The Influence of Language on Professional’s Learning: A Comparative Study of Two Groups of Pre-Service Teachers in the UAE
Dr. Karima Matar Almazroui, Dr. Abdurrahman Ghaleb Almekhlafi

Abstract
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), most higher education institutions require school teachers to study professional development courses in English, a student’s non-native language. This research investigates the influence of language of instruction (both Arabic and English) on pre-service school teachers’ performance and attitude toward the Educational Technology Course at the College of Education, United Arab Emirates University. Among the 409participants 181 school studies the course in Arabic and others (n=228) participants studied the same course in English. Findings of this Research show that students who studied the course in native language, Arabic for this case, has reported to understand the concepts better compared with other group.Students who studied the course in English for the first time has spend more time for study, has communicated less in the class, and has focused more on the language than learning the course content. Students who studied in their native language performed higher in tests compared to the students who studied in English.

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