English abstract
Despite the importance of teacher involvement in curriculum development, it has not been systematically investigated in the Omani context. The present study aims at exploring EFL teachers' perceptions of being involved in ELT curriculum development and the obstacles that might prevent them from being more involved. The main instrument designed for the purpose of the present study was a questionnaire. The instrument consisted of two main dimensions including current practices related to teacher involvement and their perceptions of their involvement in different curriculum development activities. The population of the study consisted of all Omani teachers (male and female) in six Omani regions of the Sultanate (2128 teachers). Alwosta region is excluded because no Omani English teachers were found. A 20% sample was randomly chosen from this population (422 teachers). The whole sample of the study consisted of 163 male and 259 female teachers. The teaching experience of the sample ranged from one year to more than 15 years. The qualifications of the sample fell into two categories; Diploma and Master of Education. The main findings of the study were:
1- Most EFL Omani teachers perceive their participation in curriculum development activities' to be of high importance, although they perceived their participation in top-down activities of higher importance.
. 2- Their participation in top-down activities was of low frequency and of moderate frequency in bottom-up ones.
3- EFL Omani teachers showed strong agreement on some of the general issues related to ELT curriculum development.
4- The study examined the influence of three background factors on teachers perceptions and practices and revealed that:
a) There are statistically significant differences among teachers with different qualifications in their perceptions of their participation in bottom-up curriculum development activities in favor of Bachelor holders.
b) There are statistically significant differences in teachers' perceptions of their involvement in bottom-up activities based on their teaching experience in favor of new graduates.
c) There were no significant differences in the frequency of teachers' participation in top-down and bottom-up activities based on qualification.
d) There were no significant differences in the frequency of teachers' participation in top-down and bottom-up curriculum activities based on teaching experience.
In the light of the findings of this study, some recommendations for curriculum development and further research are given. Moreover, the researchers recommended some suggestions for further research.
