In 2012, the Supreme Education Council of the State of Qatar decreed a change from English to Arabic as a medium of instruction in four of the colleges of Qatar University. This surprise move created much controversy, especially among the students, the first stakeholders to be affected by this decision, related to the impact this change would have on their futures. The aim of this study is to investigate the attitudes of college students at Qatar University concerning the shift from English to Arabic as the language of instruction. The sample includes 295 students from the four colleges affected by this decision. Data were collected using an Arabic version of the standardized Student Attitudes Towards the Instructional Medium questionnaire. The findings of the study are interpreted in the light of students' perceptions about the place of English in Qatari society, the role of Arabic and English in their educational careers, and the importance of each language for their futures. Findings are also interpreted in the light of a review of previous findings on the attitudes of students on this issue. Discussion and recommendations may inform language policy decisions.

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Educational institutions in the Arab Gulf are requiring rapid changes to enhance English language learning to keep up with globalization and economic growth. This urges the need for investigating policy changes such as effectiveness in curriculum orientations and their impact on the actual process of teaching in order to gauge how educational institutions are performing. This paper reports the findings of a survey study on curriculum enactment in the English Language Foundation Program of a higher education institution in the Arab Gulf region. Data collection methods included a survey and interview with teachers investigating their opinions about the curriculum, how much support it offers teachers to reach the objectives of the course, and whether/to what extent as well as the reasons why they feel they need to modify the curriculum at the implementation level. Results showed that most teachers exercised discretion in using the prescribed curriculum materials due to individual contextual factors. Results also indicated that either when implementing the prescribed or modified materials, most participants highlighted the importance of using reliable quality resource materials that can help teachers as well as students to enhance the learning process. Findings have implications for English as a second language curriculum design in Arab higher educational contexts.

As worldwide educational reforms link educational outcomes with teacher performance, teachers are increasingly pressured to adopt several roles that reflect these new demands. Thus, the purpose of the study was to investigate student teachers' perceptions of their roles and whether these beliefs underwent certain changes during the practicum experience. It also explored the factors within the socio-cultural context that may have influenced the development of their beliefs. A qualitative research methodology was employed, which involved the collection of empirical data from multiple sources including pre-and postinterviews, weekly journals, and mid-and post-reflective essays. The results revealed the intricate nature of student teachers' beliefs about their roles and the processes of belief change. Despite the apparent flexibility of these beliefs, the results revealed the divergence between the student teachers' anticipated roles and their actual roles. To facilitate student teachers' belief change towards the goals of the teacher preparation program as well as those they had initially anticipated for themselves, several recommendations include the necessity of establishing closer partnerships between universities and schools, the exposure to multiple social learning activities, a careful consideration for student teachers' procedural concerns, and the attention to the subtle power relationships that play out during the practicum experience.