This study represents an attempt to create a new framework for teaching academic writing. The new concept of the ‘Lexical Cohesive Trio’, LCT, combines elements of textual reference: anaphora, cataphora, and transitional signals (lexical repetition, bundles, and phrases). 30 English majors from the Gulf University for Science and Technology, GUST, in Kuwait were selected to write a pre-framework and a post-framework essay. The results were analysed using an SPSS package t-test. A pairwise t-test confirmed that more transitional signals were produced after the framework was used: t(1,29) = –4.938, p-value < 0.001. Similarly, a pairwise t-test confirmed that more lexical repetitions were produced after the framework was used: t(1,29) = –5.218, p-value < 0.001. Finally, a pairwise t-test confirmed that significantly more lexical phrases were produced after the framework was used: t(1,29) = –10.672, p-value < 0.001. These tests present strong evidence in favour of using LCT, and confirm that using this new framework enhances students’ ability to write coherent essays.

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This study investigates the efficacy of a new testing tool, a Web-based application known as the Academic Writing Wizard (AWW), in creating a unified English technology-based writing curriculum in the Arabian Gulf countries, focusing particularly on the case of Oman. The application was piloted in three Oman high schools selected by the Omani Education Ministry. All the schools have class grades 11 and 12 only. Over 2 weeks, 71 students and 6 teachers were trained in the effective use of AWW. In the pre-application phase, the selected students were asked to write a five-paragraph essay without using AWW. In the post-application phase, they were asked to write the same essay employing AWW, specifically elements of the Lexical Cohesive Trio (LCT), combining elements of textual reference: anaphora, cataphora, transitional signals, lexical repetition, and lexical phrases. A total of 71 respondents took part in the study. All were senior grade students (class grades 11 and 12). Comparisons of the two groups with respect to the quantitative and scoring scales were performed on the basis of the nonparametric Mann–Whitney criterion. An analysis of the dynamics of the indexes was conducted on the basis of the nonparametric Wilcoxon criterion. A multifactorial dispersive analysis was performed to study the influence of the factors in class. MANOVA was also conducted to study the influence of two factors simultaneously: the class and the time period. Based on the results of the statistical analysis, the following was found:1. The dynamics of the index Teacher’s Score and the values of indexes in all the grades were higher in the post-application period.2. There was a statistically significant positive increase across all indexes between the post-application and pre-application periods in each grade.3. The dynamics of the index Teacher’s Score and the values of indexes in all the grades were higher in the post-application period. There was an incremental increase from the post-app period to the pre-app period in the 11th grade and 12th grade of 3%. Thus, the index Teacher’s Score was influenced by the Period factor.4. The dynamics of the Score index were clearly visible. The values of the index Score in all the classes were higher in the post-app period.5. Based on the results of the multifactorial dispersive analysis per index Score, Teacher’s Score and Final Grade were influenced by the Period factor only.When the index Final Grade is compared, the average score was 46.3 ± 5.8% in the 11th grade in the pre-app period, which increased by 13% to 59.3 ± 5.5% (P < 0.0001) during the post-app period. In the12th grade, the average score of the same index was 48.1 ± 8.4% in the pre-app period, which increased by approximately 13% to 61.0 ± 7.5% (P < 0.0001) during the post-app period. The results further indicate that the application of AWW significantly improved Omani students’ English academic writing skills. Therefore, AWW will be a useful tool in the English curriculum of both Omani and Arabian Gulf English schools.

This study investigated the impact of technological devices on Kuwaiti youths as creators of a technological context with its own pragmatic parameters. To the youth, a parallel communicative world is in action when they engage in any communicative repertoire using mobile devices. I conducted a survey at the Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait to investigate the existence of such a contextual realm and whether it has its own regulatory factors. A majority of my respondents emphasized that when talking with any person using a mobile device, they are indeed engaged in a communicative environment, the context of which has its own regulatory parameters, such as emoticons, pictures, sound files, text files, tweets, and so on. A majority of the respondents insisted that they feel more secure when using their mobile devices, implying that they become different individuals when doing so, and that this sudden role change occurs due to the contextual environment in which they are engaged. This study emphasizes that the technological context is the product of instant collaboration between two or more communicators in a real-time situation. I argue that technological meanings are produced solely in a technological context and, thus, their facilitating environments differ from those found in the real world.

This article adopts a critical approach to public relations by applying a new model for analysing public relations discourse in the context of the Kuwaiti Police. It further attempts to apply a new pragmatic framework that might provide a new alternative for analysing public relations practices thus shedding more light on this professional area. Hence, it is suggested in this article that the use of Sharifian’s cultural pragmatic framework could be effective in anchoring overarching meanings in public relations discourse. Three Officers from the Kuwaiti Police were consequently interviewed for this study, with their interviews being analysed in light of the new framework, thereby exploring the issue of cultural influence in public relations discourse and testing the efficacy of applying the new framework on public relation practices. The application of this framework subsequently generates four themes related to Police public relations discourse.