Teaching of pharmacy in Saudi Arabia : relevance of English and digital pedagogy

Abstract EN

Background: Medical education has always been of great importance for a nation.

Teaching of pharmacy and related disciplines pose great problems at most of the colleges due to different pedagogic and linguistic reasons.

Objectives: To explore the issues related to teaching of pharmacy and specific English, to investigate into the relevance of technology integration as blended learning strategy, and to explore feasibility of appropriate teaching material.

Methods: The research design of the study was determined as per the qualitative nature of the study.

A questionnaire for pharmacy students was adapted, modified and used as the primary source of data collection.

Teacher and students’ samples were selected from King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah-Saudi Arabia.

Results: English as a language of instruction was found as one of the problems that adversely affect the learning of pharmacy related subjects.

Pharmacy books were found difficult.

The study also revealed that technology integration can be useful.

Conclusion: English language is the medium of instruction for higher education in general and medical/para medical education in particular.

Knowledge of English as the medium becomes more crucial when the target learners do not use it as a lingua franca.

Therefore, a suitable English curriculum, a blend of appropriate content, technology integration and digital pedagogy may yield far better results in the given situation.

There is an urgent need to include ESP in the curriculum.