The current study aimed to explore EFL instructors' perceptions toward online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, with special emphasis on the challenges they faced, and the advantages and disadvantages of this mode of education. The participants in this study were 43 EFL faculty members from the Departments of English at Qassim University in Saudi Arabia. Data for this research were collected by distributing a semi-structured survey designed by the researcher. The results showed that the top advantage of distance teaching was normally protection from the illness. Distance teaching also provided the opportunity to experiment with alternative teaching methods, tools, and assessments. Further, teachers felt exempted from some of the burdens associated with in-person teaching and were allowed to focus on the core role of their profession. Despite these benefits, the participants revealed that e-teaching cannot easily replace traditional education. All in all, the participants reported that e-teaching has advantages for professors, but this is not necessarily the case for students. Implications of these findings are provided, such as training teachers to deal with e-teaching mediums efficiently, keep pace with sudden adjustments, and create monitoring measures to ensure that instructors do not become complacent.

This study aimed to measure the effectiveness of a training experience involving a simulation of the work environment in developing the translation skills of a group of translation trainees. It also sought to investigate the participants’ views about their training experience, as well as measure their level of satisfaction with the program. Thirty participants with qualifications in English language and translation from different regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia participated in this study. This research is a quasi-experimental study in the form of a one-group pretest and posttest design. Initially, the participants underwent a preliminary assessment (pretest) of their translation abilities. Afterward, they undertook the experiment, an intensive course in translation and its required skills, which extended over a 2-month period. At the end of the program, the participants underwent a posttest to measure whether there were statistically significant differences in their performance in the pre- and posttests, with the results showing statistically significant differences in program performance (p < 0.05). The data from the attitudinal questionnaire administered to the participants at the end of the program showed that they held positive opinions about the program and they benefited significantly from the training experience. Based on these results, suggestions and recommendations are proposed to those interested in the field of training and translation to further improve the work.

The current study aimed to explore the phenomenon of preposing in the English and Arabic languages, and to identify its main salient characteristics and functions. It also attempted to address the most frequent translation problems associated with this phenomenon and to propose solutions to such problems based on sound scientific and theoretical grounds. Preposing refers to advancing a sentence constituent to the initial position for rhetorical or structural purposes. This study employed the descriptive analytical approach to delineate and analyze the various aspects of this phenomenon by reviewing a set of examples in multiple contexts. From a theoretical perspective, a sentence that involves a transition of one of its elements is considered a marked sentence as contrasted with the unmarked one that adopts the typical arrangement of words. This study concluded that syntactic discrepancies among languages might cause translational complications, particularly with word order. Moreover, it was found that fronting is used more frequently in Arabic than in English. Hence, a structural shift proposed by Catford (1965), is one of the suggested solutions to such complexities. Finally, it is worth noting that this study has some pedagogical implications, as the realization of language similarities and contrasts can contribute to facilitating the process of second language acquisition. In addition, this knowledge helps enrich the linguistic repertoire and the teaching content of language instructors.

Background: In language learning, reading is a skill that enables interaction with a text in whatever field of knowledge the learner is pursuing. Readers tend to use strategies such as comprehension, interpretation and conception of decoding written language and texts to enhance their reading capacity. This research explores the reading strategies applied by Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and compares the reading abilities of male and female EFL students. Methods: The study interviewed three EFL students about the reading strategies they applied while reading passages and texts. Then an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) reading test was handed over to 26 randomly selected students. Results: The study found that the reading strategies used by the students interviewed involved skimming, scanning, guessing the meaning from context, identifying the mean idea, and summarizing the body of the text in question. Moreover, the study revealed that both male and female students scored low in the IELTS tests that the researchers conducted. The average mean score they reached was 7.15 out of 20. However, even in the low scoring ratio, female students (M=7.69) outperformed male students (M= 6.62) and the difference between them remained significant, P=.000. Conclusions: The study recommends that the language instructors help EFL learners in developing their reading strategies and applying them every time they read any text.

The current study aimed to explore derivation as a linguistic phenomenon between the English and Arabic languages and to identify its most prominent characteristics and divisions. It also sought to deduce the main similarities and differences between the two languages in this regard from both typological and contrastive perspectives. To achieve the main aim, this study adopted a descriptive analytical approach. In fact, the analysis of morphological phenomenon across disparate languages is of linguistic value, as it enriches the linguistic repertoire with some insights from comparative studies, which are considered scarce in this field. Findings of this study shows that the common features between the Arabic and English languages is that they derive new forms of words from a single root word with an association in meaning between the produced words. However, the derivation process in Arabic is more complex and diverse compared with English, in which derivation can mainly be archived through affixation. Additionally, this study revealed that the distinction between the two languages may result in some translation problems, as some derived words in Arabic have no equivalent in the English language. Accordingly, some solutions to this dilemma were suggested throughout this research, including the application of established translation techniques proposed by Newamark (1988) and other translation scholars, such as paraphrasing, transference, notes, and synonymy. Finally, it is worth noting that exploring the similarities and differences between languages has important pedagogical implications, as this might contribute to facilitating the learning and teaching process of a foreign language.