Learning to speak a language does not necessarily mean learning to realize all the phonemes of that language. When a sound does not exist in a speakers' mother tongue, s/he tends to use a phonotactic; hence, either replacing the sound with another that might sound similar, eliminating the sound, or adding a sound to make it possible to realize. In some cases, the orthography of the target language causes confusion and is considered misleading to non-native speakers. There are only 6 vowels in Arabic phonetics, long and short. Yet, there are 20 phonetic vowel symbols in Received Pronunciation, and 16 in General American. The following study investigates the realization of the English vowels by Kuwaiti speakers, and the effect of orthography on such realizations. 64 male and female Kuwaiti speakers are recorded reading 55 words and 10 sentences. The data obtained was analyzed by Praat (qualitative data), and SPSS (quantitative data). Focus group interviews were also conducted to gain further insight into the topic. It was found that not only do the speakers replace the vowels that do not exist in Arabic, but they also mispronounce vowels that exist in Arabic as they are negatively affected by the English orthography.

Gender and teaching are gaining increasing attention in the field of higher education. The significance of teacher gender seems even more crucial in an environment based on gender segregation. In the scope of language teaching and gender, this study investigates the influence of gender on the students' selection of teachers in general, and language teachers more specifically. The participants, 146 English major students in an all-female college of education, were given a questionnaire of 32 statements--to be answered on a 5-point likert scale--and four open-ended questions; all of which aim at examining the difference between male and female English language teachers in terms of attitude, grades, teaching and even appearance. The statistics were analyzed in terms of frequency, mean and variance in correlation with the independent variables of age, social status, GPA and years in college. It was found that most students prefer male teachers as they believe that the positive personal traits of the male teachers far exceed those of the female teachers. Nonetheless, the statistics have revealed that both genders (and sometimes female more than male teachers) are good language teachers. Hence, reflecting the main finding: gender is not a criterion for good language teaching, but it is our students' criterion for choosing a language teacher.

<p>Sociolinguistic studies on code switching have been of interest to educationists; especially when code switching occurs in schools among students. This study aims at analyzing the extensive amount of code switching between students studying in the French School of Kuwait, their preferences of code-switching, choice of language, and frequency of use of each language. The study is based on the data obtained from two questionnaires distributed to teachers and students; in addition to observation and note taking of conversations between students during home time—when the students were waiting to be picked up. It was found that, to students, code switching is a favorable social behavior, students mainly switch to Arabic and English, while French is considered the language of the school medium. The study also indicates that teachers and parents are agents that either encourage or discourage students’ code switching.<strong></strong></p>

Messaging through smart phones has become a vital method of communication. In the light of the use of emojis in messages, the following paper investigates the reasons and methods of the use of different emojis by college students in academic related settings. The study was implemented in the college of Basic Education in Kuwait. The participants, 163 male and female students, answered a questionnaire on the importance of emojis, the context of use, and the way they are used. In addition, some of the students were interviewed to elicit more information on the use of emojis. After the analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data, the researchers found that the use of emojis by students is highly important in the discussion of college-related topics. They are used as a safe vehicle to reflect criticism and negative comments in an authority-free setting.Whether they are used individuallyor in clusters, they carry a bundle of meaning.

Language attitudes have been addressed by many studies, and the importance of accent choice is one of the attitudes investigated, yet scarcely by EFL educationists. The current study investigates the conscious choice of the American accent by Kuwaiti speakers of English as a foreign language and the importance of accent over other language aspects such as grammar, vocabulary and style as perceived by students. 67 female informants from the College of Basic Education, who are to become potential English teachers and speak with an American-like accent, participated in this study. The informants were given a questionnaire, and after obtaining their consent, their speech was recorded during in-class presentations. Some of the informants were interviewed to elaborate further on the importance of acquiring an American accent. The data was analyzed quantitatively through SPSS (mean and frequency) and qualitatively (through general sociolinguistic and phonetic analysis), and it suggests that most participants believe that achieving an American accent is prestigious and "cool" and more important than developing grammatical and lexical skills.