Authors : Farhad Majeed Hama, Omed Hasan Ahmed and Aram Mahmood Ahmed
Abstract: The language of Iraqi education system before university study is in either Arabic or Kurdish. However, when students come to universities, especially, scientific departments, the language of instructions will become English. This often becomes a great challenge for the students to deal with. Therefore, most of the colleges set an English module as one of the required modules at the first stage. Obtaining views and perceptions from students will be helpful in improving the quality of the module effectively. This research is conducted in the University of Human Development, College of Science and Technology at the end of their first year (2015-2016). The purpose is to obtain views from students in favor of further improving the module. For this, a questionnaire which consists of twelve questions was prepared and carried out amongst hundred and sixty students. The results, show several outcomes. First, students are not so aware of the university system before they join. This is because more than half of them were shocked when they first knew that English is the language of instruction in the college. Secondly, their English has improved and they feel more confident of doing activities in English now. However, they still need more time to study English because more than a quarter of the students are not satisfied with level of their understanding. Finally, according to the class activities, the study presents that students have progressed in speaking and listening skills but still have difficulties in both writing and reading skills.
Farhad Majeed Hama, Omed Hasan Ahmed and Aram Mahmood Ahmed, 2018. The Impact of English Language as a Medium of Instruction Amongst Non-English Major Students in the College of Science and Technology in the University of Human Development. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 13: 3624-3632.