Psychometric Features of the Arabic Version of the Children's Communication Checklist (CCC2).

Background: The Children's Communication Checklist-Second Edition (CCC-2) uniquely assesses overlooked communication elements such as pragmatics and context use, which are rarely addressed by conventional language assessments. This study focuses on the psychometric assessment of the CCC-2's Arabic version, tailored to evaluate communication challenges in Arabic-speaking children. Aim: This study aims to validate the Arabic version of CCC-2 by testing its reliability and validity specifically for three higher-order constructs: Specific Language Impairment (SLI), Social Communication Disorder (SCD), and Impaired Behaviour within the Arabic-speaking population. Methods: A total of 121 participants in Saudi Arabia, showcasing diverse age and gender distributions, participated in the validation process. The study employed a Reflective-Reflective Higher-Order Construct (R-R HOC) model using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to ensure content validity and cross-cultural adaptation of the translated items. Metrics such as Cronbach's alpha for reliability and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) for convergent validity were specifically examined. Results: The study confirmed the reliability and validity of the Arabic CCC-2, demonstrating robust psychometric properties, with Cronbach's alpha and AVE scores indicating satisfactory reliability and convergent validity across constructs. Structural model evaluation further supported the strong interrelations among the constructs of SLI, SCD, and Impaired Behaviour. Conclusion: The results substantiate the Arabic CCC-2 as a reliable and valid tool for assessing communication challenges in Arabic-speaking children, particularly for diagnosing SLI, SCD, and Impaired Behaviour. Implications: The validated Arabic CCC-2 has significant potential for application in clinical and educational settings and suggests directions for future research to explore its utility further in diverse clinical populations.

One decade of "English as a medium of instruction" (EMI) in healthcare education.

Introduction: This paper analyzes published healthcare studies about "English as a medium of instruction" (EMI), indexed in the Scopus database from 2013 to 2022. Methods: The author used published criteria of systematic reviews and limited the findings to healthcare education using several key terms; this returned 137 articles. The author then downloaded and carefully read the articles. The majority of articles (102) were deleted because they did not meet the selection criteria discussed in the methods section, thus the final list comprised 35 research studies. Next, the author analyzed the articles' bibliometric indexes, such as author, funding information, context, research instruments, years of publication, place of publication, and citations. In addition, the key findings and recommendations of these studies were presented. Results and discussion: Most of the studies assessed were conducted in the last five years in Arabic speaking countries by non-language specialists, and the language of instruction was not the main focus of the studies. The studies were most often about attitudes of students, and used quantitative methods such as questionnaires. The results show diverse and conflicted results such as positive impacts and positive attitudes in some cases, negative impacts and attitudes in others, and preferences for either monolingual or bilingual approaches. The findings demonstrate the need for experimental and rigorous mixed methods studies that involve different stakeholders and are conducted by both applied linguists and healthcare education specialists. Future research should move beyond student attitudes and utilize rigorous mixed methods involving researchers from both linguistics and healthcare education to deepen our understanding of EMI's complex impact in diverse contexts.

Inequity, inequality, and language rights in English as a medium of instruction programs.

Language rights are essential to human rights, including using English as a medium of instruction (EMI) in higher education. However, in non-Anglophone countries, using EMI in undergraduate programs may contribute to human rights violations and inequalities. This qualitative study explores the lack of justice and fairness in EMI policy implementation in undergraduate programs, resulting in structural inequity based on students' experiences. Open-ended responses were collected from undergraduate students in four colleges, including healthcare, sciences, engineering, and computer science. A thematic analysis of students' responses revealed three major themes: the roots of inequities in EMI undergraduate programs, struggles faced by English as Foreign Language (EFL) undergraduates, and suggested tactics and solutions to address injustice in EMI classes. The study aims to provide international educators and policymakers with a better understanding of the challenges EFL students face in EMI classes and amplify the voices of students often neglected in internationally published studies. The findings suggest the need for policymakers to re-evaluate the effectiveness of EMI policies in non-Anglophone countries and promote equity, fairness, and social justice in universities to help students achieve equal opportunities to learn and succeed, irrespective of their English proficiency.

Language Learners' Attitudes Toward Online and Face-To-Face Language Environments.

Learners' attitudes are important for language learning. The attitude toward behavior construct, established in social psychology, was selected to elicit and examine learners' attitudes toward face-to-face and online language learning. Data were collected using two instruments-questionnaires and interviews with two groups: face-to-face (n = 681) and online language learning (n = 287). The results show that the attitude toward behavior concept is an effective theoretical framework for designing questionnaires to understand the factors that influence the participants' attitudes and to predict these in different learning environments. I compared the two groups' results and found a more positive attitude toward language learning in face-to-face environments than in online language learning settings. The mixed-method design enables us to assess learners' attitudes to the language learning environment. This informs curriculum design, policy, and support for teaching and learning.

English or Arabic in Healthcare Education: Perspectives of Healthcare Alumni, Students, and Instructors.

BACKGROUND: Using English as a medium of instruction (EMI) in non-English speaking countries to teach healthcare subjects has been questioned in various international healthcare educational contexts, despite the numerous benefits it offers to students and institutions. PURPOSE: The present study collected data to examine the impact of the EMI policy and analyze the experiences of students and instructors in a healthcare course in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: The study used three instruments: alumni records (n = 3,044), instructors' questionnaires (n = 134), and students' questionnaires (n = 358). The participants were from different majors in five colleges at a Saudi University: College of Medicine, College of Dentistry, College of Pharmacy, College of Nursing, and Applied Medical Sciences. RESULTS: The results of alumni data from healthcare colleges of the last five years revealed that the cumulative grade point average (GPA) can be predicted by the first semester grades of the students in the intensive English proficiency program. The results of the questionnaires indicate that the healthcare students' perspectives and healthcare instructors' views demonstrate that using EMI to teach healthcare subjects presents certain obstacles that have a negative impact on students' academic achievement, especially if the students lack fluency in English. CONCLUSION: Policymakers should focus on improving the English proficiency of students and provide ongoing English language learning opportunities for the complete duration of the healthcare programs.