Dr. Nebila Dhieb, General Director
Nebila oversees both the Women’s and Men’s Divisions at the university as well as all outreach programs offered by INTERLINK. With MA and PhD degrees in Applied Linguistics from the University of Manuba (UM), Tunisia, and as Assistant Professor in Applied Linguistics at UM, she has lectured on Curriculum Development, Applied Linguistics, English for Specific Purposes, and TESL/TEFL Methodologies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. During most of her tenure, she has been involved in facilitating different pre-service and in-service teacher training programs. An active participant in international conferences in TESOL, TESOL ARABIA, the Maghreb Conference, and INTERLINK’s various, annual ELT International Symposia, she enjoys training, research, and writing. Her articles have been published in English for Specific Purposes, ITL Review of Applied Linguistics, CALL-EJ and English Teaching Forum. Her book “Understanding Reading in a Scientific Context: A Genre-based Approach” was published in 2010 (VDM). Nebila is fluent in Arabic and French.
Bu-Madyan Kahtan, Assistant Director
Bu-Madyan is a passionate English language teaching professional who has been working in the field of English language teaching, program administration, teacher training, and curriculum review and design for over 22 years. After earning his BA in TEFL from the College of Education, he earned a TESOL Certificate and was appointed as teaching assistant in Sanaa University, Yemen. After five years of teaching EAP and ESP at Sanaa University and EFL at Yemen’s most prestigious language center, YALI, he received a Fulbright Scholarship and earned his MA in TESOL/Applied Linguistics at the University of Northern Iowa, USA. He then served as a teach trainer for in-service and pre-service teachers in the UAE. His trainings included an introduction to portfolios and continuous assessment. From there, he joined the INTERLINK team and within two years was promoted to Instructional Coordinator and then Assistant Director. Bu-Madyan’s strengths include program design, curriculum review and design, assessment, teacher training, counseling, and comparative linguistics. He speaks Arabic fluently. He enjoys cross-cultural interaction and is a lifelong learner.
Randa Sibahi, Instructional Coordinator
Randa holds a BA in English Literature, an MA in English/Arabic Translation and Localization, an MEd from the University of Exeter/UK and has completed most coursework towards a PhD in the field of TESOL. Prior to joining the INTERLINK program, Randa worked as an ESL instructor and a TOEFL trainer in Saudi schools and universities. She is an active researcher who has published articles in the Arab World English Journal and has participated in international conferences and INTERLINK’s annual ELT Symposium. Her academic interests include second language writing and ESL materials development.
Mohamed Haroun, Instructional Coordinator
Mohamed graduated from Hunter College, City University of New York, with a BA in English literature and political science with a special honors in curriculum. Mohamed holds an MA in British and American literature. He also studied abroad at the American University in Cairo, which helped him to brush up on his Arabic and gave him his first taste of education in the Middle East. While attending college, Mohamed worked in higher education administration for ten years as the Assistant to the President of Hunter College. He developed his love for teaching when he was given the opportunity to teach expository writing in the Department of English. He completed a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults from the University of Cambridge and continued to refine his pedagogical outlook, both in theory and practice, while teaching both English and Arabic to adult learners at a language center in New York City. Mohamed is interested in research on second language acquisition in an EFL context.
Aaron Abdow, Instructional Coordinator
Aaron earned a B.S. in Organizational Management from Colorado State University and a M.A.T (TESOL) from SIT Graduate Institute. Prior to his role as instructional coordinator at INTERLINK Al Yamamah, Aaron was an English lecturer and teacher trainer. He began his teaching career as an English teacher with the Peace Corps in Mozambique and later worked with Peace Corps Liberia teaching English and mentoring administrators at a rural teacher training institute.