Job Discussion Forums

Ageecee · Joined: 04 Jun 2004 Posts: 27

I've been accepted for a position in Oman .(Teaching English). I'm told the students are 18-20 years old . I'm not altogether sure if they know anything or if they have had some exposure to English.Any tips anyone wishes to share about teaching Omanis?I understand these classes are mixed. Dos and don'ts? What works for you, and what doesn't? What works for them? I'm told there are 20-25 students in a class. Any insights you care to offer will be appreciated.Thanks

Neil McBeath · Joined: 01 Dec 2005 Posts: 277 Location: Saudi Arabia

It's unlikely that your classes will be mixed, unless you're working at University or specialist training college level.

That aside, all Omanis learn English at school from Class 4. That means that you will be teaching people who have had eight years exposure to English, but their learning experiences will have differed. Try to find out whay marks they got in their Third Secondary (Matriculation) Examination. That will give you a very rough idea of their ability. The pass mark is only 40%.

Students from the Capital Area will probably have hjad more direct exposure to English speakers, but the very successfulmOmanisation programme has meant that, in the last few years, the chance of casual service encounters being in English has declined. 20 years ago people bought petrol, paid at supermarkets and generally did their shopping iun English, because most retail sector jobs were held by Indian subcontinental expatriates. Now Omanis do those jobs, so the language has switched to Arabic.

Your students will be friendly, relatively hard-working and extemely hospitable. Very often. Omani students are a positive joy to teach, sometimes giving you back far more than you feel you have put in. Ask them about their country and they will be delighted to tell you as much as they know.

Best of luck.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

It would be easier to answer if you have given us more of an idea of which 18-20 year olds you would be teaching? University? Military? Oil workers?

It makes a difference.

VS

Ageecee · Joined: 04 Jun 2004 Posts: 27

As far as I know its teaching in a specialised college in Sohar .I'm told its a mixed group.

SandyMan · Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Posts: 56 Location: Nizwa

I'm working at a college in Nizwa, with mixed classes.

Most things I do elsewhere work well here in Oman, pair work, group work, skills work, guided discovery activities, student-centred lab tasks, teacher-centred presentations, individual projects, even elements of of TPR - as long as activities, esp. pair or group work, are done single sex.

One thing that I've found difficult to do is task-based activities. Most students just sit back and wait for the post-task language analysis stage. On the other hand, students really seem to enjoy lexical work, and they have been very quick on the uptake when we've worked with collocations, fixed and semi-fixed expressions and chunks. I don't know if it's because they are so used to memorising things, but I've often heard students repeatedly use expressions they have learnt early on much later on in the course, during discussions etc.

The foundation students range from beginners to mid-intermediate and in my first year groups, I've taught some students who would easily pass the FCE exam (though some are still at an elementary level).

Choice of topics is much more problematic. For example, many students at Nizwa college feel that listening to music is wrong, so discussions (or even lexial work) on music have seldom worked. Safe topics are food and sports etc. but you really have to be imaginative to come up with topics that are interesting but not potentially offensive.

Ageecee · Joined: 04 Jun 2004 Posts: 27

Thanks Neil, VS,Sandyman.
Ageecee Very Happy

Tarka_littleotter · Joined: 12 Sep 2005 Posts: 69 Location: Oman

Will you be teaching at the ministry college or the private university?? I teach at the university and to be completely honest I do pretty much whatever I want! (Within reason of course!)

We have mixed classes of between 20-28 students. I make mine work together in groups and pairs from day one. They protest a little but they enjoy it. At the uni this is fine. At the college it isn't. At the college you do teach mixed groups but they enter and exit through different doors and they don't mix.

The standard at the college is generally higher than the standard at the uni. Most students have studied English for 9 years but still are not really above beginner level. If you get pre-intemediate students you're lucky. This is partly due to teaching practices in schools, lack of study skills and lack of enthusiasm. You can change this, but it is hard.

Omani students are lovely. As people they are fantastic and you'll be invited to student's houses, weddings, parties and so on and so on.....but as students......I'll leave that to you to decide! I have a great deal of fun teaching here but at times (sadly not that few and far between) I really feel like I'm hitting my head against a brick wall! I guess that's the same in a lot of places but the attitude to education is not what it might be in other countries due to the relatively late introduction of education.

Hope you enjoy it. I'm in Sohar too so if you need help finding somewhere to live let me know. I know a really good agent who actually turns up on time and finds you what you want!