Cognitive Load Theory is a theory that can be used by educators to design effective instructions. It has been applied in many areas, including teaching English as a foreign language as it contributes to positive outcomes. Before designing instructions, teachers should well understand the theory of Cognitive Load alongside human brain architecture. Sometimes students are taught more than they can learn due to their limited cognitive capacities which teachers do not consider. Students, therefore, often experience a cognitive overload which may lead to learning failure. So to what extent Algerian university teachers of English are aware of cognitive load theory? This research aims at exploring the perspectives of Algerian university teachers of English on the theory of cognitive load and its connection to instructional design. The study is expected to increase teachers' awareness of the importance of cognitive load theory in instructional design. 21 English language teachers from different universities of Algeria were enrolled in this query. A questionnaire was used to examine the respondents’ knowledge of the theory and their instructional design experiences. Even though the early expectation was that teachers are knowledgeable about the theory, the research findings showed that teachers lack sufficient knowledge of the theory; yet, they tend to work with some of its techniques when they design instructions.

The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 has affected all countries worldwide in all sectors, mainly in the education sector. Schools and Universities were closed. Teaching and learning were transformed from face to face environments to online platforms. In light of the latter, a pivotal query in this study was to investigate the shift of English as a foreign language (EFL) learning and teaching into Moodle online learning platform and how the delivery of online EFL courses was (un-)beneficial for students to end up the academic year. This research paper sets out to deconstruct recent calls for integrating several E-learning platforms or apps into the Algerian university. To carry out this study, we used an interview with six Algerian university teachers as a first research tool to cover all issues that arose regarding the use of MOODLE e-learning platform imposed by the Ministry of Higher Education. Another target in this paper is to uncover the main difficulties our colleagues have faced during the confinement. The second research tool we used in this survey was an online class observation followed by six questions on Moodle, the Google Meet app, and a closed Facebook group. We chose 24 MA Language and communication students from the English language department of Mostaganem University to reveal the obstacles they faced throughout the Covid- 19 Pandemic. The results showed that both teachers and students are ready to access various online platforms or apps as alternatives such as Zoom, Google Meet and Facebook closed groups to continue teaching and learning English.

Abstract:In her latest novel Willow Trees Don't Weep(2014), the writer Fadia Faqir decided to go against the grain as a Muslim woman coming from the Middle East but lives in Britain and write about jihad, terrorism and Taliban. In this novel, the author negotiates meanings of secularism, fundamentalism, jihad, fathering, women and wars. The novel's protagonist, Najwa is torn between her mother's secularism and her father's religious fundamentalism. In her homeland, Amman, Najwa is different from many other girls of Amman because she does not wear the headscarf that represents hijab, a religious garment, in many Muslim countries. However, when she travels to Afghanistan to trace her father, Najwa meets women wearing the burqaa, a head-to-toe veil. This might be an unexpected re-consideration of this garment as a symbol of freedom because she met veiled women who are self-determined and emancipated from within. Therefore, this article sets out to explore how the novel's protagonist re-considers the veil, home and self-discovery.

This study aimed at exploring the philosophy of digital minimalism, and put forward its importance for an effective online learning in higher education during the lockdown. The long quarantine that the COVID 19 pandemic imposed on most countries of the world has brought radical changes in the way schools, colleges and universities operate. In Algerian higher education, creating online platforms for students was the only solution to move on. However, ignoring that most Algerian students often go online for self-entertainment may lead to a failure or an incomplete success of online teaching during this critical period. To investigate this issue, a questionnaire with only open-ended questions was designed and distributed to 35 students of Language and Communication master, at the English department of Abdelhamid Ibn Badis University. The 35 participants were the researcher’s students in the classes of e-learning. Results showed that most participants were distracted by social media notifications. Also, it turned out that the 35 students had no idea of what digital minimalism or digital maximalism is. As a matter of fact, it is suggested that before launching online lectures and webinars for our students, it is of paramount importance to guide them during their online existence and to show them how to be digital minimalists.

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