Teaching writing skills to advanced Aracbic-speaking students of English as a foreign language

This thesis begins with an examination of the diglossia situation in the Arab countries, the major factor responsible for the low achievement in language teaching— English and Arabic. The critical examination of the diglossia is followed by a summary of the salient relevant theories and research in linguistics and psychology (particularly learning theory) , as they relate to the problem of constructing a viable EFL writing program. The fourth chapter proposes a miniature writing program based upon premises resulting from the earlier sections and upon the present writer's experience in teaching English in Jordanian secondary schools and training teachers of English in Jordan with UNRWA/UNESCO. The writing program consists of a discussion of the major rhetorical techniques and methods of organization found in English expository writing, followed by model paragraphs which demonstrate the use of these rhetorical techniques and methods. A short chapter—the fifth—contains a summary and the writer's recommendations.