FACILITY WITH THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE AND PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING GROUP-INTERACTION - FINDINGS FROM AN ARABIC SETTING

The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), United Arab Emirat es (UAE) University is in a unique position to explore issues related to English language proficiency and medical student performance. All s tudents entering the FMHS have English as a second language. This stud y focused on the issues of students' proficiency in English as measure d by the TOEFL test, student background factors and interaction in pro blem-based learning (PBL) groups. Using a modification of Bales Intera ction Process Analysis, four problem-based learning groups were observ ed over four thematic units, to measure the degree of student interact ion within PBL groups and to compare this to individual TOEFL scores a nd key background variables. The students' contributions correlated hi ghly with TOEFL test results in the giving of information (range r = 0 .67-0.74). The female students adhered to interacting in English durin g group sessions, whereas the male students were more likely to revert to using Arabic in elaborating unclear phenomena (p < 0.01). The educ ational level of the student's mother was highly predictive of TOEFL s cores for the male students, but not for female students. Multivariate analysis was undertaken to analyse the relative contribution of the T OEFL, parental education and years of studying in English. The best pr edictor of students' contributions in PBL groups was identified as TOE FL scores. The study demonstrates the importance of facilitating a loc ally acceptable level of English proficiency prior to admission to the FMHS. However, it also highlights the importance of not focusing only on English proficiency but paying attention to additional factors in facilitating medical students in maximizing benefits from interactions in PBL settings.