CONTRIBUTION OF ENGLISH-LANGUAGE TO THE LEARNING OF BASIC MEDICAL SCIENCES IN SULTAN-QABOOS-UNIVERSITY

The College of Medicine at Sultan Qaboos University has adopted English as the language of instruction though schooling in Oman is mostly in Arabic. Students of this new medical college are facing learning difficulties in their basic medical sciences. This paper studies the impact of English language courses on students' performance in those subjects. The 1990 cohort of 84 students joined the College of Medicine after completing a 2-year programme in foundation sciences and English. A major part of the basic medical sciences is taught in a coordinated approach in two blocks. One block coordinates the teaching of cardiovascular, respiratory and urinary systems (CVRUS), and the other coordinates the basic medical sciences disciplines in the alimentary system. Final examination results of the foundation and basic medical sciences courses were correlated with English language using linear and multiple regression analysis. While significant positive correlation was found between results in English and the alimentary system and foundation sciences courses, results in the CVRUS were not correlated. This could be a result of the structure of the English language course or the new objectives and structure of the CVRUS course.