English as a Foreign Language in Saudi Arabia

New Insights into Teaching and Learning English

Christo Moskovsky, Michelle Picard, Christo Moskovsky, Michelle Picard

• Éditeur: Routledge
• Année: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781317421214
• Édition: 1
• Sujet: Education
• Sous-sujet: Education Theory & Practice

English as a Foreign Language in Saudi Arabia: New Insights into Teaching and Learning English offers a detailed discussion of key aspects of teaching and learning English in the Saudi context and offers a comprehensive overview of related research authored or co-authored by Saudi researchers. It provides readers with an understanding of the unique cultural, linguistic, and historical context of English in Saudi Arabia—with a focus on the principal factors that may influence successful teaching and learning of English in this country. Uniquely, the book looks separately at issues pertaining to in-country English learning and learners, and those pertaining to in-country English teaching and teachers. The volume also explores issues concerning Saudi learners and teachers in overseas contexts. Lastly, the book touches on the future of English as a Foreign Language and TESOL in Saudi Arabia and its implications for the field.

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EFL teaching and learning in Saudi Arabia

25 years of research

Christo Moskovsky

Introduction

For a variety of historical, social, cultural, and economic reasons English holds a special place within the Saudi community. English is the principal (and, in some cases, only) medium of communication in a wide range of social, administrative, educational, and professional domains. English is indeed the lingua franca used for communication between Saudis and the rather large cohort of foreign workers widely engaged in the Saudi economy. In essence, an advanced English competence has become an indispensable component of most professional and administrative establishments. In addition, English has firmly established itself as the international language of science and technology, as well as the language of the internet and virtual communication (Alrashidi & Phan 2015).

In recognition of the special status of English, the Saudi Government has in recent years introduced a number of reforms designed to raise the level of English proficiency of Saudi learners. These reforms have involved (among other things) increasing learners’ exposure to English instruction as part of the Saudi educational system and modernising the English school syllabus, the teaching methodology, and the teaching/learning materials. Another major development has been the launch of a government scholarship program which has enabled thousands of Saudis to complete undergraduate and postgraduate programs abroad – mostly in English-speaking countries. These developments have in turn given a significant boost to Saudi academic research including research on EFL teaching and learning.

This chapter’s key goal is to provide a comprehensive review of EFL-related research conducted by Saudi scholars between 1990 and 2016. This specific timeframe was chosen for a number of reasons. In the first place, pre-1990 studies could not faithfully be described as ‘recent’. Besides, the volume of the earlier EFL research in Saudi Arabia was actually rather small – both in terms of the number of studies that had been carried out and in terms of the breadth of the topics examined. Even in the period between 1990 and 1999 Saudi EFL research remained relatively low-scale. It has only been after the introduction of the Saudi Government’s Scholarship program in the early 2000s that we have seen a strong growth in EFL research. The number of EFL studies started increasing steadily in the period between 2000 and 2009, with a sharp rise after 2010. The period following 2010 is also when we have seen the bulk of journal publications reporting Saudi EFL research. It seems that a lot of the Saudi academic research on EFL that took place in the form of postgraduate research programs in the early and mid-2000s has gradually been being translated into scholarly papers finding their ways into different applied linguistics outlets.

For the purposes of the review around 400 sources (including books, scholarly papers, and dissertations) were collected from three electronic databases – Scopus, ProQuest, and the Saudi Digital Library (SDL). The latter is a relatively new digital repository of research theses (both masters and doctoral) produced by Saudi students and academics. The establishment of SDL can only be applauded although it is not clear why access to it is largely limited to Saudi nationals within Saudi Arabia.

In view of the breadth of the review undertaken here, some categorisation of the available literature was essential. As it turned out, in terms of the themes they tackle, most of the sources reviewed here fall naturally into a number of well-established and widely recognised topic areas in second language (L2) acquisition research. One such major topic area concerns EFL teaching in Saudi Arabia. This includes issues of pedagogy and the curriculum, teaching methodologies, teachers’ teaching styles and techniques, teachers’ competence, EFL teachers’ pre-service and in-service training, etc. Within the EFL teaching theme, one issue seems to have generated quite considerable interest among Saudi EFL researchers – there have been numerous studies examining the pedagogical benefits of deploying the new digital technologies as part of language delivery.

A second major topic area concerns issues of EFL learning in Saudi Arabia. This has been a particularly popular and fruitful area of Saudi research investigating the full range of often interrelated learner variables which have been found to affect both the process of attaining a second/foreign language and its product – the learners’ emerging L2 competence. Among these L2-related variables, a very substantial amount of attention has been devoted to the examination of language attitudes (both by learners and the Saudi community more generally) and motivation. Some work has also been done on the use of learning strategies by Saudi EFL learners, on learning styles, as well as language anxiety.

Another important topic area covers the major language skills – listening, reading, writing, and speaking, as well as vocabulary. Some attention has also been given to aspects of the learners’ interlanguage (IL) grammar. Readers should note that the term ‘grammar’ is used broadly here to cover all of the principal components of the linguistic system – phonetics/phonology, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics.

The role which the learners’ native language (L1) plays in L2 acquisition has long been an issue of keen interest and it is, therefore, not surprising to find quite a few Saudi EFL studies devoted to examining the possible effects of Arabic on the learners’ IL system. There have also been attempts to establish the extent to which controlled use of the learners’ L1 in the EFL classroom can be beneficial (or otherwise) to the teaching/learning process.

Finally, there have also been a small number of studies examining other EFL-related issues, such as language planning and language policy, bilingualism and acculturation, etc., which do not seem to fit well into any of the categories defined above.

A clarification is in order at this point. Much as a categorisation as the one above is useful and indeed necessary, not all of the reviewed sources fall neatly into a single category. In fact, we find overlapping themes in a number of them. Take for instance Almudibry (2012). This research concerns both the pedagogical use of digital technology (and as such seems to be well suited for the category of teaching) and the development of L2 vocabulary (one of the major language skills). We took the view that use of digital technologies was the primary focus of study and because of that we classified it together with the other teaching issues. Another example of a study involving some element of classification ambiguity is Alebsi’s (2002) research which explored the effects of an innovative teaching technique on EFL reading comprehension skills. In this case, it seemed that the primary focus was not so much on nature and properties of reading as an L2 skill, but rather on the dedicated pedagogy deployed for the development of that skill.

The reader should bear in mind that it has not been among the objectives of this review to produce a stringent categorisation of the Saudi EFL research output. The categorisation conceived for the purposes of the review was one of common sense and, frankly, convenience – mostly to enable us to impose some order in what is undeniably a very rich and diverse domain of science.

The rest of this chapter is organised as follows. The bulk of its body is devoted to a comprehensive review of the EFL-related research conducted by Saudi scholars over 25 years or so. The review is divided into subsections in line with the thematic categorisation proposed above. This is followed by some commentary on issues arising from the review of Saudi EFL-related literature, such as trends in thematic orientation, under- and over-explored topics, research design and methodology, etc., including a broad evaluation of the contribution of Saudi EFL research to this field of science.

Research dealing with issues of Saudi EFL teaching/teachers

Teachers

The majority of EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia are typically Arab non-native speakers of English and because of that their performance in the target language (TL) commonly involves non-native phonological features. Al-Arishi’s (1991) research focussed on the role of context – EFL versus ESL – in which Saudi teachers received their training in relation to their phonological competence in the TL; ESL contexts are those where the L2 is acquired within the L2 community as a second, not foreign, language. Not entirely surprisingly, the study established that phonologically the TL performance of the ESL-trained teachers was significantly superior to that of the EFL-trained teachers. Further Al-Arishi examined the role of the context in which the teaching was taking place – urban versus rural – on teachers’ EFL phonological competence. No significant differences were found between urban and rural EFL practitioners in terms of their TL phonology even though the urban context presumably provides considerably greater opportunities for social interaction with native speakers of English.

One quite unusual and particularly interesting study was that of Alharthi (2014). It tracked productive and receptive vocabulary knowledge among Arabic-speaking EFL teachers over a period of two years after they completed their university degrees. The research established very substantial attrition in EFL teachers’ vocabulary knowledge almost immediately following the end of their education. Some – although far from complete – recovery of vocabulary knowledge was observed at the end of the two-year period.

Alnofaie (2013) examined the benefits of using critical thinking pedagogy to elicit high-quality verbal interaction/performance by learners (see also Alnefaie & Gritter 2016). The study’s objectives were only partially accomplished mostly because the participating teachers did not have the autonomy to properly implement the critical thinking pedagogy in their teaching. Some important conclusions were made about Saudi teachers’ disempowerment – teachers in Saudi Arabia are typically required to blindly follow a curriculum and a teaching model imposed from above. They are denied the license/authority to introduce and implement novel teaching methods, techniques, and materials. Very similar conclusions were reached in Albedaiwi’s (2014) thesis.

On the basis of a broad historical review of education in Saudi Arabia, Elyas and Picard (2010) took a rather unique look into issues of teacher identity in this country – with the associated social, traditional, and cultural pressures of teaching English in the Saudi context. The study established a direct link between past teaching practices and present EFL delivery.

Alshenqeeti’s (2014) aim was to analyse the nature of the questions used by teachers in the L2 classroom and to determine their functions. Particular attention was devoted to examining teachers’ question modification strategies in response to learners’ failure to respond.

Al-Beiz (2002) examined Saudi female EFL teachers’ openness to novel ideas/techniques for EFL delivery – for instance, using a story-based approach to teaching grammar to secondary school students. The researcher also explored their preparedness to take leadership roles in relation to curriculum change.

Native vs. non-native teachers

Al-Omrani (2008) examined EFL learners’ perceptions of native and non-native (typically Arabic-speaking) EFL teachers. The study’s results deserve careful considerations. Native-speaking English teachers are recognised by Saudi EFL learners for their value in teaching L2 speaking skills, but non-native EFL teachers are perceived as better-attuned to learners’ needs – possibly because of their own experience in learning a second/foreign language. It is interesting to note that Mosbah (2007) did not find major differences between native and non-native EFL teachers in terms of correcting learners’ oral errors. Neither native, nor non-native EFL teachers seemed to have a well-developed awareness of effective strategies for providing corrective feedback. Ultimately, teaching qualifications and teaching experience are regarded as teachers’ most important assets – more so than native L2 competence (but for diverging results, see O. S. Alenazi 2014). One very important implication emerging from the Al-Omrani study points to the considerable benefits of EFL programs which involve cooperatively working native and non-native EFL teachers. This view was strongly endorsed by Alseweed and Daif-Allah (2012). For a related study, see also Moores-Abdool, Yahya and Unzueta (2011).

Teacher training

A relatively small number of studies have considered issues of EFL teacher training; their findings are not very encouraging. Using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative instruments, Alansari (1995) collected data from EFL teachers, EFL inspectors, and EFL teacher-trainers about their perceptions of the merits of current teacher-training programs. Participants were also asked about their views about what high-quality teacher training should involve. The study found a substantial gap between the two ultimately admitting that current Saudi programs for preparing EFL instructors were of relatively low standard. Arishi’s (1995) study of the perceptions of current and former EFL teacher-trainees of the effectiveness of EFL instructor training programs provided further evidence in that regard. A more recent study, Al-Hazmi (2003), strongly reinforced Alansari’s conclusion, describing teacher-training programs in Saudi Arabia as ‘non-systematic’ and ‘inadequate’, and suggesting they are much better suited for training translators, not teachers. Binghadeer (2011) produced evidence that textbooks and other teaching materials used in teacher-training programs generally lack the capacity to provide prospective teachers with adequate training in EFL phonology.

Teaching the target language culture

There is a widely held view among L2 researchers and language teaching professionals that teaching the TL culture is an essential part of L2 instruction. Indeed, some even argue that successful L2 delivery is practically impossible without a strong TL cultural component. The picture emerging from Saudi research on the role of the TL culture is quite mixed, however. Mekheimer and Aldosari (2011) and Shamail (2015) strongly endorsed the value of teaching the TL literature and culture as part of language instruction. In Al Hasnan’s (2015) study participating teachers regarded the delivery of culture-specific content as highly beneficial to the learning process, but such content was largely missing from textbooks and language learning materials. Teachers were also mindful of negative societal attitudes towards the spread of English-speaking cultures within the traditional conservative Saudi community.

O. Alenazi (2006) established that EFL teachers and their learners generally held positive attitudes to their English writing textbook, Interactions II Writing, and believed that the book had the capacity to develop learners’ L2 writing skills. That said, partic...