Job Discussion Forums

lizaza · Joined: 06 Feb 2010 Posts: 2

I am thinking of applying for a faculty position at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). The place sounds impressive from the "outside", however, I am wondering if somebody has or heard of an "insider's" information about the university itself and life in general around it.

Thanks in advance for any feedbacks.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

No one actually seems to know ANYONE working in the place. We hear rumours of wonderful jobs with huge salaries. Big Rock Candy Mountain stuff.

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

I know someone - an admin type - who is being courted by them and he visited the campus. He said that it is pretty impressive and I saw some of the photos. The students hanging about looked more like AUC than a Gulf university. All the students were wearing jeans and it just happened that there were no women in the photos I saw.

Heck... apply... then come back and tell us about it. Cool

I wonder if they will show up at TESOLArabia or TESOL in Boston.

VS

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I am not sure that they are hiring lowly EFL teachers.

Linguist · Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Posts: 202

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

They may not be now, but they will be within a year or so. ZU in the UAE tried to run with no foundations program and found that it didn't work. KAUST is going to run into the same problem of not being able to find enough students who score high enough on TOEFL or IELTS to enter classes directly... even if they cast their net over the whole Middle East.

VS

(... and yes, it is certain that you better have an MA and significant Middle East experience)

Asda · Joined: 01 Jun 2008 Posts: 231

Well, there is this advert:

http://www.eslcafe.com/joblist/index.cgi?read=20802

...but they want Amrikis only! Crying or Very sad

And, VS, KAUST is meant to be a postgrad only university, does ZU teach undergrads? That said, I am sure there are graduates from Saudi universities whose English is not up to scratch...

doner · Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 179

johnslat · Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:30 pm Post subject:

Dear doner,

Depends on where you tend to scratch.

Regards,
John

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

How many graduates from universities in KSA could score a 6 on IELTS or related score on TOEFL ?

How many could proceed with graduate work through the medium of
English ?

doner · Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 179

Yesterday I go Riyadh you go Riyadh very good

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Interesting that so many learners cannot grasp the concept of "tense" but will use an adverb to indicate time. "I go Corniche yesterday."

Is this the "pons asinorum" for our Arab learners ? Or the difficulty of learning that adjectives come before the noun in English ?

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

Thanks for the ad Asda... very interesting. Now if only someone had applied and could tell us what they are offering. Cool

I'm glad to see that they recognize that even many (most?) BA holders in the Gulf won't be ready. In fact, I'm kind of impressed. One gets jaded with how out of touch with reality so many of these new places are.

Scot...

I must admit that is the way this low intermediate level Spanish learner speaks. I'm admittedly too lazy to memorize all the verb/tense formations in that language and just use time markers. I 'to go' tomorrow/yesterday/now. I prefer to consider it communicative competence since it gets my meaning across. Laughing

VS

With Malice Toward None · Joined: 20 Oct 2009 Posts: 250

appletini7 · Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 16 Location: Riyadh, KSA

I know somebody working at KAUST (high level admin. position). He's making phenomenal money and has great perks. He's also busting his a$$ but hey ...