EFL Program of the secondary schools in Qassim region (Saudi Arabia): Problems, Causes and Solutions

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EFL Program of the secondary schools in
Qassim region (Saudi
Arabia) Problems, Causes and Solutions

• Saleh Alresheed 2008

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Outline

• Introduction
• Why Qassim Region ?
• Statement of the Problem
• Research Questions.
• The Purpose of the study
• Methodology of the research
• Literature Review
• Anticipated Benefits

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Introduction

• The Ministry of Education in 1954 outlined the
  goals of teaching English in public schools and
  designed the curriculum for each level.
• English, as a foreign language, is taught in
  Saudi public schools at the last level of the
  primary schools, the intermediate and the
  secondary schools.
• The teachers of English are non-native speakers,
  most of them national teachers who have graduated
  from local universities as well as some foreign
  teachers from other Arab countries such as Egypt
  and Sudan

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Why Qassim Region?

• Located at the heart of Saudi Arabia, and almost
  in the centre of the Arabian Peninsula.
• The researchers hometown. ( Teaching for 3
  years)
• Considered as the most traditional and
  conservative Muslim society in Saudi Arabia.

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Statement of the problem

• The level of students achievement in English at
  the secondary schools is low and the general
  proficiency of Saudi students is unsatisfactory
  .This problem requires analysis to identify the
  reasons that causes these unsatisfactory results.

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• This research aims to identify the problems of
  the EFL program particularly the problems of

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The cultural values that affect the
learning/teaching of the EFL program.

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• In a society as conservative and closed as that
  of Saudi Arabia particularly in Qassim region it
  was very difficult for some Saudis to accept the
  idea that a language other than Arabic be taught
  to Saudi students. (Alfallaj 1998)
• People feared that teaching a foreign language
  might result in students adopting the culture and
  values of that language.( Alabdan 1996)

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The teaching methods that the teachers use

• Teachers of English in Saudi Arabia tend to apply
  some aspects of methods such as the
  Audio-lingual Method (ALM), grammar translation
  method and the direct method.
• Teachers are not encouraged to teach
  communicative competence and encourage students
  to speak in English.
• The lack of methods other than traditional
  methods, which mainly emphasize teaching grammar,
  is a problem. Despite the widespread criticism of
  the ALM and the grammar translation method, they
  are still used for English instruction in Saudi
  Arabia. (Alsaadat 1985)

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The curriculum design as perceived by the
students and the teachers.

• The EFL textbooks contain issues which are
  irrelevant to the EFL program goals defined by
  the Ministry of Education. For example. You will
  find in one EFL textbook lots of dominant
  subjects relating to the desert life, keeping
  livestock especially camels and stories of
  ancient Arabic heroes, which make the EFL
  students very weak in using English in modern
  advanced technologies, hospitals, traveling
  situations , airports and the like. (Zafer .2002)
  
• It is not suitable for the Secondary schools
  level.

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Research Questions

• What is the content of the textbooks and other
  materials of the secondary English programs in
  Saudi Arabia?
• What methods do teachers use in teaching English
  inside the classroom?
• How can the curriculum be modernized while at
  the same time maintain its sensitivity to
  Saudi culture?

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The purposes of the study

• To diagnose the problems that face
  learning/teaching English as a foreign language
  in the Qassim region.
• To identify the causes of these problems of EFL
  program in the Qassim region.
• To offer some possible solutions for the EFL
  program problems in the Qassim region.

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Methodology of the research

• The research will be qualitative and
  quantitative.
• Twenty randomly-selected classroom observations.
  in Qassim region. Ten in a public school and
  another ten in a private school, each class will
  be visited 4 times during the study.
• semi-structured interviews with teachers and
  students
• questionnaires
• The researcher will draw on previous studies and
  researches by Saudi and Western researchers to
  collect the data.

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Literature Review

• Alabdan (1996) stated that the particular nature
  of the Saudi society is probably another cause
  behind the decline or lack of motivation to learn
  English in the Saudi public schools.
• Zafer (2002) surveyed intermediate and secondary
  English teachers, from the Qassim region in Saudi
  Arabia, about the teaching methods they used. He
  concluded that the method most preferred and used
  by teachers is the ALM followed by the grammar
  translation method. Based on that, a conclusion
  may be drawn that the English teaching
  methodology in Saudi Arabia is following the more
  traditional methods of teaching English and need
  to incorporate more modern communicative methods.

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Literature Review

• Most studies about the EFL program in Saudi
  Arabia particularly in Qassim region including
  (Abu-ghararh, 1986 AIAhaydib 1986 Al-Amr 1998
  Al-Fallaj1998 Al-Hammadin. 1998 Al-AMazroou
  1988) identify these problems in the
  teaching/learning EFL by a number of factors.
  Some of those factors are lack of motivation,
  attitude to English (culture), huge social
  distance between the two cultures, lack of
  exposure outside the classroom and finally the
  use of traditional methods in teaching.

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Anticipated benefits

• An extensive evaluation study of the EFL program
  problems of the secondary schools in Qassim
  region.
• The research is expected to help enhance the
  methods of teaching/learning EFL in Qassim region
  schools and Saudi Arabia schools in general.
• Expected to help the Ministry of Education to
  achieve the goals of teaching English as a
  foreign language.
• The researcher will give his recommendations to
  the Ministry of Education to develop the
  curricula to be more relevant for the Saudi
  culture.

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• Thanks for your attention