Who am I?

• I am a PhD. Composition & TESOL candidate at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA.
• I am originally from the Syrian Arab Republic.
  
• This Fall 2009 semester is my last semester of coursework.
• My tentative dissertation title is:
  
  

An Examination of Teachers’ and Inspectors’ Interactive Relationships, Beliefs and Attitudes in the Syrian EFL Context

• In this prospective mainly qualitative research:

1. I attempt to explore English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teacher evaluation in Syria, or "inspection" as I will refer to it throughout this research, which is a closer equivalent to the Arabic term than are “evaluation” and “supervision” though they are used interchangeably and done by the same person; namely, al-Muwajjih al-Ikhtisasi or the educational supervisor.
2. I want to problematize and challenge the relationships between in-service Syrian high school EFL teachers and educational inspectors and the beliefs and perceptions that each has of the other.
   
3. Special attention will be given to the theory-practice divide on the part of inspectors, as well as the effects it has on teachers, and consequently on teachers’ professional development and students’ learning.