This volume in the Language Teacher Research Series (Thomas S. C. Farrell, series editor) shares the studies and reflections of teacher researchers working in Middle Eastern countries with students from a variety of cultural backgrounds. These teachers explore aspects of their own practice in university settings, secondary school classrooms, and professional language training institutes. Despite the varied settings, the authors all have a common desire to improve their practice by looking critically at their teaching approaches and their students attitudes toward learning. These studies unearth assumptions made in different teaching contexts, and shine a light on factors of perception and motivation. Each chapter examines a specific teaching and learning environment and analyzes avenues for improvement in that particular context. However, the overall goal of this volume and the series is to share teacher researchers findings so that colleagues can extract their own interpretations and plan action steps for improving student learning in other contexts throughout the Middle East and the world. --- Product Description.

Language teacher research in the Middle East / Christine Coombe and Lisa Barlow -- How does language anxiety affect performance in the English language classroom? (United Arab Emirates) / Margaret Agbalizu -- L2 learners and student evaluations of teaching : issues of language comprehension (United Arab Emirates) / Ahmad Al-Issa and Hana Sulieman -- Spelling errors of Arab learners : evidence for intergraphemic mapping (Saudi Arabia) / Maher Bahloul -- What makes a good teacher? Investigating the native-nonnative speaker issue in the Arabian gulf (Kuwait and United Arab emirates) / Christine Coombe and Mashael Al-Hamly -- Multicultural, coeducational group work experiences : creative collaboration or problematic partnership? (United Arab Emirates) / Cindy Gunn -- To mediate or not to mediate : surviving in an exam-based EFL context (United Arab Emirates) / Naziha Ali Jafri -- The effectiveness of learning contracts with Arab learners of English (United Arab Emirates) / Paul MacLeod -- Six hats for discussion and writing (United Arab Emirates) / David Palfreyman and Fran Turner -- Teacher and student perceptions of best practices in teaching (Tunisia) / Ali H. Raddaoui -- The effect of group and individual peer feedback on student writing in an EFL gulf context (Saudi Arabia) / Ali Shehadeh -- Negotiating with multiple repeaters (United Arab Emirates) / Salah Troudi -- Moodling in the Middle East (United Arab Emirates) / Jason M. Ward.