Perspectives On Education Policy For Disability

University of Exeter
Doctorate in Education (Ed.D) Special Needs & Inclusive education

Perspectives on Education Policy for Disability

How do students at a Health Sciences University in Saudi Arabia perceive the remedial English course
and to what extent is their involvement in the universitys decision making processes?

Submitted 10
th
July 2014
(word count: 6249 excluding references and footnotes)

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PART ONE
RESEARCH REPORT

Introduction
First year medical students at a Health Sciences University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia are required to
successfully complete a Pre-Professional Programme in order to progress to year two of their studies.
The intensive English language module is a component of the Pre-Professional Programme and
students who fail it are automatically enrolled on the remedial English course. The syllabus of the
remedial English course is a recycling of the intensive English language module and does not
specifically address the skills in which the student is deficient. Consequently, little improvement
regarding their performance is achieved and many students end up repeating the remedial course
several times, which for the most part is demoralising and demotivating (Al-Othman and Shuqair,
2013). One could argue that the remedial English course is actually doing the students a disservice as
they need targeted learning support to help them successfully complete the Pre-Professional
Programme. Likewise, it could also be argued that rather than helping them realise their dreams, the
remedial English course is in effect hindering their progress. The rationale for investigating student
perception regarding the remedial English course and their level of involvement in the decision making
process that resulted in its structure and content was underpinned by experiential knowledge of the
intensive English module and the remedial English course. The focus of the research was thus twofold:
(1) to determine the perception of two repeat first year medical students with respect to the remedial
English course and (2) to determine the extent of the universitys policy regarding student participation
in higher education governance. Hence the research question: How do students at a Health Sciences
University in Saudi Arabia perceive the remedial English course and to what extent is their
involvement in the universitys decision making processes?

Literature review
With regards to the availability of scholarly research articles on the effectiveness of EFL remedial
courses and student governance in higher education, the World Wide Web, SAGE Journals and the
ORE (Open Research Exeter)
1
databases were searched. While there appeared to be no shortage of
research on EFL remedial courses and student governance in higher education in Europe, there was a
paucity of research regarding student governance in higher education with respect to Arab countries.
Consequently, research addressing the overall situation of higher education in Arab countries was

1
University of Exeter's repository for all types of Exeter's research, including research papers, research data and theses.

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consulted to get a feel for the current situation. Of the research papers consulted, Al-Othman and
Shuqair (2013) was most relevant to this research with regards to the effectiveness of EFL remedial
courses in Arab countries. The paper is an exploration of evidences presented by other researchers on
the issue and concludes that remedial courses in Arab universities have been ineffective in
increasing English language skills of students learning EFL/ESL (Al-Othman and Shuqair, 2013,
p132).

The word remedial according to the Free Online Dictionary means to correct or improve deficient skills
in a specific subject. The purpose of the remedial English course at the Health Sciences University is to
correct or improve specific learning difficulties that students exhibit on the intensive English language
module. However, there is a concerning proportion of students who after completing the remedial
English course do not display a marked improvement in their performance. Consequently, they struggle
to complete the course with some becoming what is commonly referred to in the university as repeat
repeaters. According to Al-Othman and Shuqair (2013), it is a widely held opinion that remedial
courses are a quest in vain when it comes to improving students performance. Several factors have
been advanced that could explain why students are able to complete a remedial course without marked
improvement in their performance. Among these factors is a negative attitude. Many students at the
Health Sciences University, having initially failed the intensive English language module, develop a
negative attitude towards learning English and enter the remedial English course with a predisposed
negativity and passiveness to learning (Al-Othman and Shuqair, 2013). In addition, enrolment on the
remedial English course at the university is automatic and mandatory. Although slightly dated, Alfred
and Lum (1988) found that [s]tudents enrolled in institutions with a voluntary placement policy
achieved higher grades in both the remedial writing and the college level composition course than
students attending institutions with a compulsory placement policy (Alfred and Lum, 1988, p115,
cited in NCPI, 1998, p7). Another factor to be considered is the content of the remedial course. When
students realised that the content of the remedial English course was a recycling of the intensive
English language module they became frustrated, demotivated and finally disengaged (Al-Othman and
Shuqair, 2013). Numerous of research have highlighted the importance of student motivation in
sustaining a desired level of learning and the responsibility of the teacher to devise innovative, fun and
interesting learning strategies to foster and maintain motivation (Al-Othman and Shuqair, 2013;
Alshehri, 2012; Drnyei, 2001a, 2001b; Guilloteaux and Drnyei, 2008). Another key factor is
relevance. In the Arab world, education is delivered through the medium of Arabic (Al-Othman and

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Shuqair, 2013, p134). Apart from the intensive English language module, courses at the Health
Sciences University are delivered through the medium of Arabic. This immediately places little or no
relevance on English in the minds of most students who seldom use it or pursue it on a professional
level (ibid, p134).

Student involvement in higher education governance has been around since the establishment of
European universities in medieval times but came to prominence in 2003 when the Council of Europe
in cooperation with the Norwegian Ministry of Education organised a Bologna seminar in Oslo on
student participation (Popovi, 2011, p4). In America, [s]ome form of student government has been
apparent in American colleges since the late 1700s when William and Mary College organized a
student governing body (Klopf, 1960, cited in May, 2009, p3). However, the American Student
Government Association (ASGA) was not established until 2003 and to date has some 200 institutions
on its books (May, 2009). Most of the research on student participation in higher education governance
comes from Anglophone studies where the subject is more frequently discussed than in Arab countries.
It is not surprising, then, that there is a dearth of academic research regarding student governance in the
Arab world. Wilkens (2011) argues that in many Arab countries, governance structures for higher
education have not adapted to modern demands for change [and]many higher education institutions
are run as extensions of the high authority of the state (p6). While many argue in favour of the positive
impact and importance of student governance with some describing it as a conduit for colleges and
universities to train students to be future leaders, advocates and service providers (May, 2009, p4),
others argue that it is insignificant and has not had a noteworthy impact on education beyond the
extracurricular (ibid, p5). In the context of higher education with respect to most Arab countries, the
issue of student governance seems light years away. Al-Rashdan (2009), in discussing the overall
situation of higher education in the Arab world says, the type of government control present in Arab
countries is one of the primary reasons for the decline of higher educationeven if only because of the
absence of educational autonomy. In the context of such an environment, the establishment of
meaningful student governance seems farfetched. Even if there were such a body, it would probably
amount to nothing more than a sand-box operation - a concept Boyer (1987, cited in May, 2009, p5)
referred to when describing the status of student governance in America and that was in the context
of a democratic environment.

Methodology

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Various forms of interview design can be employed to ascertain thick, rich data using a qualitative
approach to data collection and analysis (Creswell, 2007). Three types of interview formats have been
discussed in Gall, Gall and Borg (2003): informal conversational interview, general interview guide,
and standardised open-ended interview. In the informal conversational interview, questions are
formulated as the interview unfolds; that is, spontaneously off the top of ones head. The upside of
this style of interviewing is that its lack of structure makes it flexible, thus facilitating the use of
follow-ups and probes for further understanding and clarification. However, the downside is the
inconsistency of the questions make codifying the data a difficult and cumbersome task (Creswell,
2007). The general interview approach, although more structured than the informal approach and thus
more consistent, has a degree of flexibility which accords the interviewer the opportunity to ask follow-
up or probing questions to pre-constructed questions (Gall, Gall and Borg, 2003). However, because
the interviewer has the flexibility to change the way questions are posed, it means that participants may
be asked variations of same the question resulting in varying answers and according to McNamara
(2009), the strength of the general interview approach depends on the researchers ability to ensure
constancy in the type of data obtained. As for the standardised open-ended interview, it is the most
popular format employed since it accords the participant the opportunity to respond to standardised
questions in their own words, which tend to be more elaborate and enriching than yes/no answers and
the researcher the opportunity to formulate follow up questions and probes in response to information
provided by the participant (Woodsong et al. 2005). Although participants are asked identical open-
ended questions to ensure constancy on the topic and to facilitate analysis and comparison of data,
follow-up questions differ according to participant responses, thus providing thick, rich qualitative
data. However, having to wade through participants responses to codify and theme the data is
cumbersome and tedious. Nevertheless, according to Gall, Gall and Borg (2003), this reduces
researcher biases within the research, particularly when the interviewing process involves many
participants (cited in Turner, 2010).

For the purposes of this research, qualitative data will be obtained via the standardised open-ended
interview format. Participants [will be] asked identical questions, but the questions [will be]
worded so that responses are open-ended (Turner, 2010, p756). Formulating open-ended questions is
not as easy and straightforward as one may perceive. It involves knowing how to phrase questions that
encourage participants to provide elaborate, detailed (rather than brief) responses; and asking questions

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that elicit the participants own views and experiences as opposed to reflecting the convictions of the
interviewer (Woodsong et al. 2005, p41).

Selecting appropriate and willing participants to interview is paramount (Creswell, 207). Purposive
sampling will be used to select participants for the purpose of this research according to criteria
relevant to the research question (Woodsong et al. 2005). For instance, participants must be repeat
students on the intensive English language module and must have a level of English that allows them to
adequately participate in the interview. Once ethical approval has been received, assurances of
confidentiality given and the participants written consent obtained via a signed English consent form,
which is accompanied with an Arabic version to ensure the participant fully understands their rights,
data collection and analysis can begin.

Questions will be asked one at a time to provide participants the opportunity to fully address each
question. Unclear responses will be verified by asking the participant to repeat their response or by
employing the mirror technique where the participants response is reflected back to them in the form
of a question (Woodsong et al. 2005). For example, one might want to verify a response to a question
regarding the students perspective on the content/structure of the remedial English course and thus
may say, So you think the remedial programme could be better structured?. This technique would
help to avoid the possibility of the participant perceiving their response as incorrect and so discouraged
from fully responding to subsequent questions. The order of questions or question format is as
important as the questions themselves. Therefore, the interview will begin with easy and general
questions to establish a rapport with the participant, then questions pertinent to the research will be
asked and when all pre-constructed questions, follow-ups and probes have been exhausted, the
participant will be accorded the opportunity to ask any relevant questions they may have which will
mark the end of the interview.

Interviews will be approximately an hour in length, but subject to change at the interviewers
discretion. In-depth face-to-face interviews will be conducted with two repeat first year medical
students in a safe and comfortable environment to ensure privacy and safeguard their anonymity.
Appropriate interview scheduling is paramount as the likelihood of either of the participants not being
available for interview is extremely detrimental to the research. Interviews will be digitally recorded
(mp3) with the assent of both participants and duly password protected to prevent unauthorised access

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to the data. Last but not least, any ethical issues that may jeopardise the safety of the participants will
be avoided like the asking of culturally and/or politically sensitive questions.

Data collected during interviews need to be codified to assist the researcher in interpreting and making
sense of the information (Creswell, 2003, 2007). Interview transcripts will be analysed using an emic
frame of analysis. That is, using the participants own words to codify/label the data, thus representing
their own view of the phenomenon studied unlike an etic frame of analysis where the researcher
provides the codes, thus representing their own perspective (Sidani and Sechrest, 1996). The codified
data will be further analysed using a thematic analytical approach to highlight consistent themes,
phrases or ideas commonly expressed among the participants (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Codes or
labels that relate to each other will be categorised according to topic (Kvale, 2007). The relationship
between these categories represents new information about the research problem from the participants
perspective and will be interpreted by the researcher and conclusions drawn therefrom.

Discussion
As an early carer researcher of the social sciences, my experiential knowledge of coding and analysing
qualitative data is slight. As Strauss (1987) stresses, [a]ny researcher who wishes to become proficient
at doing qualitative analysis must learn to code well and easily. The excellence of the research rests in
large part on the excellence of the coding (p27). The process of coding and analysing interview data
begins with a task that has been described as the most rigorous and time-intensive mode of analyzing
data (Onwuegbuzie, et al. 2009, p4). That is, the task of transcribing. Transcribing the interview data
for this research, although considered a small-scale project consisting of only two interviews, was
nevertheless a time-consuming and frustrating exercise from which I had to take breaks in order to be
rigorously ethical with [the] data and not ignore or delete those seemingly problematic passages of
text; and rigorously ethical with [the] analysis by maintaining a sense of scholarly integrity (Saldana,
2009, p29), especially when the data did not substantiate any presupposed theory(ies).

Codifying data is a cyclical process that requires you to code and recode several times if necessary.
What gets coded from the data corpus is a disputable issue among qualitative research methodologists.
Some say only the salient portions of the data merits examination (Seidman, 2006) while others believe
every portion of data is worthy of consideration (Lofland, et al. 2006). Based on the advice of Saldana
(2009), I codified everything from the data corpus for fear of leaving out the as yet unknown units of

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data that could pull everything together (ibid, p15), as well as the fact that as an inexperienced
researcher I was not yet secure in my knowledge and intuition regarding what was important in the data
corpus and what was not. This, in addition to the number of participants involved in the research,
would inevitably increase the amount of data to be coded/recoded; however, over time, the task should
become easier with experiential knowledge.

In order to facilitate this process, the transcript pages were formatted into three columns. The first
column contained the raw data (the interview); the second column contained first cycle codes and the
third column contained second cycle codes (appendixes 1 & 2). However, as the process got under
way, I realised that a third column was necessary to record the emerging themes. The number of codes,
themes and concepts generated depends on the nature of your data, which particular coding method
you select for analysis, and how detailed you want or need to be (Saldana, 2009, p19). There are two
approaches to coding commonly known as lumping (holistic coding) and splitting. The former uses a
single code to represent the essence of a part or the whole of the data while the latter uses several codes
to represent a more detailed account of a part or the whole of the data (ibid). As Saldana (2009)
mentions, [i]t is only from experience that you'll discover which approach works best for you, your
particular study, and your particular research goals (p20). I decided to use the splitting approach on
the premise that this research is small-scale, the data generated, i.e. two interview transcripts, workable
as opposed to burdensome and a detailed account of the data would better inform and facilitate the
analysis. Coding and analysing can be done manually using a pencil and hard copies of data, or
CAQDAS
1
programs such as ATLAS.ti
2
, MAXQD
3
and NVivo
4
. I chose the former because I wanted
to gain experience with hard copy coding and a basic understanding of the fundamentals of qualitative
data analysis to facilitate the use of CAQDAS in subsequent studies; for as Saldana (2009) proclaims,
[t]here is something about manipulating qualitative data on paper and writing codes in pencil that give
you more control and ownership of the work (p22).

First cycle coding (students A & B), which generated twenty-one and twenty-three codes respectively,
was executed using In Vivo Coding where words or short phrases from the actual interview data
constituted the codes; that is, terms used by [participants] themselves (Strauss, 1987, p33); also

1
Computer assisted qualitative data analysis software.
2
www.atlasti.com
3
www.maxqda.com
4
www.qsrinternational.com


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referred to as an emic frame of analysis (Sidani and Sechrest, 1996). During this process, I noticed I
was engaged in conversation with myself regarding the emerging data and felt I needed to record it for
future reference. It was at that point that the penny dropped and I realised what Clarke (2005) meant
by analytic memos: sites of conversation with ourselves about our data (p202). Second cycle coding
(students A & B) was executed using Focused Coding in which first cycle codes are reorganized and
reconfigured to eventually develop a smaller and more select list of broader categories, themes, and/ or
concepts (Saldana, 2009, p149). A total of thirteen and seventeen codes were generated respectively.
From the coding and analytic memos the following themes emerged: school and university experience;
high-ranking university; career prospects; remedial English syllabus design, level of student
involvement in decision making processes; social standing and national loyalty.

Both student A & B expressed how difficult it was coping with the transformation from school to
university regarding work load and commitment and that most if not all students were ill-prepared for
the transformation. The Health Sciences University in Riyadh, according to student A & B, is ranked
highly in the Kingdom and securing a place was difficult but worth it because of the enhanced career
prospects. As for the intensive English module, while both student A & B had negative experiences on
the course, student As level of English made it difficult for him to comprehend and coherently respond
to interview questions. However, I was able to discern that he found studying English difficult,
especially the comprehension, retention and use of vocabulary. Consequently, he failed Year One and
was enrolled on the remedial English course, which he feels could be improved, but again, due to his
level of English was unable to express how it could be improved. As for student B, he blamed the high
turn-over of teachers and the resulting exposure to a variety of teaching strategies and confusion for the
decline in his motivation and interest in the course and subsequent withdrawal. Consequently, he too
failed Year One and was also enrolled on the remedial English course and expressed concerns that
having to repeat the same syllabus was demotivating and could cause students to drop out, but did
stress that it could also motivate others to persevere and continue. Student As inability to fully
comprehend and coherently respond to questions was becoming increasingly frustrating and as a result,
I exercised the interviewers discretionary right to abort the interview without addressing the issue of
student governance with student A. However, student B believes that students should have some level
of involvement in the decision making process regarding the remedial English syllabus and was even
able to propose a suggestion to that effect. Regarding the social standing and national loyalty themes,
they were derived using an etic frame of analysis where I the researcher provided the codes which

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represent my interpretation of the following data generated from student As interview (Sidani and
Sechrest, 1996). Student A expressed annoyance at being continuously spoken to in English during a
doctor-patient interaction, even though it was clear his command of English was weak and the doctor
was a Saudi national. Student A could not understand why a Saudi doctor would continue talking to
him in English when it was clear he was struggling to comprehend and express himself adequately
perhaps a case of social standing. Student A also expressed anger at the increasing use of English in
domestic contexts such as hospitals and restaurants and commented that it was fine if one travelled to
America or Britain but Saudi is an Arabic speaking country and domestic affairs should be conducted
in Arabic perhaps a case of national loyalty.

Conclusion
The themes that stood out as most representational of the research was the remedial English syllabus
design and level of student involvement in higher education governance. The other themes, although
not as representational, are nevertheless intricately related and difficult to separate from the research
context (Saldana, 2009). However, I believe the most salient and insightful themes to emerge, and
perhaps ones worth investigating, are the issues of social standing and national loyalty with respect to
the acquisition and use of English in Saudi Arabia.

PART TWO
REFLECTIVE DISCUSSION

This research is qualitative in nature which suggests that the research is seeking to understand a
problem or a phenomenon from the perspective of the participants. This involves collecting data via
one of the common data collection methods associated with qualitative research such as focus-groups,
in-depth interviews and participant observation, and which can take the form of field notes, audio
recordings (MP3/Video) and transcripts (Woodsong, et al. 2005). Of the various types of interview
designs discussed in McNamara (2009) and Turner, III (2010), the standardised open-ended interview
was employed to obtain data for this research. This type of question format, while maintaining
constancy on the topic, accorded the participants the opportunity to respond to questions in their own
words, which tend to be more elaborate and enriching than yes/no answers, and the researcher the
opportunity to formulate follow up questions and probes in response to information provided by the
participant (Woodsong, et al. 2005). However, the downside to this method is the subjective and
multiple participant perspective of reality (ontology); the researchers interactive positioning with

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regards to the thing being researched (epistemology); as well as being value-laden and biased
(axiology) (Creswell, 2003). Consequently, the research community has questioned the validity of
qualitative analysis on the grounds that it is an interpretive process informed by the participants
perspective of the phenomenon studied, as well as the subjectivity, intuition and creativity of the
researcher (Sidani and Sechrest, 1996). Thus Creswell (1994) argues that the qualitative researcher
should explicitly record their own biases, feelings and thoughts in the research to alleviate uncertainties
regarding the validity of the findings, as well as the process used to analyse and interpret the data.
Collecting thick, rich data starts with the selecting of appropriate and willing participants for interview.
Purposive sampling was used to select participants for this research according to criteria relevant to the
research question (Creswell, 2007). That is, participants needed to be repeat first year medical students
on the intensive English module with an adequate level of English to participate in the interview. The
possibility of participants not being available for interview is detrimental to the research, especially if
the research is small-scale and involves just a few participants, thus appropriate interview scheduling is
crucial to ensure the availability of appropriate and willing participants and the procuring of useful
data. This research involved only two participants within an educational context, which meant that
interview scheduling had to account for the end of semester summer break to avoid a conflict of
scheduling. However, due to a misunderstanding of the relevant ethical procedures, interviewing was
delayed until close to the summer break, which meant that many students had either started their
summer break or were busy preparing to retake previously failed exams and thus unavailable for
interview. Consequently, the pool of students at my disposal was meagre, hence student A not having a
level of English that allowed him to fully comprehend and coherently respond to certain interview
questions.

Generating effective interview questions to obtain maximum data is one of the most crucial
components to interview design (Turner, III, 2010, p757). Open-ended questions are most useful for
generating maximum data. However, formulating open-ended questions is not as simple and
straightforward as I have come to learn, because I had to reformulate some of the interview questions
for this research several times. In addition, interviews can sometimes digress from the topic because
participants misunderstand a question. At this juncture, the interviewer needs to bring the interview
back by reformulating the question to dispel any misunderstandings or risk losing control of the
interview (Creswell, 2007; Turner, III, 2010). The participant may also answer a question incorrectly;
that is, as it pertains to the ontological reality of the situation (e.g. student A having failed the intensive

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English module) and an epistemology based on the interviewers experiential knowledge of that reality,
thus follow-up questions or probes are required to try to elicit the correct information as was the case
with student A with respect to interview exchange 10-12a (see appendix 1) and student B regarding
interview exchange 10-10f (see appendix 2). In designing useful questions for interviewing, McNamara
(2009) suggests the following: wording should be open-ended and as neutral as possible to avoid words
that could influence the answers (e.g. evocative or judgemental wording); questions should be asked
one at a time and worded clearly (this includes knowing words particular to the programme or the
participants culture); and care should be taken when asking why questions as this type of question
infers a cause-effect relationship which may result in the participant becoming defensive and thus
inhibit their responses (cited in Turner, III, 2009, p758).

The interviews for this research were conducted face-to-face. However, because they were scheduled
close to the end of the semester, many students were attending the university on a need-to-be basis and
so I had to seriously consider Skype or telephone interviews as a viable alternative. While Skype and
telephones are a convenient means for conducting interviews, there are a number of downsides to such
platforms. Firstly, it is harder to establish the participants trust and develop a good rapport. Secondly,
it is difficult to detect or pick-up on non-verbal clues. Thirdly, a bad connection could affect the quality
of the call and/or cause the call to be disconnected; and fourthly, it is difficult to record interviews from
such platforms. Ideally, all interviews should be recorded (MP3/Video) as it minimises the loss of
information, can be password protected to ensure unauthorised access to the data, and accords the
interviewer the freedom to pay full attention to the interview. Needless to say, it is incumbent upon the
interviewer to ensure that the recording apparatus is fully operable prior to and during the interview
(McNamara, 2009). Moreover, the interviewer should have full working knowledge of the recording
apparatus because to be otherwise could be disastrous - something I can attest to from experience. I
never envisaged that I would forget how to operate my own recorder and was almost at a lost when I
forgot how to operate the Sony digital voice recorder prior to interviewing student A and spent an
embarrassing 10-15 minutes trying to figure it out. Eventually, student A suggested I use my iPhone to
record the interview which ultimately saved the day. Having a good relationship with participants prior
to interviewing goes a long way in minimising potential problems that could jeopardise a research
project. Thus having previously taught student A in a congenial classroom environment facilitated the
development of a healthy student-teacher relationship. Consequently, student A chose to remain patient

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during those 10-15 minutes. If he had chosen to walk out of the interview, he would have been
perfectly within his voluntary rights because the interviewer should have been fully prepared.
According to Woodsong, et al. (2005), being prepared to manage an interview effectively requires the
interviewer to have highly developed rapport-building skills, the ability to emphasise the participants
perspective and the ability to adapt to different personalities and states. When interviewing students A
and B, from the outset, I sought to create an interviewer/participant dynamic that was positive, relaxed
and mutually respectful, and so enquired about their wellbeing, explained the purpose and format of the
interview, my role as the interviewer and their right to pause/remove themselves from the interview at
any time if they so wished. In order to maintain a congenial atmosphere, during the interview I was
friendly and humorous, used a pleasant tone of voice and was never patronising. However, I did lose
patience with student A after becoming frustrated with his inability to comprehend and coherently
respond to some of the questions and thus cut short the interview without obtaining information that
was pertinent to the research question. In such instances, you have to be rigorously ethical with your
participants and treat them with respect (Saldana, 2009, p29). I tried also to place greater emphasis on
the participants perspective by treating the participant as the expert with questions like How do you?
Do you think?, What exactly do you? and keeping my own perspective out of the equation, as well
as being an attentive listener which I hope was evident from my body language and verbal cues such as
hmm, uhh and so on. Also, from being prepared and managing the interview well is to be familiar with
all documents pertaining to the research to ensure the interview process is smooth sailing (Woodsong,
et al. 2005); in this instance, the interview guide and the participant informed consent form.

Last but by no means least, ethical considerations in qualitative research. Whenever we conduct
research on people, the well-being of research participants must be our top priority (Woodsong, et al.
2005, p8). To this end, the Belmont Report
1
, which was commissioned by the National Commission for
the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, articulated three core
principles that constitute the universally accepted basis for qualitative research ethics: respect for
persons; beneficence and justice (ibid, p9). Respect for persons entails that the autonomy, dignity and
vulnerability of participants be respected and protected at all times. Informed consent, which can be
written or oral, is an important mechanism for ensuring respect for persons during research. To enable
participants to make a conscientious decision about participating in a particular research, information
regarding the purpose of the research; what is expected of the participant; the harm and benefit of the

1
Available: http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/belmont.htm1

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research; the participants right to withdraw; confidentiality; and the investigator and the ethics
committees contact details must be provided in a language and at an educational level that the
participant can understand (Woodsong, et al. 2005, p11). For the purposes of this research, a written
informed consent form was made available to participants in both English and Arabic, the students
mother tongue, to ensure they were fully aware of their rights as research participants and to minimise
the possibility of ambiguities or misunderstandings. To protect the participants privacy during the
interview sessions, a suitable location was designated and careful consideration given to the scheduling
of interviews. To ensure confidentiality, participants were verbally informed that information they
provided would be kept in confidence and not revealed to any third party without their prior consent
(Woodsong, et al. 2005). Likewise, audio recordings (MP3) of interviews would be duly password
protected. Beneficence requires the minimising of harm (psychological and/or social) and maximising
the benefits. To this end, while interviewing student A and B, a conscientious effort was made to avoid
questions of a political, religious and cultural nature that could cause potential harm to the participants.
With regards to the benefit(s), one of the intended aims of this research was to highlight issues
regarding the English remedial course from a student perspective, and to put forward suggestions for
improving the course, and in so doing, benefitting future members of this discourse community. If the
above is achieved, justice can be said to be done from an ethical perspective.

Conclusion
Undertaking this small-scale research project was both arduous and rewarding, and a learning curve
that opened the door to a plethora of learning. I learned how extremely important and beneficial
reading and writing are to my growth as a researcher. I read material specific to the research questions
(Al-Othman and Shuqair, 2013; Al-Rashdan, 2009; Popovi, 2011; Wilkens, 2011; May 2009), as well
as material geared towards research design in general that helped me understand some of the important
elements of research and the decisions that go into designing sound and valid research (Creswell, 2007;
2003; 1994; McKenzie and Knipe, 2006; Lincoln and Guba, 2000). During our first doctoral summer
residential (which marks the beginning of my doctoral programme), I asked a fourth-year doctoral
student for some advice and he simply said, read, read and read. Every opportunity you get READ.
Suffice it to say, as a researcher, reading and writing go hand-in-hand. I have been regularly writing
since our first summer residential and will soon be attending our second. Consequently, I now find it
easier to organise and coherently write up my thoughts throughout the research process.

Page | 14

During this research project, I gained experiential knowledge of the entire interview process and what it
entails. I learned the importance of selecting appropriate and willing participants for interview in order
to obtain credible data using one of the various sampling strategies such as criterion based sampling,
which was used in this research project, or critical case sampling among others (Creswell, 2007).
Creating effective research questions for the interview process is one of the most crucial components
to interview design (Turner, III, 2010). Open-ended questions are most appropriate for obtaining
maximum data from the interviews. However, their design is far from simple and straightforward -
something I can attest to as I had to revisit the questions I designed for this research several times.
Being prepared for and managing the interview well is also crucial. I learned how detrimental it can be
to the entire research to take for granted or to overlook things that may appear insignificant. For
example, I assumed that I still knew how to operate my Sony digital recorder I had opted to use for the
interviews, while in fact I had forgotten. For 10-15 embarrassing minutes I tried to figure out how to
operate it, while the participant waited patiently but looked on bemused. It was in fact the participant
who saved the day by suggesting I use my iPhone to record the interview. During the interviewing
phase of the process, I also realised that in order to elicit relevant information the interviewer needs to
be proficient in effective questioning techniques to obtain elaborate and detailed responses, verifying
unclear responses, and using follow-ups and probes effectively. It is an area that I need to be more
proficient in and one that I imagine will develop the more experience I gain in conducting interviews.
The final constituent in the interview design process is that of interpreting the data that was gathered
during the interview process (Turner, III, 2010). During this phase of the research, I learned how
codes and themes are used to analyse and make sense of qualitative data by organising the data into
sections or groups of information (Saldana, 2006; Kvale, 2007; Creswell, 2003; 2007). As Saldana
(2006) expresses, [a]ny researcher who wishes to become proficient at doing qualitative analysis must
learn to code well and easy (p1). I am by no means learned or proficient with regards to qualitative
data analysis; and while analysing the data for this research, I was unsure as to how many codes and
themes should be produced or whether the codes and themes I produced were even correct. However,
[t]he actual number of codes, categories, themes and/or concepts you generate for each project will
vary and depend on many contextual factors (ibid, p19). There is a lot to learn about qualitative data
analysis like manual and CAQDAS coding, first and second coding methods, formulating analytic
memos, thematic derivation, and writing-up and interpreting the data. This small-scale qualitative
research has truly been a learning curve that has highlighted the importance of understanding the entire

Page | 15

research process from choosing the most appropriate theoretical framework that will underpin the
research to obtaining thick, rich data and the writing-up and interpreting of that data.
EEDD046 Summative Assignment

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ed), pp163-188. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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Appendix 1 Interview transcript of student A

1

Interview No.: JPB1
Location: Health Sciences University - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Interviewer: Mr Joseph Brown
Date: Thursday 22
nd
May 2014
Start: 13:00 hrs
End: 13:15 hrs

The interview First cycle codes Second cycle codes
Q1. How long have you been studying at this
university?
SA. 1 yr.

Q2. How do you find studying at this university?
SA. Its hard.

Q3. Do you find all subjects hard?
SA. No just the English.

Q4. Why did you choose to study at this university?
SA. This university the best in KSU.

Q4a. Best in what all subjects?
SA. In education in everyone everything its best.

Q5. Was it difficult to get into this university?
SA. Yeah its difficult.

Q6. Why did you choose this university?
SA. Because this university just in health I like, I like
the health and work in hospital.

Q7. All students have to complete the pre-professional
programme in year one before they can progress to
year two. What do you think about this?
SA. Its good.

Q7a. Whys it good?
SA. Because here its a good education I, er, really
its hard but its good hard for me but English
is good.


2

Q8. I notice that you just repeated the first year. What
was it like doing the module again?
SA. Because its first year in university I didnt know
what, what subject and what about mid-term I
didnt know about mid-term - just come and mid-
term - I am surprised the questions.

Q9. Did you pass the first year?
SA. Yeah, yeah.
Q9a. You passed the first year?
SA. Yeah, yeah.

Q10. So how well did you do with the English? Did you
find the English difficult?
SA. Really very difficult - another university its easy
he start in level one - but here he start in level
seven or nine.

Q11. So did you pass the English?
SA. Yeah
Q11a. Did you complete the English?
SA. Inshallah I will complete.
Q11b. But did you complete it last year?
SA. Yeah

(A further exchange of approximately 10-15 secs took
place in which the interviewer tried to confirm that the
student was in fact repeating an element of the English
course but to no avail, so a decision was taken to proceed
to the next question)

Q12. Did you have any difficulties with the English
programme last semester? Was there anything that
you found hard?
SA. In the questions or education?
Q12a. In the course or the exams.
SA. Er, some words I didnt know whats meaning.

Q13. When you think about the English programme do
you think it could be made better?
SA. Yeah
Q13a. How could it be made better?
SA. All world now speak English.
Q13b. Ok! So why do you think this is? Why do you
think everybody speaks English?
SA. Because its language in the world is first in all
country English first because here I am go to


3

hospital must be speak English go to restaurant
must be speak English everything speak English.

Q13c. Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?
SA. No I think its a bad thing because here is Arabic
country - must be speak Arabic in the past every
country speak Arab but now everyone speak
English its not good.

Q14. What is the problem if everyone speaks English?
SA. Because here its country Arabic everyone here
Arabic why speak English? Go outside no
problem go around go to America Britain no
problem speak English but here why speak
English? Why go to hospital me the doctor
Arabic maybe the doctor Saudi why speak with
me with English maybe I didnt know.

Q15. But if he speaks to you in English and realises that
you dont know English doesnt he speak to you in
Arabic?
SA. No
Q15a. He continues in English?
SA. Always speak English.
Q15b. Really!
SA. Yeah! Its a problem here.

Q16. Weve come to the end of the interview. Are there
any questions that youd like to ask?
SA. No.

End of interview

Appendix 2 Interview transcript of student B

1

Interview No.: JPB2
Location: Health Sciences University - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Interviewer: Mr Joseph Brown
Date: Thursday 25
th
May 2014
Start: 13:00 hrs
End: 13:20 hrs

The interview First cycle codes Second cycle codes
Q1. How long have you been studying at this
university?
SB. Maybe nine months two semesters.

Q2. How have you found the change from school to
university?
SB. The school er mainly subjects from the school
and university should be in university more take
care and more work.

Q3. Have you found the change difficult to cope with?
SB. Yeah.

Q4. Did they come as a shock or a surprise?
SB. As a surprise.

Q5. Would you say you were prepared for university
and what it takes?
SB. No.
Q5a. Would you say it was the same for most students?
SB. For all students.
Q5c. For all?
SB. Yeah.

Q6. Why did you choose this university?
SB. Because it is from high levels of universities.

Q7. What exactly do you want to do when you finish
your studies?
SB. Inshallah Ill become a doctor.

Q8. All students have to complete the pre-professional
programme in year one before they can progress to
year two. What do you think about this?
SB. I dont know.


2

Q8a. Do you think this is necessary? Do you think it is a
good thing?
SB. You should complete sure - to complete the
second.

Q9. Did you complete year one?
SB. Yeah. I complete it.

Q10. Was there any part of year one that you did not do
so well on?
SB. Maybe some.
Q10a. Any particular subject?
SB. Yeah.
Q10b. What subject was that?
SB. Reading.
Q10c. Was this English reading?
SB. Yeah.
Q10d. So because of that did you have to repeat that part
of the programme?
SB. Yeah
Q10e. But you didnt have to repeat the whole
programme right?
SB. No! I repeat the whole programme.
Q10f. So let me understand this correctly. If you have
eight subjects in year one, for example, and you
pass all seven except one. Do you have to repeat
the whole year?
SB. No, Just that subject.

Q11. (Hmm - How well did you do this time around?
SB. I do good inshallah. I guess I do good.

Q12. The problems you had the first time around. Did
repeating the same course address those problems?
SB. No.

Q13. What specific problems did you have with reading
the first time?
SB. We didnt have teacher many teachers come
Q13a. You had many teachers?
SB. Yeah. The first three weeks one teacher after that
no teachers after that second teacher so I dont
take - I dont care about this subject because I
dont go on the same way many ways this
teacher had ways and .
Q13b. So the issue of different teachers confused the
issue?
SB. Yeah.


3

Q13c. So the second time around did you have only one
teacher?
SB. Just one teacher - yeah
Q13d. And was that better.
SB. Yeah.
Q13e. Was you able to focus on those reading problems
that you had the first time around?
SB. Yeah.

Q14. What about the decision to repeat this programme?
Who decides because from what I understand
about the programme, you actually just repeat the
same programme right?
SB. Yeah.

Q15. Who decides what the students study on that
programme? For example, the English that you
study in year one is repeated exactly the same in
year two, and if a student has particular problems,
then its likely that those problems dont really get
addressed. Youre just doing the same thing again.
So who decides that?
SB. The student.
Q15a. The student decides what is in the programme?
SB. No.
(silence)
Q15b. (Hmm - You dont decide whats in the
programme do you?
SB. No. I dont decide whats in the programme.

Q16. My question then is can repeating the same
programme without addressing the specific
problems that students have be very beneficial?
SB. Maybe if you repeat the same programme -
someone feel so bad, so sad want to leave the
university.
Q16a. Because of repeating the same programme.
SB. Yeah. From the first time he repeat the same
programme, maybe the second time - the next year
I will repeat again. Some students feel I will do
well and will repeat anything.

Q17. Do you think students should have a say in how the
repeat programme is put together?
SB. Yeah.


4

Q18. If I were to ask you what would you like on the
programme, would you be able to tell me Id like
this, this and this?
SB. Yes. I have many things I would like to do on this
programme. Like less vocab
(laughter)

Q19. Weve come to the end of the interview. Do you
have any questions that you would like to ask?
SB. No. I dont have any questions.

End of interview

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