Motivating EFL students to develop in the target language is quite complex. In many cases, these students face difficulties in learning English and are often demotivated to learn. Research in classroom motivation has found that certain strategies can help these students adopt more positive attitudes and become more motivated in the learning process. This exploratory study investigates the perceptions through interviewing students and surveying teachers' views in an EFL Program of the problems that hinder these students' learning in the English classes related to motivation. Findings show that learners are not motivated to learn English because of an over-focus on writing skills with very little new learning experiences, uninteresting materials, and unclear links between language courses and their majors or future careers. Results also indicate that teachers complain of unmotivated students and pre-structured syllabi leaving little room for communicative methods. Implications are made for the classroom.

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This paper reports on the multilingual background, language education policies and practices in Lebanon. Specifically, it shows how the multilingual makeup in the country is translated into language policies in schools. A survey of 30 private school principals, middle managers and teachers was administered online to obtain their views on school policies, problems, successes, concerns and quality ranking. Results showed that a great deal of work has been done to introduce a language of instruction and a third language as decreed by the Ministry of Education and at the same time keep the national language, Arabic, alive. The main concerns of the participants were the need for teacher training programmes and resources. Although the research implies that the school systems, in keeping up with this multilingual milieu, could be contributing to the death of the national language as well as producing students who are not fluent in any of the languages, there continues to be an attempt to keep alive a quality multilingual educational context which contributes to a cohesive society.Keywords Lebanon Á Language education policies and practices Á Online survey K-12 grade private schools Á Language use Arabic Á English Á French Á Teaching methods Á Multilingualism Résumé Tendances et pratiques dans l'éducation multilingue au Liban : étude de cas -Cet article présente le contexte multilingue du Liban ainsi que ses politiques et pratiques linguistiques dans l'éducation. Les auteures analysent plus spécifiquement dans quelle mesure la nature multilingue du pays se reflète dans les politiques linguistiques de l'enseignement. Une enquête a été effectuée en ligne auprès de 30 chefs d'établissements privés, gestionnaires moyens et enseignants, en vue d'obtenir leurs opinions sur les politiques, obstacles, succès, préoccupations et niveaux de qualité scolaires. Les résultats montrent que de nombreux efforts ont été déployés pour introduire une langue d'enseignement et une troisième langue, selon une décision du ministère de l'É ducation, tout en cultivant l'arabe, langue nationale. Les principales préoccupations des participants portent sur le besoin en programmes et en ressources pour la formation des enseignants. Bien que l'étude laisse supposer que le système scolaire, en s'alignant sur cet environnement multilingue, participe éventuellement à la disparition de la langue nationale et à la formation de jeunes qui ne maîtrisent aucune de ces langues, l'effort accompli pour conserver une structure éducative multilingue de qualité, qui contribue à la cohésion de la société, est visible.Zusammenfassung Multilinguale Bildungstrends und -praxis im Libanon: Eine Fallstudie -In diesem Artikel geht es um den multilingualen Hintergrund sowie um Politik und Praxis des Sprachunterrichts im Libanon. Insbesondere wird aufgezeigt, wie der Umgang mit Sprachen an Schulen durch die sprachliche Vielschichtigkeit des Landes geprägt wird. In einer Online-Umfrage unter 30 Schulleitern, mittleren Führungskräften und Lehrkräften an Privatschulen wurden de...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine students’ and instructors’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of implementing active learning strategies in higher education courses conducted at a tertiary institution in Lebanon. Design/methodology/approach – Pre-service education students completed a questionnaire, professors were interviewed, and class sessions were observed. Findings – Main findings indicate that the majority of the learners as well as the instructors favoured active learning and are strong proponents of putting into effect this approach in all their courses. These findings indicate the positive perceptions towards active learning strategies and the possible impact that these perceptions have on students’ performance and learning. Research limitations/implications – Three major limitations have influenced the efficiency of this study. The number of participants is rather small. Only 37 education students were involved in this study. Furthermore, an additional limitation is that all the participants were females. Yet, it is worth noting that the majority of the students, who are majoring in education at that particular university, are females. Finally, it is worth mentioning that one of the researchers conducted the non-participant observations which might have influenced the data in one way or another. Practical implications – Implications from the results of the study are far reaching. A major implication is for the programmes to reconsider the organization of the classrooms to have rooms that allows for cooperative and group work. Also, classroom organization should be student centred with the teacher’s place not necessarily at the front of the room but possibly at different places in the room or even sitting with the student for some of the assignments. A second implication is that the classroom is to be viewed as a learning situation where the teacher is a guide, a facilitator in the teaching/learning context which would be blended with the lecture method when needed. A further implication is that teacher professional development is a priority for the agenda of educational institutions to help promote teaching effectiveness of this clearly important active learning. After all, the students are doing the learning and the teachers need to guide them in this process. Originality/value – The main value of this paper is to encourage university faculty members to change their teaching methods in order to engage and motivate learners.

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