing the introduction, as well as the main parts in the introduction, were the main ideas covered in the second section. She emphasized that the author should establish a research territory, identify a niche indicating the gap in the previous research by raising a question about it, and occupy the niche stating the purpose of the present research. Hence, in the introduction, authors should establish why the topic is important, outline the past-present history of the study of the topic, indicate the gap in knowledge and possible limitations, state the aim of the paper and its contribution, explain the key terminology in the field of the study and how the terminology and acronyms are used in the paper and indicate the structure of the paper.   The webinar, which was mainly delivered to MA and Ph.D. students, and attended by the vice dean Dr. Salma Alqahtani and staff members at the faculty of languages and translation, included practice on the three main parts of an introduction (i.e., the general research area, the gap in the literature and the purpose of the research paper).   The series of academic writing webinars, which are organized by the Scientific Research Committee, consists of seven sessions on Mondays & Wednesdays, February 10, 2021, to March 3, 2021, at 4:30 pm. Date: 2/14/2021 Source: Dr. Amal Metwally – Head of Scientific Research Committee

  Prof. Najaat Busabaa, professor of linguistics at the faculty of languages and translation, delivered a webinar titled "Netspeak Linguistic Features Used by Youth" at an event organized by the scientific research committee on Tuesday, November 24, 2020.   Prof. Busabaa started her presentation by emphasizing the indisputable fact of the widespread use of internet among the youth. They use it because "it is quicker, cheaper, and more convenient than other communicative methods, "she illustrated. She added that the rapid development of this new technology and communicative method has become of great importance in modern people's lives. This development is parallel to the expansion of the internet culture mainly mediated through the English language, and consequently, it has a profound influence on languages, spoken or written.   Netspeak is "a type of language displaying features that are unique to the internet." Prof. Busabaa noted that this phenomenon in Arabic is prolific; however, it has been rarely investigated among the youth. When chatting, as was assumed by linguists, they have two alternative choices; either they will use English with Latin letters and compensate for the lack of some correspondence letters in English by using numbers that look like those letters or, they will Arabize those letters with English Netspeak abbreviations putting them in Arabic scripts.   She also referred to Arabizi as a norm used in Netspeak chatting rooms. According to many scholars, Arabizi is "a blended language composed of English and vernacular Arabic, written in Latin letters but using arithmographemes; numerals as letters."   Prof. Busabaa, moreover, identified the methods and procedures of the study. She stated that in order to investigate the frequency of linguistic features used by Yemeni students in Netspeak, a qualitative method was used, limiting these features then describing and explaining them linguistically. She also reviewed the literature and then reached the findings of the study. The study indicated that there is a common balance in the chatting roles; the participants are brief and focus on the direct content of their responses. Moreover, sentences that are used are short and simple, which gives an impression of brevity to listeners. In addition, communication topics mainly include news about school or university issues such as timetables, lectures, and exams. Also, jokes, parental relations, love poetry, wise sayings, remarks on death, or congratulations have been noticed. Furthermore, commenting on others' lexical mistakes is rare. They paid no attention to correct each other. The researcher has found only one comment as feedback to correct the mistake of the other chatter. The linguistics categories involve showing exaggeration by repeating some letters to draw attention, dictation marks: "spelling, glottal stop, al-taa, al marboodah, the use of punctuation marks, question marks, exclamations, colon, semi-colon, and al-Tashkeel."   Prof Busabaa explained that extracts from the Holy Quran require special attention from the users because these are sacred texts. She reached the conclusion that vernacular language replaces standard Arabic in chat rooms, which is entirely different from the findings of the other earlier works where English replaces other languages. Consequently, she proposed some recommendations to follow. These include initiating a number of organized campaigns, either electronic or in the fields among Yemeni youth of the importance of their language to establish and strengthen their identities. Also, teachers should be strict in correcting students' linguistic mistakes and establishing web pages that provide the youth with the principles of their language in attractive ways to draw their attention and involve them in defending their own language.   The webinar was very informative, and it witnessed significant interaction from both faculty members and MA students who showed their interest in the study and its findings. Date: 12/6/2020 Source: Amal Metwally – Scientific Research Committee Coordinator

  Dr. Sheila Simpkins, assistant professor at the faculty of languages and translation, delivered a webinar titled “Academic Writing”, at an event organized by the scientific research committee on Tuesday, November 10, 2020.   Dr. Simpkins started her presentation by explaining some basic assumptions about English writing that EFL students are unaware of.  Most EFL students will say that writing is about grammar. Dr. Simpkins says that academic writing is all about ideas.  Grammar is important in the sense that we need to write in a way that the reader can understand our ideas. She maintains that the goal of academic writing is to persuade. “You as a writer have an idea, and your goal is to persuade the reader that your idea is correct,” said Dr. Simpkins.   She further explained that there are certain patterns in English writing that ensure the writing will be unified, cohesive, coherent, and therefore will persuade the audience. One of the important patterns she referred to is within the body paragraph: T SEE SEE SEE C. The body paragraph has a topic sentence, supporting sentences, explain/example sentences, and a conclusion sentence. Each of these sentences has a specific job to do in the paragraph. She went on to explain the role of each of the sentences.   Dr. Simpkins understands that this may seem formulaic, however, the veracity of the pattern holds whether students are beginners just learning to write a standalone paragraph or are advanced and writing a longer piece of work. Knowing this basic pattern/rule is essential for EFL students to write strong academic papers.   The webinar was highly informative and comprehensive, with a well-structured presentation. It was attended by faculty members and MA students who took part in the discussion. Date: 12/6/2020 Source: Amal Metwally – Scientific Research Committee Coordinator

The Women's Scientific Research Committee hosted an informative seminar on March 2, 2020, focusing on the critical role of scientific research in program accreditation. The seminar was facilitated by Dr. Eman Alzaanin, Supervisor of the Academic Development and Quality Unit, who delved into the importance of research in maintaining the rigorous standards expected in higher education. Dr. Alzaanin commenced the session by defining program accreditation as an evaluation process in which a program of study presents its activities and achievements to an external body. In the context of Saudi Arabia, this body is the National Commission for Academic Accreditation & Assessment (NCAAA). This external body then independently evaluates the program, issuing a public judgment based on established standards of value and quality. Dr. Alzaanin proceeded to outline the NCAAA standards for program accreditation and the underlying mission and objectives that should guide all operational aspects of a program. Emphasizing the significance of research capabilities, Dr. Alzaanin noted that it is vital to nurture the research competencies of both faculty members and students. She further pointed out that the program administration should shoulder the responsibility for drafting and monitoring the scientific research plan. This includes ensuring adherence to the research plan of the institution through specific performance indicators and fostering values of scientific integrity, intellectual property rights, ethical practices, and proper conduct across all academic, research, administrative, and service domains. She concluded the seminar by underlining the expectation that teaching staff should regularly participate in academic activities such as conferences, group discussions, research projects, and thesis arbitration. Effective participation in research activities and scientific production is seen as a criterion for staff evaluation and promotion.The seminar, attended by staff members from the Bachelor of Arts in English program, along with the Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics and Master of Arts in Translation programs, was enriched by a lively discussion driven by valuable contributions from the attendees. Date: 3/7/2020 Source: Dr. Amal Metwally – Women's Scientific Research Committee Coordinator

  On March 2, 2020, the Women's Scientific Research Committee of the Bachelor of Arts in English program organized the third session of the Academic Writing series of Workshops by Dr. Nada Alqarni, supervisor of the Department of English language.   This workshop was devoted to exploring how researchers should write the methodology section in their research papers. The purpose of the methods section, said Dr. Alqarni, is to accurately and clearly describe the research design and the procedures undertaken to collect and analyze data, and to present the rationale for choosing each for the study. In addition, the methods section should explain in detail how a study was conducted so other researchers may be able to assess the merit of the research and even replicate the study themselves. This section should also highlight the unique features of a given study and show the reader that the research has been carried out appropriately and, therefore, the results can be believed.   Dr. Alqarni indicated that the methodology section has certain features. It explicitly describes the exact procedures and rationale, when developing data-set, results, and conclusions in an empirical research study. It does not include much background knowledge; however, it should contain justifications, explanations, and examples.   "There are four key elements included in the methodology," said Dr. Alqarni. These are: research design, population sample and selection of participants, data collection procedures, and statistical treatment/planned data analysis or analytic procedures. She also referred to the basic methodological concepts, namely; the variables, reliability, validity, and bias and error. She also reviewed the study design, including a description of the study setting and population of interest, as well as a description of the study’s sample or units of evaluation.   Dr. Alqarni explained the data collection methods, including qualitative research, interviews, and observational studies. She then reviewed some examples clarifying the methods of data collection and the language tense and grammatical structures commonly used.   The workshop was attended by students and teaching staff. The workshop ended with questions raised by the participants, which fostered a lively discussion on the topic. Date: 3/6/2020 Source: Dr. Amal Metwally – Women's Scientific Research Committee Coordinator

  The Women's Scientific Research Committee of the Bachelor of Arts in English program organized the second session of Academic Writing series of Workshops by Dr. Nada Alqarni on February 24, 2020.   Dr. Alqarni started her speech by referring to a common mistake that the authors should steer clear of, which is to sprinkle references liberally around with insufficient thought as to how they fit into the theory and the theme. She explained that a good start would be to place the topic into a historical perspective and identify key landmark studies. Additionally, the authors could establish a context for their own interest and research, and distinguish what has been done in order to identify a space for their own work.   Dr. Alqarni asserted that the review of literature should indicate the core concepts, the variables and the findings of the research paper.   She then reviewed the steps researchers should follow in writing the review of the literature. First, they should find the information and studies that are relevant to their topic. Second, they should summarize these studies (organize and evaluate them), indicating who found out what, when, and how this developed the study of the topic. Finally, the researchers should finish with a conclusion, explaining the gaps in knowledge that they have identified and how their research will fill these gaps left by previous research.   Dr. Alqarni highlighted the significance of the works cited in a research paper. Researchers, she said, should apply a mental test every time a work is referred to or a quotation is included. This mental test consists of asking the questions if this reference is adding to the development of the theory. How does it follow the thread of the research paper? And how does it relate to the research questions? Then the research should indicate the gap in the knowledge to be filled.   Dr. Alqarni discusses the rules of citation tense. She illustrated that a move from past to present perfect and then to present indicates that the researchers reported are increasingly close to the writer in some way. She then reviewed the methods of giving general panorama of past-to-present literature, reporting what specific authors have said, and highlighting limitations of previous studies.   Dr. Alqarni provided many valuable examples that clarified all the steps for writing the literature review effectively. The workshop, which was very informative and highly interactive, was attended by Vice Dean, Dr. Salma Alqahtani, staff members and students. Date: 2/29/2020 Source: Dr. Amal Metwally – Scientific Research Committee Coordinator

  On Wednesday, February 19, 2020, the Women's Scientific Research Committee of the Bachelor of Arts in English program organized a practical workshop on Rbrul by Dr. Khairia Ali Abu Dady, assistant professor of sociolinguistics.   Dr. Abu Dady started her presentation by reviewing the various uses of Rbrul in conducting different scientific studies. She specifically focused on the significance of the software in sociolinguistics and reviewed some valuable examples.   She then started the practical section of the workshop. First, she guided the participants to the installation steps of the software. Then she worked with them on data files. The workshop was very informative and introduced the participants to the use of Rbrul in conducting scientific research. It was attended by staff members and members of the scientific research committee.   Of noteworthy mention, Dr. Abu Dady conducted a Rbrul workshop during the first semester which was organized by the Language Research Center, where she provided an introduction to the software. Date: 2/21/2020 Source: Dr. Amal Metwally – Scientific Research Committee Coordinator

  On February 17, 2020, the Women's Scientific Research Committee of the Bachelor of Arts in English program organized the first session of the Academic Writing series of Workshops by Department of English Supervisor, Dr. Nada Alqarni.   "Effective academic writing depends on interactional elements which supplement propositional information in the text and alert readers to the writer's opinion," said Dr. Alqarni.   She explained the importance of employing hedging, whose job is to make things fuzzier, implying that the writer is less than fully committed to the certainty of the referential information given. She further illustrated that hedging can be expressed through the use of a variety of structures. Additionally, she explained when to use hedges, emphasizing that their appropriate use is central to developing an academic, communicative competence as it assists the writers in establishing "a relationship with the reader and with the authorities in the field."   Following this introductory section, Dr. Alqarni moved to explain the parts of the academic research paper. The introduction, the purpose of introduction and common mistakes that the authors should steer clear of in writing the introduction as well as the main parts in the introduction were the main ideas covered in the second section. She emphasized that in the introduction authors should establish why the topic is important, outline the past-present history of the study of the topic, indicate the gap in knowledge and possible limitations, state the aim of the paper and its contribution, explain the key terminology in the field of the study and how the terminology and acronyms are used in the paper, and indicate the structure of paper - what is and is not included.   The workshop included practice on the three main parts of an introduction (i.e., the general research area, the gap in the literature and the purpose of the research paper). The workshop was a big success, and it was attended by many graduate students, staff members and scientific research committee members.   Of noteworthy mention, the series of academic writing workshops consists of seven sessions on Mondays 17 Feb to 30 March 2020 at 9:00 am at the Faculty of Languages and Translation, King Abdullah Road Campus. Date: 2/20/2020 Source: Dr. Amal Metwally – Scientific Research Committee Coordinator

  On February 17, 2020, two Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics program students, Alaa Alshehri and Fatimah Abdulaziz delivered a presentation entitled 'Online Research Tools: Discussion and Tips' at a seminar organized by the Scientific Research Committee - Women’s section. The seminar was attended by current MA students and research committee members.   The presentation discussed several useful websites that help researchers to review citations, check grammar mistakes, and check plagiarism. The presenters shared their experience by raising the importance of the English Club in improving students' speaking skills. Alaa and Fatimah suggested that MA students should have their own reading library, which contains articles in their field of research. The presenters appreciated the effort of their professors in effectively helping them and other students during their MA studies and encouraged students to seek their professors' help and discuss any issues that they face during the course of their research.   At the end of the presentation, Alaa and Fatimah advised students to be patient and ambitious toward their goal. They talked about the time when they were stressed during their MA journey, noting that intrinsic motivation is key to student achievement. Date: 2/17/2020 Source: Banan Hassan Alhajaji, Member, Scientific Research Committee

  The Women's Scientific Research Committee of the Bachelor of Arts in English program organized a seminar entitled "Publishing in Peer-Reviewed Journals: Challenges and Solutions" on Monday, February 3, 2020. The presentation, which was conducted by Dr. Mazeegha Al- Tale', focused on highlighting the significance of publishing in peer-reviewed journals, necessary steps, and techniques. At the beginning, Dr. Al-Tale' thanked the Scientific Research Committee for giving her the chance to give that presentation. She extended her thanks to the outstanding researchers Dr. Fakieh Alrabai and Dr. Munassair Al-Hamami for providing her with valuable information about international publishing.   "As faculty members, we strive to publish in peer-reviewed journals. After the hard work of thinking about appropriate topics, designing our studies, collecting the data and going through other steps of writing, we all are eager to see our works in good scientific journals", said Dr. Al- Tale’. Dr. Al- Tale' illustrated that there are five steps that researches have to follow in their journey towards publishing their work in authentic reliable journals. These are: reading towards topic selection, writing the research paper, selecting a journal, editing, and submission. She further explained in detail how each step could be accomplished perfectly towards publishing in peer-reviewed journals.   Dr. Al-Tale' also highlighted the importance of checking the impact factor of a journal before correspondence. Additionally, Dr. Al-Tale' provided a list of good publishing houses and explained the journal selection tools. She also visited some useful websites during the session in order to show the audience how to know if the target journal is listed in Scopus or not, to know whether a target journal is predatory or not, and to make sure that the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is a real one.   The seminar was attended by Dean's Assistant, Dr. Salma Alqahtani, Vice Dean, Dr. Mona Alshehri, teaching staff, and students. The seminar was very informative, engaging and such a great success.   Date: 2/4/2020 Source: Dr. Amal Metwally, Scientific Research Committee