<em>This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the sixth semester of applied linguistics in the English studies track in preparing students for the job market in Morocco. A questionnaire survey was conducted with alumni of the program to assess the extent to which the program facilitated their employment, career advancement, and fulfillment of professional expectations. The results revealed that involving alumni in the development and renewal of the track is crucial. However, a significant number of participants expressed dissatisfaction with the current curriculum, citing difficulties in professional integration. The findings suggest that incorporating practical training and offering more elective courses could better equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in the job market. Based on these findings, the paper concludes with recommendations for enhancing the English studies track, including the routine evaluation of academic programs to align with market needs and promote curriculum changes and innovations. It is believed that these recommendations will ultimately improve students' professional integration in the job market.</em>

The study investigates the factors that inspire Moroccans to engage in both online and offline civic efforts. The inquiry targeted demographics, frequency of Facebook use, the influence of online engagement on participation in real life and the main motivations behind Moroccan civic engagement online. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were adopted to collect and analyze both primary and secondary data. An online survey was administered to (n=277) participants through Facebook targeting the general public of Moroccan Facebook users to collect primary data. Secondary data was collected via semi-structured interviews with (n=3) social activists to provide a comprehensive view of both normal citizens and people who can be considered specialists in the field. The findings revealed the extent to which Moroccans’ usage of Facebook influences their engagement both online and offline, indicating that social media use for civic purposes is significantly related to offline participation. Despite that, higher levels of the so-called “slacktivism” behaviors dominate Moroccans’ civic activities performed on Facebook. Findings in general support the fact that Facebook plays a significant role in the development of civic engagement in Morocco.

No abstract

This article purports to examine how the expectations of the educational reforms in Moroccan higher education have impacted the teaching and testing of tertiary level grammar. In particular, the hypothesis we defend here is that teaching and testing tertiary level grammar remain constant; therefore, the impact of the various reforms on tertiary level testing is of little consequence. In pursuance of this aim, this paper uses a qualitative approach and content analysis method of the course descriptions of the grammar courses that were suggested across the various reforms. The course descriptions we attempt to analyze are adopted in the English Studies tracks of four major departments in Moroccan universities. The main dimensions that we look at and examine here as the measures for our comparative evaluation are; course objectives, time allotted, the syllabi they contain, teaching methodology, and evaluation modes. The findings confirm that the various reforms, have had little impact on the teaching and testing of grammar in higher education. The paper concludes by suggesting a few pedagogical recommendations vis-à-vis the teaching and testing of grammar in Moroccan Departments of English studies.

The present study examines the role of an intensive phonics-based online reading program in developing decoding skills among a group of low-intermediate adult learners. All the participants taking part in this experiment are defined as low-level, or struggling, readers. A lexical-decision task is administered to a total of twenty-four students divided into two main groups: treatment and control groups. The administration of the computer-based test is twofold and is done over two main phases: pre- and post-intervention. The online reading intervention, which is tailored to cover English orthographic knowledge and sound processing of high and low frequency words, is exclusively designed for the experimental group for four weeks. The intervention group demonstrates a significant improvement in spelling skills, reading speed and phoneme awareness. The results, on the one hand, suggest the importance of L2 print exposure which fosters phonological processing skills. On the other hand, the findings show that word identification processes operate at a pre-lexical access stage and are rudimentary to recognize and activate a lexical item.