PhD Dissertation at the College of Education for Humanities Examines Hymes’ SPEAKING Model as a Teaching Strategy to Enhance Spoken and Written Discourse Among University EFL Students

A doctoral dissertation was discussed in the Department of English at the College of Education for Humanities on Monday (May 11, 2026), submitted by the candidate Sahar Azzam Naama, entitled “Hymes’ SPEAKING Model as a Teaching Strategy to Improve Spoken and Written Discourse Among University Students in Learning English as a Foreign Language.”

The study aimed to investigate the impact of Hymes’ SPEAKING framework as an instructional strategy on students’ spoken and written discourse in English as a foreign language at the university level. It examined students’ use of the elements of spoken discourse and the characteristics of written discourse. The sample consisted of 50 first-year students from the College of Education for Girls at the University of Tikrit during the academic year 2024–2025. A quantitative research design was adopted in the study. The data collection instruments included two tests: one measuring spoken discourse and the other assessing written discourse. A stratified random sampling method was used to assign participants into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group was taught using Hymes’ SPEAKING model as an instructional strategy over a period of ten weeks, while the control group was taught using traditional teaching methods.

The dissertation committee consisted of the following members:

1. Prof. Dr. Dunia Taher Hamid – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities (Chair)
2. Prof. Dr. Israa Burhanuddin Abdulrahman – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Girls (Member)
3. Prof. Dr. Shimaa Mahdi Saleh – University of Baghdad, College of Education (Ibn Rushd) (Member)
4. Asst. Prof. Dr. Ibtisam Jassim Mohammed – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities (Member)
5. Asst. Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Khalaf Salih – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities (Member)
6. Prof. Dr. Istabraq Tariq Jawad – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities (Member and Supervisor)

Media and Government Communication Division
College of Education for Humanities – University of Tikrit