International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Review

This paper highlights the findings of a study conducted on a sample of tertiary- level students who study English as a foreign language in a Foundation-Level in an Arabic context. The aim of the study was to explore how diversity of college-provided options influence students’ academic decisions and making them reluctant to join the college-English track where the medium of instruction is English, which has consequently led to a noticeable dramatic decline of the number of students registering in the English track and to a remarkable increase in the number of students in the Arabic Track where all the college courses in all majors are taught in Arabic. The sample of the study consisted of 303 female and male students enrolling in Foundation Level 2 in the Community College of Qatar. To achieve the aim of the study, the researcher specifically created a four-Likert questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 65 items distributed to four main domains: 1. Factors related to the students’ themselves: their goals, peer-influence, their parents….etc ( items from 1-17). 2. Factors related to English Language Center, the Foundation Program: textbooks, teachers, environment, policies and rules, etc.(Items from 18-50). 3. Factors related to logistic issues (Items from 51-57). 4. Factors related to the Arabic track in Lusail (Items from 58-65). The statistical analysis conducted on the data obtained from students’ responses to the questionnaire revealed some factors that make students join the Arabic track, such as feeling relaxed in a classroom where the mode of instruction is Arabic, studying in Arabic independently is easier than studying subjects in English independently, getting bored and stressed because of the intensity of the courses in the English track, feeling that they are not well-prepared in Levels 1 and 2 to help them study Level 3 and 4 successfully, and studying very few study skills in the foundation level. They do not study note-taking, problem solving strategies, critical thinking, academic English, and English for specific purposes that can help them to study interdisciplinary subjects in the English track.