Bridging the Gap Between Education and Employment ― English Language Instruction in Efl Contexts

Graduate employability is often put forth as a marker of the success of a given institution or education system. High rates of school and university graduates in jobs offer a number of potential advantages for a country, including encouraging social mobility, increasing citizen participation and social stability, and making national economies more productive. The importance of achieving these and many other associated outcomes has recently received greater attention in many developing nations; this is especially the case in those countries where English assumes an important role as a mediator of educational and economic success. A number of authors claim that the gap between education, training and employment can be closed through the development of academic and employment skills such as motivation, time management, literacy and communication competence. This book explores the ways in which communication and literacy skills can be developed through English language instruction in EFL settings to help bring together the aims and outcomes of education and employment.

Rahma Al-Mahrooqi, PhD, is an Associate Professor of English at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), Oman, where she also directs the Humanities Research Centre. Among her many positions, she has coordinated tertiary English courses and an ESP program for SQU’s College of Science and, for almost four years, she was SQU’s Language Centre Director. Dr. Al-Mahrooqi has published widely on English language teaching and learning in Oman with major focus areas in teaching and reading, literature, and English communication skills.
Christopher Denman, DEd, is a researcher at Sultan Qaboos University’s Humanities Research Centre. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology in addition to a MEd and a EdD which focused on Arab Muslim identity and English language learning and teaching. He has previously taught at primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in South Korea, Japan, and Australia. His research interests include language and identity and education policy.