Essay Sample on Hypothesis Testing: My Educational Experience in the US and Saudi Arabia

The first hypothesis states that there would be a strong correlation between the years of residency of students in the US and how uncomfortable Saudi students who are working in the classroom with an opposite gender and how uncomfortable the Saudi students working in pairs or small groups with students of the opposite gender. It was tested using the quantitative survey where the students were to answer questions. An example of such as the number 11 question that ‘my ESL teacher in the US encourage contrasting opinions and points of view more than my Saudi teacher’ and #14 that required the students to comment on whether ‘ their ESL teachers in the United States encouraged more verbal responses from the students the their Saudi counterparts’.

Following the analysis on the available studies on the subject through the belief held by the literature, ESL teachers based in the US encouraged verbal communication to and with the students. On the other hand it was different in Saudi Arabia where the classroom lessons were not student-focussed as it was teacher-focused and the objectives were memorization of the language. The hypothesis was also designed to test ‘US ESL are far better versed in student-focussed pedagogies than their Saudi counterparts.’ the formulated hypothesis was proven to be true that the majority of the participants said that the teachers from the US encouraged verbal communication by emphasizing on participation more than the Saudi counterparts. Generally more than half of the participants agreed with this statement.

The second hypothesis stated’ there would be a strong correlation between English teachers in the US do a better job of meeting my specific language needs than do the Saudi English teachers.’ the other hypothesis states ‘ Saudi students ESL teachers in the US use much wider range of materials in class than Saudi ESL English teachers’. Also question # 13 stated ‘Saudi ESL teachers in the US encourage the students to out additional information on topics from the library, internet and many other sources more than the Saudi ESL teachers.’ The second hypothesis was tested using cumulative survey by questionnaires. The question #16 focused on obtaining information in regard to ‘uncomfortable working in the classroom with an instructor from the opposite gender’ The questionnaire also asked the students to respond to #17 which stated that ‘uncomfortable working in pairs or small groups with students of the opposite gender’.

There results indicate that there is a balance between those who supported that students are ok with different sex teachers in the classroom and those that were against this claim. To the students learning English as their second language from Saudi Arabia the gender of the teacher is important. The female Saudi were found to be gender selective but not male counterparts.

The third hypothesis stated that ‘There would be a strong correlation between the Saudi student overall education experience in the US if it has been similar to the education experience in Saudi Arabia’ and the other question in the questionnaire stated ‘the learning environment in the US is much less structured than in Saudi classroom’ (#18). This was vested using the quantitative survey. Hypothesis stated that ‘ My ESL teacher in the US use a much wider range of materials in class than my teacher.’ the other read ‘English teachers in the US used visual aids and other real objects to help make connections with the language more than in Saudi English teachers (#19). The finding was that this is partially true. The opinions are polarized between those that believe that the teachers use teaching aids and those that do not.

By use of the hypothesis it helps correct some of the beliefs. For instance in the questionnaire #6 stated that’ my overall educational experience here in the United States has been very similar to my education in Saudi Arabia. Hence by use of this hypothesis there are conclusions that can be made.