Research

  Dr. Yahia Zeghoudi’s presentation was based on a particular speaking disorder which is titled Functional Dysphonia: A Rehabilitative Approach. It was presented at a webinar organized by the Language Research Center on October 20, 2021.   Dr. Zeghoudi began the session by mentioning some common symptoms of this speaking disorder, such as hoarseness, huskiness, roughness, breathiness, restricted pitch range, etc. He also highlighted some mental, physical as well external causes such as risk involved in certain jobs, stress and anxiety, throat infections, irritants, and so on.   Dr. Zeghoudi mentioned a French citizen who was wrongly assessed by his music teacher after the World War. The teacher classified his voice range as very low. Actually, his voice was seriously injured, and he eventually became voiceless. He spent 20 years suffering from dysphonia, moving from doctor to doctor and from speech therapist to speech therapist beginning in 1956 and ending in 1976, Dr. Zeghoudi added.   In regards to therapy, Dr. Zeghoudi mentioned Guérin’s approach that is based on voice rehabilitation. Guérin started a smooth rehabilitative program. He suggested — in general — implementing about 300 vocal exercises but selected a limited number of about 15 to 20 depending on the case of the patient. Some of the basic exercises were yawning, voicing, larynx toning, and deep breathing.   The webinar was very interactive and a great success. Date: 10/23/2021 Source: Mohammad Adil Siddique

  Ms. Amatul Hafeez Alvi presented her research paper she had previously presented at the 1st AEJ UKI SLA Research International Conference that aimed at bringing together English language professionals from around the world to share, learn, and further the English language. Her research was titled "From Pedagogy to Andragogy in Post COVID-19 ESP Courses: A Customized Blended Learning Model for English in Medicine at a Saudi University", and was presented at a webinar organized by the Language Research Center on October 11, 2021.   Alvi began the session by talking about a customized blended learning model for teaching English in Medicine at King Khalid University. In her research, she mentioned, she had tried to address the challenges which COVID-19 posed when teaching a subject like this. She shared her experience as she had done at the conference.   Alvi highlighted how COVID-19 affects health, the public, the entire society and most importantly the education system worldwide. Many countries around the world dramatically changed their policy with regard to education to ensure the proper safety of the people involved, she added.   Alvi emphasized that the education sector was so immensely disturbed that the attendance to universities, colleges, and schools was suspended almost globally. According to statistical data in 2021 from UNESCO, more than 94% of students around the globe were affected by this pandemic. She mentioned Saudi Arabia as one of the success stories in the world when it comes to coping with the impact of COVID-19 in the education sector.   Alvi pinpointed the fact that some courses were affected severely due to this pandemic. English for specific purposes (ESP), which has an "oriented focus", is one of those affected as face-to-face mode would be more effective. Such ESP courses, she added, are completely different from EFL and ESL courses in that they primarily focus on language in context. In ESP, the learners' knowledge of English reflects directly on their profession. Her research focused on English in Medicine. In the case of ESP, she added, they actually concentrated on the transfer from Pedagogy to Andragogy, the latter of which is more learner-centered.   Alvi concluded that we need to explore more methodologies and approaches to make ESP more effective.   The webinar was very interactive and a great success with the active participation of both male and female faculty members. Date: 10/14/2021 Source: Mohammad Adil Siddique

  Dr. Abdulkhaleq Al-Qahtani, associate professor of the Department of English at the Faculty of Languages and Translation, presented a paper titled "Reading comprehension and strategies of Saudi Arabian learners in two learning contexts: EFL vs. ESL" at a webinar hosted by Department of English Chair, Dr. Munassir Alhamami, on April 8, 2021. As a visiting professor for the University of Southern Indiana on sabbatical leave from King Khalid University, Dr. Al-Qahtani obtained data from five different universities across the Midwestern United States, a region that contains the largest population of Saudi students.   In this talk, Dr. Al-Qahtani presented evidence of a significant difference between EFL and ESL students in the strategies they use. ESL students were found to favor Global Reading Strategies (GLOB), which can be explained as universal techniques that we all use when reading. Dr. Al-Qahtani noted that he used the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) instrument developed by Kouider Mokhtari and Ravi Sheorey in 2002. SORS measures three categories of reading strategies, namely global reading strategies, problem solving strategies, and support strategies. At the macro level, Dr. Al-Qahtani highlighted that the findings of the 141 participants in his study indicate a predominant use of problem solving strategies, followed by global strategies, and support strategies.   "Saudi Arabia is traditionally an EFL context. Students usually have friends around the globe and use English as their preferred language of communication. English is no longer limited to the classroom," he said. Dr. Al-Qahtani then went on to mention that although the USA was traditionally a pure ESL context, that is no longer the case for many Saudi students, who through technology, communicate with friends and family in Saudi Arabia as if they were face to face. This observation, he noted, supports the notion that the ESL learning environment does not always lead to better acquisition of the target language in comparison to the EFL context.   Dr. Al-Qahtani informed the audience that his paper is accepted for publication in the near future, and he looks forward to collegial dialogue on the implications of his study and the potential for further research. Date: 4/12/2021 Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation

  The Scientific Research Committee - Women's section - organized a webinar entitled "Empowering Researchers & EFL Learners Through Digital Literacy" on March 31, 2021. The webinar was presented by Dr. Amal Metwally, the head of the scientific research committee, who indicated that the webinar is designed to explore the vital role of digital tools in empowering researchers and EFL learners.   Dr. Amal Metwally started her presentation with an introduction in which she differentiated between "digital natives" and "digital immigrants". Our students today are all "native speakers" of the digital language of computers and the Internet. Those of us who were not born into the digital world but have adopted aspects of the new technology are compared to them as "digital immigrants", she illustrated.   Dr. Amal Metwally asserted that digital natives may not be familiar with digital educational tools. For this reason, they need to be made aware of and taught about these educational tools since they are able to adopt new technologies into their learning quite easily.   "When teaching with digital tools and apps, you need to spend some time deciding which tools to use and how to use those tools to create autonomous, collaborative, innovative, authentic, and student-centered learning experiences", said Dr. Metwally.   "Digital Literacy" is often used as a synonym for digital or technical skills and competencies. However, comprehension of digital literacy should go beyond mere information technology skills, explained Dr. Metwally. She referred to two main types of definitions of digital literacy; conceptual definitions and standardized sets of operations intended to provide national and international normalizations of digital literacy.   Dr. Metwally referred to the definition by Richard Lanham (1995), who claims that "literacy" has extended its semantic reach from meaning "the ability to read and write" to now meaning "the ability to understand information however presented".   She also illustrated that in his book Digital Literacy (1997), Gilster identifies four key digital literacy competencies. These are: knowledge assembly, evaluating information content, searching the Internet, and navigating hypertext. Finally, she said that DL could be better defined as "The ability to use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate, and communicate information, and the possession of a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information".   Dr. Metwally has also investigated the four digital literacy types: language-based, information-based, connection-based, and (re-) design-based literacies. She also indicated that digital literacy comprises five major digital skills. These are photo-visual, reproduction, branching, information, and socio-emotional skills.   In the following section of the webinar, Dr. Amal Metwally introduced some significant technology integration frameworks. The importance of exploring technology integration models is that such models are used by educators to evaluate and inform how they teach with digital tools and apps.   "Our goal, as educators, is to teach students, not just by transferring knowledge to them, but by creating meaningful learning experiences that support their knowledge, understanding and skill development", she said. SAMR model (2011), which stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition, can be used as a guide for evaluating and selecting digital tools that will create meaningful teaching and learning experiences. Another model is the TPACK Framework (2006) which focuses on technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge, offers a productive approach to many of the dilemmas that teachers face in implementing educational technology in their classrooms. By differentiating among these three types of knowledge, the TPACK framework outlines how content and pedagogy must form the foundation for any effective educational technology integration. In exploring the role of digital literacy in empowering learners, Bloom's taxonomy can serve as a tool to help us select the most appropriate apps and tools based on the level and depth of cognitive knowledge students need to acquire. As we design instruction, we can consider how we might start with the higher-order thinking skills to encourage students to build their knowledge through learning experiences, explained Dr. Metwally.   She then answered the significant question, "How can digital literacy empower researchers & EFL learners?" She also reviewed some very helpful tools that can support researchers and EFL learners in their journey.   The webinar, which was very informative and highly engaging, was attended by the Dean's Assistant, Dr. Salma Alqahtani, staff members, MA & Ph.D. students, as well as some undergraduate students who showed their interest in digital tools. It is worth mentioning that the webinar was the last event organized by the scientific research committee in the second semester of this academic year 2020-2021. Date: 4/4/2021 Source: Saeeda Alfaifi, member of the Scientific Research Committee

  On 29 March 2021, Dean Abdullah Al-Melhi received a plaque of appreciation from His Excellency Falleh Al-Solamy, President of King Khalid University, in recognition of his efforts and contributions to the Saudi Journal of Language Studies as editor-in-chief. Vice President of Higher Studies & Scientific Research, Dr. Hamad Al-Garni, Scientific Journals & Societies Unit (SJSU) Supervisor, Dr. Abdullah Asiri, and SJSU Consultant, Dr. Amir Kessentini, supported all honorees in the meeting, expressing their deepest gratitude for the unfailing support and contributions made to ensuring the large body of scholarship produced at King Khalid University will be utilized.   Published by Emerald on behalf of King Khalid University, the Saudi Journal of Language Studies is an academic, open access, double-blind peer-reviewed journal focused on the diffusion of articles on all aspects of language studies. The Saudi Journal of Language Studies (SJLS) is an open forum for interdisciplinary research grounded in sound theory, practice of language research, and translation studies of interest to scholars and language educators. SJLS seeks cutting-edge interdisciplinary research from around the world that reflects diverse theoretical and methodological frameworks and topical areas, including but not limited to:   Foreign and/or second language learning, teaching, and use Language assessment and testing Language for Special Purposes (e.g., ESP) Language for Academic Purposes (LAP) Multimodal communication and Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) Teacher/learner identity studies Foreign/second language classroom-centred research Translation studies Literature studies Culture studies Bilingualism and Multilingualism Lexicographical research, Literacies, Rhetoric and stylistics Sociolinguistics Pragmatics Semiotics Discourse Analysis Psycholinguistics Deaf Linguistics Forensic Linguistics Historical Linguistics Theoretical Linguistics   Of note, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Tanuma, Prof. Abdulaziz Fageeh, received a plaque of appreciation from His Excellency President Al-Solamy in recognition of his efforts and contributions to the KKU Journal of Humanities as editor-in-chief. Both Dean Al-Melhi and Dean Fageeh extended a very warm welcome to thank authors, editors, and anonymous reviewers for contributing to the success of the journals, noting that Dr. Ismail Alrefaai has made significant contributions as a coordinator of both journals.   The website of the journal can be accessed through https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/sjls. Submit your research article today, and the SJLS Editorial Advisory Board will assess your submission based on the policy and scope of SJLS. Prof. Habib Abdesslem, Dr. Munassir Alhamami, Dr. Fakieh Alrabai, Dr. Ismail Alrefaai, and Prof. Abdulaziz Fageeh all serve as SJLS Editorial Advisory Board members and look forward to your submissions. Date: 3/30/2021 Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation

  The Language Research Center organized a webinar on March 24, 2021. The webinar presenter was Dr. Eyhab Bader Eddin, who conducted a workshop for those interested in research in the field of translation and, in particular, the students of translation studies. The title of the presentation was "Areas and Themes in Translation Studies: A Lantern Shone into the Dark Maze of Tunnels, Excavated by Translation Students and Researchers".   Dr. Eyhab began his session by highlighting why doing research in the field of translation studies is hard. Research in translation studies, an area which, because of its interdisciplinary nature, can present the inexperienced researcher with a bewildering array of topics, he stated. The major purpose of such research, he added, is to make a contribution to the field in several ways.   Dr. Eyhab stated different ways to contribute to the field of translation studies such as by providing new data, suggesting an answer to a specific question, testing or refining an existing hypothesis, theory or methodology, proposing a new idea, hypothesis, theory or methodology. He also specified the major factors that launch the drive for conducting research in translation studies. The factors, he stated, are a piqued sense of natural curiosity, a need to obtain a further qualification, a general desire for personal development, and areas of interest.   At the beginning of the research, he said, a researcher may be excited, but he or she may discover that someone else has already conducted the same research in the same area. Another upsetting thing about the research may be the lack of feasibility. To address this problem, Dr. Eyhab recommended that a researcher should ascertain the current state of research in the field, which involves a lot of reading.   The purpose of such research, Dr. Eyhab said, is to add the sum of knowledge. Therefore, re-inventing the wheel is a waste of time. A piece of research does not take place in a vacuum, but it relates to what has gone before. In this case, the literature review is essential.   He highlighted an overview of some research areas relevant to translation studies as follows:   A. Text Analysis B. Translation Quality Assessment C. Genre Translation D. Multimedia Translation, known as audio-visual translation, and is further broken down into dubbing and subtitling. E. Evaluating Software F. Interpreting   The webinar was an informative one with the active participation of the faculty members, MA and Ph.D. Students from both male and female campuses.   To view a recording of the webinar, please click here. Date: 3/25/2021 Source: Mohammad Adil Siddique

Summary The IT Department of King Khalid University is pleased to announce the development of ePrints KKU. This new system is a digital research repository that is available to all faculty members in all departments. ePrints KKU will increase our faculty’s exposure in their respective fields and maximize the university’s impact on academia worldwide.  What is ePrints? ePrints KKU is a research repository based on cutting-edge technology. The ePrints system allows university faculty to upload and share their publications for online research and re-use. The original version of ePrints was designed and developed by the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton (SOTON). The latest version of the program (ePrints 3) is a joint development project by SOTON in cooperation with King Khalid University (KKU). Why ePrints? A research repository is part of every advanced university’s critical digital infrastructure. The research repository provides for storage of and easy access to the digital content of the institution. This lowers document distribution barriers, allowing for increased use of the information by faculty and outside researchers. Leading universities worldwide have built robust repositories to improve ranking, quality, and enhance the ability to leverage human capital. See Gibbons (2004). ePrints KKU will showcase our capabilities and increase the university’s participation in the expansion and development of relevant academic fields. Also, ePrints KKU is a critical component of achieving the higher educational goals outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 national transformation program. In reference to ePrints Dr. Salem Aleyani, CIO, states, "These efforts are for the sake of the homeland in general and for King Khalid University in particular towards achieving Vision 2030." Additionally, Abdulrahman Ibrahim, Software Engineer, asserts that the citation count of articles published by KKU staff will rise, and therefore, the cumulative impact of KKU will increase. The Deanship of Scientific Research further relates that only with complete ePrints cooperation of faculty members, will we be able to meet the National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA) valuation of General Standard 10 (Research) and its subsequent Key Performance Indicators. How Does ePrints Work? ePrints interfaces in conjunction with Google Scholar. Primarily, Google Scholar indexes websites with scholarly articles by utilizing software known as crawlers and includes them in search results. Moreover, an automated software program, "parsers," indexes the bibliographic and reference data of the publications. ePrints is structured in such a way that allows for optimal crawling and indexing by Google Scholar thereby contributing towards extending the range of knowledge sharing (Yeates, 2003). Get Involved We encourage you to visit eprints.kku.edu.sa to upload your previous publications and utilize ePrints for all future endeavors. Please direct any correspondence concerning this specific repository to eprints@kku.edu.sa. Date: 2/1/2017 Contributors: Hassan Costello and Dr. Charles Forman References Gibbons, S. (2004). Establishing an Institutional Repository. Library Technology Reports, 40(4), July-August 2004. Yeates, R. (2003). Over the Horizon: Institutional Repositories. VINE: The Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, 33(2), 96-99.

The Faculty of Languages and Translation forges partnerships with outstanding academic institutions across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in order to expand the student experience, and enhance faculty growth and the impact of our research. During the week of August 28th, the Faculty of Languages and Translation collaborated with the Abha College of Technology to hold a week-long teacher training workshop on English for Professional Purposes (EPP). Chaired and led by the Dean, Dr. Abdullah Al-Melhi, from King Khalid University, the workshop was enthusiastically received by the instructors from the English Language Center of the Abha College of Technology (ELC). The Chairman of the ELC, Dr. Ahmed Najji expressed his deep appreciation for the new techniques and insights which were presented to the participants. It is worth noting that a member of the Shura Council, Dr. Muhammad Naji, was present for the final day of activities. Over the course of the workshop the following topics were covered by Dean, Dr. Abdullah Al Melhi, and Language Instructor, Hassan Costello: • Applied Linguistic Theories and Practical Applications • Reading and Literacy Teaching Methods • Web 2.0 Tools and Computer Assisted Language Learning • Developing an Essential Skill Set for Effective Multilevel Instruction • Presentation, Practice, and Production Techniques in EFL Teaching • Innovative Speech, Pronunciation, and Listening Teaching Methods • Nonnative English Speakers in TESOL (NNEST) Overview Date: 9/2/2016 Primary Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation