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Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 17. Number 3, September 2026 pp. 313- 332
Department of MIS, College of Business Administration at Hawtat Bani Tamim, 16628, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Department of English Language, College of Sciences and Humanities at Hawtat Bani Tamim, 16628, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Universities offer internship programs to help students apply academic knowledge, gain skills, and support future careers. These programs should be updated to meet evolving labor market demands. In EFL, emphasis has been on pre-service teacher education, with internships for EFL learners. Studies on internships for EFL students in non-educational courses, such as literature and translation, are few. Given the importance of English in globalization and soft skills aligned with SDG 4, addressing this gap is vital. The current study surveyed 82 EFL interns who completed 8-week training at 24 organizations, as well as their representatives. It evaluates internship programs for EFL students in non-educational tracks by examining the perceptions of interns and representatives of training institutions to improve curricula and better meet labor market needs. Quantitative data (intern responses) were analyzed descriptively and with t-tests in SPSS, while qualitative data (institution responses) were analyzed thematically using MAXQDA. The study found that the trainees and institutions were satisfied with the internship plan and its management. Nevertheless, they reported a mismatch between the skills targeted by the academic program and the skills needed in the labor market. These findings imply that EFL programs should be updated in line with the perspectives of all stakeholders to ensure that students are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the 21st-century workplace, while also responding to the knowledge-based economy and to global calls for inclusive, high-quality education under SDG 4.
Khan, A. A. & Sanosi, A. B. (2026). Repurposing Internship Programs for EFL Students: A Study of the Perceptions of Students and Training Institution Representatives. Arab World English Journal, 17(3): 313 -332
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Ali Ahmed Khan comes from Churu, Rajasthan, India. He is working as an Assistant Professor in English at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, KSA . His research interests include language teaching and assessment, and cultural and identity issues in literature.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9111-8703
Abdulaziz B. Sanosi is a lecturer at the Department of English Language at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia. His research interests include corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, and CALL. He is a compiler and cofounder of several learner and user corpora designed to explore English language applications. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3447-2818