Graduate Students’ Critical Online Discourse: Sharing Insights on Social Class, Gender, and English Education L. Fredricks American University in Cairo/Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Cairo, Egypt
Abstract— Online forums are frequently used to supplement face-to-face courses. These forums can serve as a bridge to in-class discussions and offer students another mode for synthesizing and debating important concepts. For teacher education programs, there is potential, within online forums, to contribute and debate professional insights on English as a Foreign language education. However, there is little research on how these discussions might promote critical reflection in teacher education settings. Thus, the current study explores Egyptian and American English teachers’/graduate students’ online discussions of critical topics. Index Terms— English as a Foreign Language, Teacher Education, Critical Discourse Analysis.
I. INTRODUCTION In English language education, there is often a call for teachers to explore social and political concerns and to examine how these concerns relate to their own educational context [1] [2]. Such an exploration would involve critical self-reflection and ongoing questioning of one’s practices, especially regarding issues of power and equity in education [3]. As a result, TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) teacher training programs frequently offer courses, readings, projects, and activities that are used to facilitate critical inquiry. One option for initiating critical discussion is by using the various kinds of online formats. II.
LITERATURE REVIEW
TESOL professionals often discuss a growing need for critical perspectives in teacher education [4]. Reference [5] asserts that criticality is essential to teacher education programs because there is an inherent connection between language, identity, and culture. The connection places language teachers in a position of power. This allows them to “address educational inequality, both because of the particular learners they serve, many of whom are marginalized members of the wider community, and because of the subject matter they teach --language-which can itself serve to both empower and marginalize” [5, p. 2]. The process of critical self reflection involves investigating “the relationship between the individual and the social world, highlighting both constraints on and possibilities for social change” [5 , p. 5]. Student teachers might discuss concerns such as economic inequities or disparities in language statuses (between English and Arabic, for example). In doing so, they might further
reflect on how these issues are interrelated with their own social standing and the implications for their practice. Reference [6] sees criticality as resulting from “collective questioning, criticism, and creativity” and view criticality as inherently social [6, p. 62]. In their view, this is “partly because relations to others influence the individual, and partly because certain of these activities (particularly thinking in new ways) arise from an interaction with challenging alternative views” [6, p. 62]. Such interaction could occur in either face-to-face or online settings. Reference [7] takes a similar stance on critical discourse. According to them [7], facilitating higher-order learning involves “systematic and sustained critical discourse where dissonance and problems are resolved through exploration” [7, p. 21]. In addition, critical online discussion should entail “interactions between the public shared world and the private reflective world” [7]. Students must perceive the online forum as an environment in which they can comfortably challenge and be challenged by each other [8]. Despite the perceived benefits, designing and maintaining an engaging, comfortable forum can be difficult. In a case study of distance learning with graduate students, reference [9] found that misunderstandings can occur in which students view critiques as personal attacks. The findings also showed that students rarely challenged their peers so that, like several similar studies, the overall instances of debate were minimal [10, 11, 12]. As a result, reference [9] suggests making the discussion component of the course more manageable (possibly less time consuming) in relation to other course requirements. They further recommend that the online discussions be highly structured with well defined roles for the facilitator and participants [9]. It is also possible that the aforementioned challenges may be less prevalent in blended courses. In blended classes the online discussion may be linked to in-class critical discourse and aided by the personalization from face-to-face interactions. Moreover, in teacher education programs, students may be more motivated as they could use online tools for their own instruction. In general, the overall continued popularity of online learning suggests a need for further investigation into the potential for criticality. In many university contexts, online resources are increasingly used to complement to face-to-face courses [13]. Online forums, such as Blackboard or Moodle, can extend discussions beyond the in-class context, providing additional opportunities for contributing new ideas,
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debating, and synthesizing course concepts. Though this is often the case with graduate courses, little research has been conducted to explore online discourse in the field of teacher education, particularly for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers [14]. Yet within online forums, some teacher educators have already seen how students can engage in critical discussions about professional and personal experiences [15]. As the field of EFL teaching is international in scope, social and cultural topics frequently surface in these forums. These are often tied to the literature on critical issues in English language education which focus on how social and political power influence language acquisition [16]. As a result, the current study was designed to investigate how TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) graduate students deal with and share their insights on these critical topics. III. METHODOLOGY This study explored TEFL graduate students’ participation in critical discussions online. The following questions were explored: (1) In what ways might TEFL students engage in critical discussion and reflection in an online forum? (2) How do participants frame their contributions?, and (3) What presuppositions emerge and are explored? The weekly asynchronous discussions, which took place in Blackboard forums, spanned an academic term and involved master’s level courses. The forums were a component of face-to-face courses in which students were encouraged to discuss topics related to course content and readings. The data in this article has been extracted from a larger data set of a two-year analysis of TEFL students’ participation in critical online discourse. The selected excerpts are of nine Egyptian and American students enrolled in two Second Language Acquisition (SLA) courses. These courses are referred to as M.SLA and W.SLA. The participants were novice and experienced EFL (English as a Foreign Language) instructors. All of the names in this study are pseudonyms. Participants' nationalities (Egyptian (E) and American (A) and sexes (male (M) and female (F) are shown in the following table:
TABLE 1. PARTICIPANTS M.SLA EF AF EF
Fatima Myrnelle Salma
W.SLA EF EF AF AF AF AM
Dalia Reem Andrea Melanie Karen Erik
The data were analyzed using critical discourse analysis. Critical discourse analysis (or CDA) is concerned with issues of power and the ways in which language shapes and is influenced by social relationships. CDA “explores the connections between the use of language and the social and political contexts in which it occurs” [17]. Ultimately, researchers using CDA “are concerned with a critical theory of the social world” as
well as “the relationship of language and discourse in the construction and representation of the social world” [18]. During the analysis, I identified themes and ideological positions that were revised, rejected, or confirmed with further analysis. Following Fairclough’s well-known framework, I aimed to “(I) Identify the main parts of the world (including areas of social life) which are represented — the main `themes” and “(2) Identify the particular perspective or angle or point of view from which they are represented” [19, p.130]. As the students participated in the weekly forums, their posts reflected the values and experiences they brought to the discussions. When examining their posts, I analyzed the presuppositions, or assumptions, which are the “explicit and implicit background knowledge that the producer of the text offers the reader as the joint starting point for communication” [20] as well as the way the authors’ posts were framed. Framing refers to how an author chooses to present the content of a text and the author’s selected angle or perspective [17]. When framing a text, authors emphasize or foreground particular issues and downplay or background others [17]. Backgrounding can entail deemphasizing certain information or omitting it from the discussion altogether. For the topic of this particular week, the SLA students responded to a prompt on learner differences and challenges. The prompt included the following instructions: “Consider possible social, cultural and material challenges that may exist for Egyptian EFL learners and ways to tackle those challenges. For instance, do you think that there is an uneven distribution of resources for learners living in different areas or from different social classes? If so, what can EFL teachers do about it?...” I explained that “cultural challenges” could be “related to identifying with the cultures and/or speakers of the target language.” IV.
RESULTS
A. Explaining and Clarifying Details about the Local Context In many cases, the Egyptian graduate students shared lengthy posts with extensive detail on factors particular to the local context. At times, this was intended to provide background information for peers who may have not seen a wider range of educational contexts in Egypt. As the context of their graduate program was a private university, those who taught EFL only at that university and who had not studied in public institutions in Egypt often had less knowledge about public education. In the extract below, Fatima offers an in-depth description of the difference between EFL learners’ contexts based on factors including the region in which they study and the type of institution (governmental or private). One of Fatima’s comments consists of new information for Myrnelle who then prompts Fatima to clarify and elaborate on this point:
TABLE 2. EXTRACT 1: M.SLA Author: Fatima
Date: February 27, 2010 11:38 AM
There is definitely an uneven distribution of resources for Egyptian EFL learners living in different areas or from different social classes. As Farah pointed out, an example of this uneven
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distribution of resources is the type of schools ranging from governmental to international schools. Yet, there are other demographic factors that add to this uneven distribution. For example, students who go to governmental schools in big cities like Cairo might have better chances than students who go to governmental schools in Delta and Upper Egypt’s governorates. The ultimate objective of both teachers and students in these schools is getting a good score on the test not learning a language. Moreover, these students might be less intrinsically motivated than others in big cities due to the fact that they do not have a competitive job market. Most of them (especially girls) study to get a degree and work for the government. Working in the private sector is not one of their dreams. All of these facts turn the classroom into a set of instructions to study for the test. There is usually little, if not none, communicative interaction using L2. Sometimes, the teachers themselves are incapable of interacting in L2 as they are also the products of the same educational system. Author: Myrnelle
Date: February 27, 2010 6:51 PM
You mean to tell me that people dream of working for the government? Author: Fatima
Date: February 28, 2010 9:21 PM
categories. One category views those who are trying to speak native-like English as show-offs and starts to ridicule them, which hinders lots of students (especially middle and high-school students) from trying, and move on with their lives suffering the same embedded embarrassment…
Another category included those who viewed English as a means to gain advanced status (viewing English speakers as “socially superior”). In addition, Salma mentioned a third group comprised of those who view English in purely practical terms or as a means to obtain job-related opportunities. A similar point was made by Melanie, from the W. SLA course. In the excerpt below, Melanie describes how a friend shared his experience of being mocked by peers for speaking English. Melanie also describes how this perception is quite different amongst English learners in higher social classes by referencing students in her own private university setting. In this setting, where Melanie happens to teach EFL, speaking English is seen as “cool.”
Yes because they need to have a sense of security and this is what governmental posts might provide. TABLE 4. EXTRACT 3: W.SLA
Having built on another Egyptian student’s example (from an earlier post), Fatima foregrounded her knowledge of local schools. At this point in the discussion personal connections or potential solutions (the second part of the discussion prompt) are omitted. Fatima’s description includes some hedging with the modal “might” and some adverbs expressing frequency such as “usually” and “sometimes.” On the whole, however, her informative description paints a fairly bleak picture of the circumstances in public institutions. At this point, there is no personalization in these initial posts but Fatima’s description offers a useful level of detail. In this and other instances, Egyptian students offered specific contextual information on EFL in Egypt. As private school students, this knowledge was typically derived from what they had heard or read but not experienced themselves. While not connected to personal experiences, it served as a broad frame for their discussion. It also allowed less familiar students, like Myrnelle, to question their contributions. B. Discussing EFL Students’ Perspectives on English Use The graduate students also shared their understanding of how Egyptian EFL students perceive English usage. They identified categories that have emerged in their discussions with students. For instance, Salma, from the M.SLA course, described how some Egyptian EFL students view native-like speech as pretentious. In the following except, Salma explains how learners who attempt to speak in a native-like manner may be targets for criticism from peers:
TABLE 3. EXTRACT 2: M.SLA Author: Salma
Date: February 28, 2010 12:40 PM
…From what I have seen among EFL students in Egypt, there are
Author: Melanie
Date: March 9, 2010 11:04 AM
I was chatting with one of my male Arab friends the other day, and, shockingly enough, I brought up the subject of his English acquistion. I'm always insatiably curious to know how people accumulate such intricate knowledge of a foreign language. He told me his friends in high school, they always mocked him when he talked in English to other peers. "We're not American!" They scoffed, "Arabic's our language!" And so he stopped trying to practice Arabic with his friends and only used it in the classroom. Although this is not always the case, I think sometimes English use here is seen as arrogant, perhaps especially in the middle to lower classes. As {University Name} amply demonstrates, it is cool to use English, or at least thrust English words into an Arabic conversation. I don't notice this nearly as much when I am surrounded by Arabic from speakers of other classes. This does, I think relate to the Norton and Toohey article on power and identity, how, in this case, one's class faciliates one's ability to use a language and, especially, one's acceptance in using that language.
Melanie further related what she noticed in her own everyday academic environment to one of the course readings in which issues of social class and power were discussed. This type of intertextual referencing was a common characteristic of these students’ posts. These excerpts illustrate how students like Salma, Melanie, and others foregrounded their understanding of the complexities of English use in Egypt. They expressed valuable insight into the relationship between English use and cultural identity and social class. These later posts also differed in terms of the distancing seen at the beginning of the threads. While foregrounding experiences with English learners who are friends and acquaintances, Melanie’s post personalizes the discussion. However, as these contributions illustrate, there is not yet a mention of forum members as potential agents of change. Instead, at this stage, there is a detailed awareness of the local context. This awareness may be a preliminary step towards seeking solutions for social problems.
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C. Exploring the Impact of Social Class and Gender in English Courses The TEFL students continued to discuss the issue of social class when offering examples of how class membership affected students they knew or had heard about. In the following excerpt, Andrea, from W.SLA, described the difficulties a colleague’s student had faced based on that student’s accent. In this case, the student’s accent reflected the region from which that student came. In Egypt, this geographic prejudice and the rural versus urban distinction is linked to social class. Interestingly, Andrea contrasts this situation with what she perceives to be the basis for discrimination in the US. Yet she seems to depict a more favorable representation of the US-based scenario by attributing prejudice to potentially flexible factors including “what you can ‘bring to the table.” She also mitigates her statement about the US by prefacing her comment about clothing with “sometimes”:
TABLE 5. EXTRACT 4: W.SLA Author: Andrea
Date: March 9, 2010 10:39 AM
I think "social class" can be a large barrier. I recall someone last semester (I think it was a TEFL fellow) described how one of their students was repeatedly ostracized in and outside of class because of where they were from (geographically) in Egypt and because of her accent. That was different for me to encounter because in the US, you seem to be judge more by what you can "bring to the table" and sometimes including your physical appearance (including clothing). I don't know what happened to this particular student, but I can only imagine that their learning did not go as smoothly as those of their classmates who included each other in their daily classroom discourse.
Though she is reflective about what she has heard about discrimination in Egypt, Andrea does not critically reflect on how social class can lead to discrimination in the US. Her discussion could have included acknowledging that, in the US as well as Egypt, accent and regional distinctions are certainly important factors that affect how people are judged in academic, professional, and other contexts. In terms of framing her contribution to this topic, Andrea and others in her course foregrounded the role of social class in Egypt and backgrounded the influence of class in the US. Erik, from the same SLA course, also commented on critical factors that he believed could affect language learning. In the following extract, Erik commented on how both gender and social class may be relevant to acquisition. Prior to presenting his ideas on this issue, Erik prefaces his critical comments with a mitigating statement about his “love” for Egyptians. In his explanation of the impact of status and power, Erik then details the challenges of mixed-sex and mixed status groups, which he perceives as atypical in Egypt.
TABLE 6. EXTRACT 5: W.SLA Author: Erik
I love Egypt and I love Egyptians. These are my impressions, they might be wrong…{several lines omitted} Status and Power: Speaking to a room full of women, the obvious obstacle here is the gender issue. It's my understanding that most Egyptian education is sex segregated. So here I am, the male Egyptian EFL learner, and I have to redefine who I am in a context of the sex integrated classroom (in addition to learning). That's huge. And what if (God forbid) a woman might outperform me? That could potentially bring shame on me. What if someone from another economic class outperforms me? Are you saying that I, and Alexandrian, can't learn as well as this yahoo from Upper Egypt or this guy who can't afford a car? I think this is a problem.
In his post, Erik addresses his peers with “speaking to a room full of women” in an attempt to align with them. As the only male student in this course, Erik shares his critical commentary on what he perceives to be the challenge of mixed-sex classes. Erik presupposes agreement from his peers about “the obvious obstacle” of “the male Egyptian EFL learner” interacting with female students. He then makes similar critical statements about mixed-status EFL classes and, again, presupposes agreement that clashes would emerge. He was never challenged, online or in class, about his assumptions. In the next extract, Dalia, Karen, and Reem, from W.SLA, debate how technology might be used in this context of few materials and less fluent English teachers. Dalia initiated this discussion by explaining that nonfluent teachers might struggle when using CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) as opposed to drills and other more teacher-controlled forms of instruction. She adds that technology can be used to encourage those teachers to use more communicative methods. Dalia then adds that the increasing number of international schools in major cities has led to more proficient teachers, mentioning that this is not the case outside of cities. At this point in the discussion, Dalia displays an awareness of economic disparities based on region. However, she then adds that online learning is “the only solution” for the disproportion of resources. This latter point could illustrate a lack of understanding of the disparities within her immediate context, Cairo, in which many schools do not have computers and internet access. However, Dalia’s post could also be based on her presupposing that learners of the lowest social classes are not relevant to this discussion. An American student, Karen, challenges Dalia’s views by referring to a course reading which does not mention technology as necessary for acquisition. Karen also backgrounds the issue of poor economic conditions in schools by claiming that “all the technology and resources” are not vital if schools have “good teachers” who she describes as “creative, dedicated, and innovative.” According to Karen, these teachers can “run a successful classroom with very little material.” Like Dalia, Karen backgrounds the reality of poor economic conditions but does this by foregrounding the role of teachers as the primary necessity for students to acquire a language. Karen’s shift in focus to the need for “good teachers” further implies that students’ lack of success would stem solely from the teachers’ inability to provide high quality instruction.
Date: March 9, 2010 11:20 AM
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Finally, Reem responds to Karen, adding that “an innovative and dedicated teacher can compensate the lack of other resources.” In this way, Reem aligns with Karen’s views and the issue of schools with few resources is downplayed even further:
TABLE 7. EXTRACT 6: W.SLA Author: Dalia
Date: March 8, 2010 12:56 PM
Reem, another important reason for not applying the CLT approach in Egyptian English language schools is that non-native SL teachers who are not very proficient in the SL might have difficulty teaching some of the characteristics of CLT effectively. Some nonnative speaking teachers find drills, rehearsed exercises, discussions of grammatical rules etc. much simpler than designing techniques to engage learners in the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes. However, I believe that technology such as the internet, computer software, audiotapes etc. can help such teachers in applying CLT. Also, in the past few years, Egypt has witnessed a remarkable increase in the number of proficient non-native English teachers, especially with the growing number of International schools. This will bring us to the issue of the uneven distribution of such schools. Unfortunately, the access to international schools is only available to upper-class residents of Cairo and Alexandria. I believe that the only solution for such uneven distribution of resources is to go online. Online learning works perfectly for high school stage, but my only concern is for Kindergarten and elementary stages. A big challenge! Author: Karen
Date: March 9, 2010 1:15 AM
There is no doubt that there is an uneven distribution of resources when it comes to EFL students in Egypt (and probably most other countries). However, we just read an entire chapter on “what makes a good language learner” and yet none of the variables listed said “must be exposed to the best technology and textbooks money can buy”. I truly believe that a creative, dedicated and innovative teacher can run a successful classroom with very little material. Dalia mentioned all different types of technology that have been developed recently and it makes me wonder, in the big picture, how much difference does all the technology and resources make in SLA? In my opinion, a lack of resources does not have to become a barrier to motivating students. However, if you consider a lack of good teachers a “material challenge” then I suppose that is a whole other issue. Author: Reem
Date: March 9, 2010 4:30 PM
I agree with you Karen that an innovative and dedicated teacher can compensate the lack of other resources. That is why I mentioned that those who are not instrinsicly motivated, but blessed with a Good teacher can progress a lot in acquiring the language. However, we need a lot of teacher training programs to guide teahers and help them make the learning process in the class a success.
Details about the actual conditions in poorer schools with few resources are not inquired about or discussed in this exchange. This is likely because it is not within the realm of these students’ experience. As graduate students from more affluent social classes, these student teachers have generally not attended or worked in public schools in lower income areas. Though this is the case, there is much discussion of Cairo’s overall economic situation in news sources to which these students are exposed. In addition,
when driving through the city, the issue of poverty in Cairo and social class distinctions is quite tangible. Relating this economic issue to the context of teaching and learning was likely less explored because of these students’ work experiences and their own socioeconomic status. V. DISCUSSION Ultimately, the online portion of the courses was a somewhat useful introduction to critical issues and there was, at times, student-initiated critical reflection and discussion. In some instances, students like Salma and Fatima provided important details about the different contexts of teaching and learning in Egypt. This offered useful background knowledge for the others, most of whom were not familiar with the situation in government schools. On the other hand, there also seemed to be a distancing between the TEFL graduate students and the observations they shared. Some reported significant details about education in Egypt but did not relate to them personally. Other students, including Melanie and Andrea, shared examples from friends about the challenges learners from lower social classes face. Though they had learned from these friends’ stories, they did not relate them to working with their own students or to their own context of learning -in prior or current academic environments. Other students, such as Erik, participated in tentative but critical speculation about the local context and invited clarification or even criticism from peers. Erik had limited experience as a teacher and was fairly new to Egypt at the time. Like many American students, he was eager to learn more about education in Egypt. As it was useful for our continued discussion on these issues, his post and others like it were discussed in the following face-to-face sessions. There were some cases in which students discussed taking on a new perspective. For instance, in the following extract, Karen makes an intertextual connection to the reading for that week and her own reflective ideas. She shares what she describes as a new insight for her which is the notion of “identity and power affecting SLA.” This idea was presented in the article through the story of an English language learner, Eva. Eva discovered that, outside of work, certain social opportunities positioned her in a way that differed from her workplace setting and allowed her to draw on symbolic resources (her youth, for example). This, in turn, allowed her to be viewed more positively by others and to engage in extended conversations which benefited her acquisition. Karen noticed how these two settings, as described in the article, affected Eva’s acquisition.
TABLE 8. EXTRACT 7: W.SLA Author: Karen
Date: March 9, 2010 1:31 AM
I found the Norton and Toohey article very interesting because it focused on this idea of identity and power affecting SLA which I had honestly never considered before. Eva, the adult learner, was assigned an undesirable job very low in the hierarchy of the company (lack of power). This caused her to view herself as stupid and unworthy. This identity in the workplace established a major barrier to language acquisition. However, when Eva was with the
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same people outside of work the social dynamics changed, as did Eva’s identity (or at least the way she viewed herself), and she became a very successful language learner. This makes me interested in observing my own classroom focusing on the social dynamics and any identities that seem to be becoming established.
the scope of these discussions reaches beyond an individual course or even an entire graduate program. REFERENCES [1]
What Karen missed, however, was the point that people in Eva’s environment, rather than Eva herself, positioned Eva in a negative or positive way. This is important to note because the author [16] intended to focus on the idea that a learner’s social status and the perceptions of others relate to that learner’s opportunities for acquisition. Although she missed this important point, Karen explains that she will try to apply this critical lens when observing her own students. Pedagogical Implications As this online forum appeared to be a starting point for dynamic discussions and reflection, I considered ways to expand this reflection. One of these, which we used during the same term, included bridging our online and inclass discussions. This was achieved by further analyzing some of their posts in class and relating them to other course readings and other materials that could increase their background knowledge on the topics addressed. I came to realize that promoting critical reflection on the social class divides (in Egypt as well as the US) would need to be a continuous effort. Regarding critical reflection on various topics and social concerns, I have used two strategies to expand the discussions in subsequent semesters. One involves the use of cases or detailed descriptions of students and teachers in diverse contexts. These can be discussed as follow-up in class activities that relate to what students mentioned online. When extending the discussions, I often share examples from my own experience teaching in lower socioeconomic settings. Another strategy that is part of the expanded research project is to offer professor-led online discussions for the first few weeks of the term, followed by student-led discussions. After participating in the initial weeks of professor-facilitated forum talks, students can take on the facilitator role. This can empower the students in that they can control the discussion and, when crafting their own prompts, they may take on a greater sense of engagement with the online portion of the course. Thus, the students may dig deeper into discussions of challenging topics like gender, class, and race, participating more extensively in online critical reflection. As a final comment, I want to note that discussions of the variables that affect language acquisition (as well as other types of learning) are complex. According to Norton [21], “ethnicity, gender and class are not experienced as a series of discrete background variables, but are all, in complex and interconnected ways, implicated in the construction of identity.” In teacher education, discussions of class and uneven distributions of different types of resources can be sensitive issues. This is because the discussion can prompt student teachers, at least in this context, to evaluate how, nationwide, they are more affluent than the majority of the population. Like debate on other critical issues, such as race, this may be the starting point for acknowledging how they are members of a more privileged group and reflecting on how this relates to their roles as current and future educators. As a result,
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AUTHOR L. Fredricks is with the American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt (email: lfredricks@aucegypt.edu).
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