Manssour Habbash – PhD Education
Studying for my Ph.D. at the University of Exeter has developed my personal and practical skills. With endless support from my supervisor – Dr. Salah Troudi, professional level staff and experienced lecturers, I was able to join many training sessions to improve my presentation skills, academic writing and time management, to name but a few. I found it interesting and motivating to share my work with my fellow research students in the TESOL department at the University of Exeter. During the course of this journey, I was given many chances to present my work at local and international conferences. The gains from sharing my work with the wider audience were tremendous and invaluable. These exceptional experiences not only gave me insights into my work but also gave me a good idea about what it means to be part of the wider academic community.
As a recent graduate of the University of Exeter with a Ph.D. in Education (TESOL), I have gained invaluable insights that enabled me to face the challenge of blending research philosophy with methodology to investigate questions related to ELT education policy and practice. The programme also contributed to narrowing the gap in my knowledge between theory and practice in teaching English as an international language.
But being a student at the University of Exeter isn't just about getting a good degree. As a member of the university community, I was given the opportunity to create a society for Saudi students, with the aim of introducing my Saudi culture and raising cultural awareness among our peer students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. As a volunteer head teacher of the Saudi school in Exeter which had over 50 students at different levels and with ages varying between 6 to 15 year old, I led a campaign to open a weekend school with the aim of teaching Arabic to Arab children living with parents who normally study or work at the University of Exeter. I was extremely happy to see those children being granted the right to learn in their mother tongue. All this would not have been possible without strong support from my supervisor and staff at the University at all levels.
Looking forward, throughout my future life and career, my newly accumulated ‘research hunch’ will continue zooming in and out on new areas within English language education and the wider critical applied linguistics field.
