The Jordanian Ministry of Higher Education has recently released general guidelines for universities to adhere to in online education. Applying a student-centered approach in online learning was highly stressed in the ministry’s guidelines. In response to the ministry’s vision, the present study aims at investigating the effectiveness of online education in promoting student-centered learning at three Jordanian universities (two private and one public). One hundred and nine translation senior students were surveyed on their perception of the application of a student-centered approach in the translator training programs. The questionnaires were designed in open format items on which respondents were required to comment freely. However, data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. As the ratio of male students to female students in the programs is almost 3:7, the responses received from female students were almost three-folds the responses received from male students. The results of the study revealed that male and female students responded positively on four of the seven questioned aspects and negatively on three of them, with no gender-based statistically significant difference in the responses. The positive perceptions in online learning pertain to autonomy and responsibility, translation authentic projects, absence of teacher-centered learning and reflection of students on their own learning, while the drawbacks were reflected in areas related to teamwork, peer review, and time management.   Received: 23 June 2021 / Accepted: 2 September 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021

This study assesses the reflection of Middle Eastern media networks on the states and the news concerning the oil crisis and Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) conditions. A critical discourse analysis approach is adopted to analyze 22 articles from Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya regarding the Qatar withdrawal from OPEC. The ideological choices vary as Al Jazeera is focused on the Qatar economy, while Al Arabiya on Saudi Arabia. These online publications have presented a positive self-presentation of their funded country while the negative representation of the other. Al Jazeera has pointed that the exit of Qatar from the OPEC is to focus on its other non–oil production sector, while Al Arabiya has pointed that this exit is due to the primary role of Saudi Arabia, with which Qatar has an on-going conflict. Qatar is symbolic to broaden regional division, which may later diffuse to other OPEC members and will leave no mark on the decision-making process of the alliance.

The study aims to identify the perceptions of university students of Jordan towards the role of internet in learning and improving their understanding of Englishes and English language skills. The study followed a cross-sectional study design and a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 181 university level students studying in different public and private sector universities. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to present the findings. Results of the analysis indicated marked positive perceptions of students towards the role of internet in learning Englishes and language skills. Majority of students, considered internet as a useful tool and a learning platform that could help them in understanding and identifying the differences between British and American Englishes. Besides, most of the responses indicated an insignificant relation between students’ perceptions of World Englishes and the role of internet. Jordanian University students discovered the potential importance of internet in learning English language skills and World Englishes and, therefore, internet is considered helpful in developing their self-learning skills, self-confidence, and it also influences their learning attitude, and strengthens their linguistic skills. 

The combination of Critical Discourse Analysis and verbal violence is an entirely new field that needs to be widely explored and this study takes an in-depth dive into this using the literature, ‘Merchant of Venice' by one of the canons of literature, William Shakespeare. In doing this, this study identifies verbally abusive speeches from the text, categorizes and analyzes them to reveal the common patterns of violence in the speeches of abusers. This analysis aims to reveal the structure abusers use and the effect that verbal abuses have on their victims. Following the tradition of Critical Discourse, the study investigates, in an exegetical pattern, how violence in the form of verbal expression can cause harm. This is situated within the context William Shakespeare’s, ‘Merchant of Venice'—these investigations are done using the social and cultural realities/contexts within which Shakespeare wrote his story/narration. Seeing “Discourse” as a social critical theory that emphasizes the place of language in the making of ideas within society, Critical Discourse Analysis [especially as used within the current study] investigates language within Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’ and insists that language plays a viable role in society’s communication patterns, and as such, should be taken seriously in the critique of verbal violence within Shakespeare’s corpus—as this critique is being appropriated within current times.

Lack of sex-disaggregated data on internet and mobile phone access are among the key barriers to measure the progress in development goals that call for gender equality in access to the internet. Objective: The present study aims to investigate the language features that are used by females and males’ friends when posting on their timelines on Facebook. The present study has employed cross-sectional design by collecting a sample of 270 randomly selected Facebook profiles using SurveyMonkey. Chi-square analysis has been used to analyze the conceptual framework. The study has found that the behavior of female users was much higher towards the communication features, language features, and social behavior as compared to the behavior of male users. The study enlarged into the understanding of Facebook as an online platform from the perspectives of Jordanian users. The study confirms the popularity of Facebook as an outlet of psychological and social expression for gender-associated behavior in the context of Jordan.