<p><em>The current study investigated the perceptions of Saudi female teachers and their preparatory year students on the Writing Task (WT) used in the English Language Institute (ELI) at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Jeddah, KSA. To obtain a deeper insight, mixed methods were used through quantitative questionnaires and qualitative semi-structured interviews. While quantitative data were analysed using a descriptive SPSS analysis, qualitative data were analysed using a thematic analysis by NVivo. The sample consisted of 50 students (mean age: 19) and 6 teachers with different qualifications and years of experience. First, a questionnaire was distributed to elicit student’s perceptions</em><strong> </strong><em>on the WT then the 6 teachers were interviewed. The results indicated that the students had negative perceptions towards the effectiveness of the WT and that it was not beneficial in developing their writing skills, unlike some of the teachers who expressed positive views towards the WT. The findings offer future instructional implications that will help in enhancing the WT of the ELI. Some of these implications indicate that extensive writing classes must be given to students to improve their writing skills and that the writing topics must be contextualised and taken from the students’ daily life to keep them interested.</em></p>

This study explores the perceptions of EFL instructors about their reflective practice and its effect on their professional development in a Saudi Arabian university. This study adopts an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Two study instruments were used; a survey questionnaire with a study sample of 100 male and female participants and semi-structured interviews with a study sample of seven female instructors. The findings show that some instructors in general have a positive perception of reflective practices and they utilize a diversity of reflective tools. Female instructors show a greater degree of involvement in a reflective practice than male instructors in three of the four examined dimensions (cognitive and meta-cognitive, moral and learner and reflective teaching in general). However, no significant difference is reported between males’ and females’ perceptions in terms of the fourth dimension (practical). Based on the findings, recommendations have been made to encourage reflective practices in the Saudi EFL context.