The purpose of this study was to investigate the evolution and development of the field of public administration in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Factors which brought about programs of public administration and which have been influential in the development of these programs were analyzed. Although the historical roots of Saudi public administration are traced to the recapture of Riyadh by the late King Abdulaziz Al-Saud in 1902, modern public administration in the Kingdom actually began in 1953 with a royal decree which established the Council of Ministers. Factors that led to the establishment of the Institute of Public Administration and the birth of public administration programs at major Saudi universities include the country's rapid socioeconomic growth, rapid administrative expansion, and policies of administrative reform, higher education development, and the ambitious Five-Year Plans. Despite the fact that attention to the field of public administration in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia dates back to the establishment of the College of Commerce at King Saud University in 1959, the real start of teaching public administration in Saudi universities is considered recent. The field of public administration is paralleled with the establishment of the Departments of Public Administration in King Abdulaziz University in 1971, followed by similar steps at King Saud University in 1978. This study revealed that the Saudi Institute of Public Administration and institutions of higher education offering programs of public administration have played a highly influential role in the development of public administration in the Kingdom. However, current research in the field and practice of public administration at the university level is narrowly focused on faculty promotion. The research conducted for this study did not clarify the degree to which efforts are being made to bring theory closer to actual practice. However, a greater need for coordination between university-based public administration programs and governmental agencies seems strongly indicated.

Teaching Arabic as foreign language is a fairly new field of study, particularly in Western Universities. The aim of this thesis is to discuss one aspect of this field by concentrating on text-book analysis and evaluation. In carrying out this task we have formulated a set of questions to serve as parameters in the collection and analysis of data relevant to this task (appendix II). The subject of this practical study is vol. 1, entitled "Arabic for Beginners" of a series of books used for teaching Arabic to foreign adults at the Arabic Language Institute. Our study utilises a number of notions and considerations which are applicable to text-book analysis and evaluation generally. In Appendix I we deal with some of these points in an attempt to specify the theoretical dimension presupposed by our practical analysis. The thesis contains two main parts:- the theoretical part which deals with different aspects belonging to the teaching of Arabic as a foreign language, including the characteristics of the Arabic language and the teaching of sounds, vocabulary, constructions, and culture. The practical part, on the other hand, is concerned with the practical application and the outcome of the analysis of the text-book in terms of a set of criteria which may have applicability outside the immediate realm of Arabic foreign language teaching. The thesis contains four chapters. Chapter one deals with the characteristics of the Arabic language and its importance as a foreign language; it also concentrates on the objectives of Arabic language teaching as well as on the problem of syllabus design in relation to this language. Chapter two gives a general outline of the institutes and the materials of teaching Arabic as a foreign language in Saudi Arabia. Chapter three deals with the importance of sounds, vocabulary, constructions and culture, paying attention to their place in the text-book of teaching Arabic as a foreign Language. Chapter four sets out the results of applying the criteria of text-book evaluation to the book under investigation, pointing out its positive and negative features in the areas of sounds, vocabulary, constructions and culture.

This study is threefold: 1) To investigate the needs of English for Academic Purposes at the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (SA), and the needs of English for Job Purposes in the Saudi private sector; 2) To establish goals based on the needs found; and 3) To propose an alternate design for the current English Language Center at the IPA in SA. The researcher used multi-modal approach to data collection that included questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews with different populations: managers, employees, human resource managers, students, and teachers. In business settings, the results showed that English is often used in the private sector for the following reasons: existence of non-native speakers of Arabic expatriates in the private sector in SA, nature of the company, dealing with international companies, agents of some international companies, and the company itself is not Saudi. In academic settings, students faced difficulties mainly in three skill area: reading, writing, and speaking. Based on the needs found, the researcher suggested teaching two business courses: Business Correspondence and Business Communication. In addition, the researcher proposed an alternate design for the current program at the English Language Center which should focus on General English, rather than English for Specific Purposes. / Department of English

This study took place in the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) in Riyadh. It investigates the effectiveness of teaching four reading strategies on ESL Saudi female students' reading comprehension and on their reported use of these strategies. The strategies taught are two "global" strategies: finding main ideas and prediction. Global strategies are those related to general approach and comprehension of the reading passage. The other two strategies are problem solving strategies: word analysis and guessing meanings of words. Problem solving strategies are concerned with working directly and analyzing the reading text.The study has three goals. First, the study aims to investigate the impact of teaching global and problem solving strategies on preparatory level students' reading comprehension. Second, it compares the impact of teaching global strategies on reading comprehension and that of teaching problem solving strategies on readingcomprehension. Third, it measures how preparatory level students' perception of use of strategies develops after teaching these strategies to the students.There were three groups of preparatory students (beginning) representing two treatment groups and one control group. Each treatment group received training in different strategies. The number of students in the global strategy group was twenty-four, and in the problem solving strategy group it was twenty-two students. Students in the control group numbered twenty-one. Measurements consisted of reading comprehension tests and a questionnaire about reading strategies conducted over pre- and post-training stages.The results obtained from the two measurements lead to three findings. First, the two training groups (global and problem solving) experienced only non-significant improvement in their post- reading comprehension when compared to the control group. This means that reading strategy training did not significantly improve their reading comprehension. Second, there was no significant difference between the two treatment groups in their gain in reading comprehension. This implies that the present study did not show any favor of training students on global strategies over training them on problem solving strategies. Third, there were various results regarding students perception of using the strategies they were taught. Students mostly showed decrease in their perception of using strategies either significantly or non-significantly except for two strategies which were using context clues and prediction. Students showed more significant awareness of using contextual clues after the treatment. They also revealed an almost significant gain in their perception of using prediction. / Department of English

Many South African educators seek employment in Saudi Arabian schools, drawn by monetary incentives and better working conditions. However, little consideration is given to differences in cultural and educational values synonymous with the two entities. This research deals with the role of conflicting values in the teaching experiences of South African educators in Saudi Arabian schools by means of a literature study and empirical investigation. Qualitative data collection was done by in-depth personal interviews and personal narratives, written and sourced via e-mail. Findings revealed that the preconceived educational values of the South African educators sometimes acted as a barrier to teaching, restricting the educators from fully optimising their educational experiences. However, positive features of the Saudi education system were highlighted. The implications indicate a need for better orientation for South African educators working or planning to work in Saudi Arabia with emphasis on societal norms, customs and values. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Comparative Education)

This study is an investigation of the perceived attitudinal differences between administrators and faculty toward research and teaching at three Saudi Arabian universities, King Saud University (KSU), King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), and the Islamic University (IU). The researcher also investigated the effect of several variables, such as rank, university, and academic field on administrators and faculty members' attitudes toward teaching and research. Little Attention has been given to studies that examine the differences between faculty and administrators with regard to their attitudes toward the priorities of teaching and research in Saudi Arabian institutions. Also, little research has been conducted regarding the effects of rank and academic field on faculty attitudes in Saudi Arabian institutions. The author used a mail survey and collected 518 useable responses from a total of 710 questionnaires distributed. Factor analysis, MANCOVA, MANOVA, and ANOVA were the statistical methods employed in data analysis. Five attitudes were identified as a result of factor analysis: (a) attitudes toward teaching; (b) attitudes toward research; (c) mission; (d) promotion; and (e) interest. Results indicated that there was a significant difference between faculty and administrators regarding teaching and resea4rch. Administrators showed stronger attitudes toward teaching than faculty at all three universities. There were also significant differences regarding these attitudes in terms of rank, academic field, and university. Full professors had the strongest attitude toward a research emphasis compared to assistant professors. Assistant professors had the strongest teaching orientation. In addition, faculty members in the humanities had stronger teaching orientations preferences than did those in the natural and social sciences. Regarding the universities, faculty members at IU had the strongest teaching orientation preferences, whereas faculty members at KSU had the strongest research orientation preferences.

This study investigated the reactions of Saudi college students to collaborative learning techniques introduced in two modalities: face-to-face and web-based. Quantitative data were collected with a questionnaire that examined the changes of three constructs: attitudes toward collaboration, social self-efficacy, and perceived peer academic support of composition students at Umm Alqura University, Saudi Arabia. Students in the experimental group collaborated electronically using Blackboard, a web-based environment while students in the control group collaborated face-to-face. Students' responses to the questionnaire did not show any significant differences between the experimental group and control group with respect to the three variables.Three factors might have led to such results. First, one of the scales used in the questionnaire had low reliability that could have affected its procedure implementation. Second, collaborative learning is a new technique to Saudi students that could have contradicted the learning styles they studied according to since elementary school. Third, there were technical obstacles experienced during the experiment (i.e. no enough computer labs and no full access to the Internet) that could have been a discouraging factor for the subjects.Qualitative data collected through a post-study survey reflected the participants' positive attitudes towards peer response techniques applied throughout the experiment, giving and receiving comments, and working with computers. Such positive attitudes reflect the need to update composition teaching methods, introduce process-oriented pedagogies, foster group work strategies, and develop more computer resources and networking facilities. / Department of English

Many South African educators seek employment in Saudi Arabian schools, drawn by monetary incentives and better working conditions. However, little consideration is given to differences in cultural and educational values synonymous with the two entities. This research deals with the role of conflicting values in the teaching experiences of South African educators in Saudi Arabian schools by means of a literature study and empirical investigation. Qualitative data collection was done by in-depth personal interviews and personal narratives, written and sourced via e-mail. Findings revealed that the preconceived educational values of the South African educators sometimes acted as a barrier to teaching, restricting the educators from fully optimising their educational experiences. However, positive features of the Saudi education system were highlighted. The implications indicate a need for better orientation for South African educators working or planning to work in Saudi Arabia with emphasis on societal norms, customs and values. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Comparative Education)