General English course requirements at Mu’tah University and the widening gap between aims and outcomes

الملخص EN

This paper investigates the Jordanian government's decision in 2000 to increase the number of general English course requirements for all university students by 200%.

In particular, the paper examines this decision with respect to: 1.

The government’s rationale and possible motives behind adopting it as viewed by the students studying these courses at Mu’tah University.

2.

The outcomes of the practical application of this decision measured by the level of improvement in the students’ English language skills vis-à-vis the financial burdens on the students that have resulted from its execution.

A sample consisting of 264 undergraduate students from various academic specialisations at Mu’tah University in Jordan provided the data used to answer the questions of this study.

The results of the study showed a wide gap between the declared government's objectives behind increasing the number of general English courses, and the practical implementation of this decision by the university.

The majority of the respondents (57.2%) reported no improvement in their English as a result of studying the general English courses, while (42.8%) acknowledged some improvement.

This lack of improvement is ascribed to a host of reasons.

The paper concludes that in the absence of the reforms specified in the study, increasing general English courses will be of little value for the students in terms of improving their English language skills.

Based on the results, and on the author’s personal experience in teaching these courses to the population of the study, the study provides several recommendations; the most important of which is to improve the conditions surrounding the teaching of general English courses through reducing the number of students in each class to the limits recommended by reputable language teaching institutions and by distinguished experts