English abstract
The current study sought to understand the professional goals of female students' doing
a master's degree in ELT. In particular, this study aimed at exploring female students' initial
expectations in the implemented ELT programme at SQU in terms of the courses' content and
materials as well as their pedagogical design and implementation, and whether these
expectations have been met. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six female
students, including four females who completed 24 credits of the coursework which is the total
number of required credits in the M.Ed. ELT programme at SQU and currently working on
their thesis as well as two females who graduated from the same programme. A descriptive
phenomenology approach was adopted, and a thematic analysis was utilized to analyse the data
obtained from semi-structured interviews.
The findings suggested that all participants were highly critical of the programme as
being outdated, theory-based and lacking the practical component. They came with high
expectations that the syllabus would help them to overcome the contemporary challenges of
ELT in Oman and expose them to the current practices in the field. Moreover, all participants
were critical of the design and availability of the materials. They indicated that some materials
were outdated, focused on theoretical aspects, lacked practical aspects, and encouraged rote
learning. They further indicated that some courses lacked authentic materials. They
additionally reported that these materials were inadequate to prepare them as researchers.
Furthermore, the findings revealed that some participants seemed satisfied with formative
assessment, while others were highly critical of the summative assessment adopted in some
courses and which mainly focused on rote memorization. Besides, all participants believed
that instructors were experts, competent, knowledgeable, and dedicated but there were
complaints about their feedback and their teaching styles. It was found that lecturing was the
dominant teaching method in the programme and many of the participants also reported a
lack of technology use. Moreover, results indicated that instructors' feedback about students'
performance was almost completely overlooked in the courses. Based on the findings,
practical implications and suggestions for future improvement have been outlined
