Patterns of Reading Errors among Emirati Second Grade Students

The impact of morphological awareness on reading proficiency has been neglected and there has been much focus on researching the impact of phonological awareness on reading skills. The aim of this study was to examine reading errors among second-grade Emeriti students by mapping a threefold paradigm (i.e., difficulty level, lexical category, and reading error patterns). The study sample included 168 Emirati second grade students (87 males and 81 females). One hundred forty four words were randomly selected from the Arabic reading curriculum. Those words were classified into lexical categories as nouns (45%), verbs (34%), adjectives and adverbs (10%), and functional words (i.e., prepositions and conjunctions; 11%). Those words were classified into three levels of linguistic difficulty (i.e., easy, difficult, and very difficult) according to their morphological complexity. The results revealed that reading difficulties may be the result of a threefold interrelated paradigm: the difficulty level of the words (i.e., morphological complexity), the lexical category (i.e., nouns, verbs, adjective and adverbs, and prepositions and conjunctions), and the pattern of the reading error (e.g., omission of a letter or a syllable and reading the geminated letter as ingeminated). The results also indicated that identifying this paradigm in each student can be useful in early detection of reading difficulty and thus, may assist in constructing appropriate remedial programs

Evaluating Vocational Rehabilitation Programs for Individuals with Disabilities in the United Arab Emirates

This study aimed at evaluating vocational rehabilitation programs for individuals with disabilities in the UAE pertinent to respondents’ types, disability types and gender. To achieve the goal of the study, a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were ysed. Validity and reliability of the instruments were established prior to the implementation of the study. The sample of the study consisted of 214 participants, 57 individuals with disabilities, a total of 103 parents of individuals with disabilities and 57 vocational trainers (instructors). Descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis were used in this study. The results of the study indicated that there were significant differences between the participants in relation to the aforementioned variables in favor of vocational trainers (instructors), and in favor of physical disabilities regarding disability types, and in favor of male with regard to gender. The study recommended the need to designing an appropriate work environment -using technology during training- and paying more attention to involving females with disabilities in vocational programs and including people with special needs

Intimate strangers: perspectives on female converts to Islam in Britain

This article explores the relationships between female converts to Islam in Britain and their close friends and family. It pays attention to the perspectives of converts but focuses on the reactions of their intimates to the conversion. We argue that converts become ‘intimate strangers’ through conversion—estranged on the level of understanding and belief but intimate on the emotional plane. This strangeness is symbolised by the Orientalist stereotypes associated with the converts. At the same time, friends and family shun engagement with the conversion itself, thus keeping alive the stereotypes and precluding understanding. In refusing to engage with matters of belief even within the intimate space of the family, secularism’s orthodox private/public divide gets busted where religiosity, instead, becomes an issue between the (individual) private and the (family) public. Lacking reciprocity and with no access to the inner depths of the people they are closest to, the liberal rhetoric of friends and family about personal choice and equal acceptance of all paths amounts to bigotry and turns out to be painful for both the converts and their intimates.Arts and Humanities Research Council, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studie

Patterns of Communication Used by Special Education Teachers with Families of Handicapped Children

The purpose of the study is to identify ways and types of communication used by special education teachers with families of exceptional children. To achieve this goal, a list of communication types was developed and distributed to special education teachers in the city of Riyadh. Results of the study indicated that most of the effective communication types are not used by special education teachers. In addition, differences in responses according to the variables of the study were also documented

Patterns of Communication Used by Special Education Teachers with Families of Handicapped Children

The purpose of the study is to identify ways and types of communication used by special education teachers with families of exceptional children. To achieve this goal, a list of communication types was developed and distributed to special education teachers in the city of Riyadh. Results of the study indicated that most of the effective communication types are not used by special education teachers. In addition, differences in responses according to the variables of the study were also documented

Parents’ Reaction towards Physical Disability : a Pilot Study​

It was the intention of the study to identify the reactions of parents towards their physically handicapped children. Forty fathers and mothers (twenty families) of severely handicapped children (aged 2-12) were interviewed. An Open interview technique was used to identify parental reactions Results indicate the existence of initial and later reactions

Parents’ Reaction towards Physical Disability

It was the intention of the study to identify the reactions of parents towards their physically handicapped children. Forty fathers and mothers , twenty families, of severely handicapped children , aged 2-12, were interviewed. An Open interview technique was used to identify parental reactions Results indicate the existence of initial and later reactions