Teacher cognition (Borg, 2015) of grammar instruction is a relatively new phenomenon that has yet to be explored in the Saudi context. While many studies have focused on the teaching of grammar in general (Ellis, 2006;Corzo, 2013;Braine, 2014), further research needs to be done -particularly when it comes to understanding teachers' beliefs of grammar and grammar instruction as well as their practices in the classroom. This case study investigates the relationship between teachers' beliefs of grammar and grammar instruction and their instructional practices. In the first stage, a sample of 30 teaching faculty members at the English Language Institute (ELI) at the University of Jeddah (UJ), in Saudi Arabia completed a survey discussing their beliefs related to grammar instruction. In the second stage, ten of these teachers were observed in classroom in order to explore the relationship between their beliefs and practices. In the third and final stage, open-ended questions were distributed to the teachers after the observations to better understand the factors that influence their beliefs. The findings reveal that teachers' beliefs are indeed reflected in their classroom practices. Students' proficiency level, attitudes toward the language, needs, learning styles, classroom environment, and teacher development are six factors that influence the transformation of teachers' beliefs regarding grammar and grammar instruction into practices. These findings will help broaden the discussion on how to improve the quality of grammar teaching, particularly in the Saudi EFL classroom.
English languageEnglish for special purpose programs (ESP) pedagogy issues ESP teacher challenges.English language is increasingly becoming an important communication tool worldwide, being studied for different reasons and needs, which explains the emergency of English for special purpose programs (ESP). This study investigated the perceptions of teachers towards issues related to the pedagogy in teaching ESP courses at the Saudi Arabian University. As such, a mixed quantitative and qualitative research approach was used to collect data from 50 ESP teachers. The results revealed that all the respondents were qualified enough to teach ESP. However, in terms of teaching challenges, the ESP teachers appeared to be inadequately prepared for the job, since they lacked ESP teaching skills and knowledge, which lead to limited ESP teaching capabilities. Therefore, professional training should complement academic training for quality ESP teaching and learning outcomes. Moreover, most teachers lacked skill development courses since they joined the current institution, which suggested the need for teacher development programs to prepare ESP teachers in areas of knowledge development and right instructional language command. In this light, future studies should focus on ascertaining factors that determine the teachers" choices of pedagogic strategies in teaching ESP courses and those that influence learners to pursue ESP in universities and educational institutions.Britain, but all across the world. Saudi Arabian universities are also focusing on such aspects. According to, exploring teachers" beliefs regarding students" needs can provide an understanding of the existing needs in any prescribed course. Borg (2006) claimed that teachers" beliefs and perceptions are components of a wider concept of teacher cognition, further stating that teachers" beliefs may also offer an awareness of their perception in professional and academic settings, which contributes to their knowledge in teacher training and education. Since learners" needs vary, ESP programs are usually designed with different goals and objectives. also asserted that ESP teachers have different perceptions, as they are usually influenced by different criteria. Research revealed that different demographic characteristics, such as educational background, status, teaching experience, age, and gender, lead teachers to have different perceptions and different expectations of teaching programs. It was also revealed that as their teaching experience increased, the comments made on content knowledge also increased.
The present study intended to investigate the effect of utilizing Learning Management System (LMS), Blackboard® on enhancing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) female students' satisfaction in the Saudi context. It is found that the effectiveness of utilizing the supplementary materials on Blackboard® is leading up to EFL students' satisfaction. Since, Blended Learning (BL) model could stimulate a classroom setting with activities that are carried out under flexible and engaging manner. The sample consisted of ninety-eight students from proficiency level -104. The data of the study was collected using a questionnaire to identify students' level of satisfaction. The results revealed that students' satisfaction was apparent as their positive responses outweighed their negative responses mainly in terms of richness of learning resources, opportunity to interact in foreign language, appropriateness and variety of content, and ease of using Blackboard®. Based on the results, the study recommends considering the positive assets and challenges to plan the future of both teaching and learning English language effectively. The study suggested several areas to be investigated in the future such as examining the motivational behavior of both the teachers and the students and finding out the factors that will affect the environment of BL in EFL.
One of the main aims behind learning English as a foreign language (EFL) is to communicate effectively with other speakers of the English language. The justification for concentrating on the teaching and learning of English as a second language (L2), and as a foreign language, is that it is the lingua franca (Klimczak-Pawlak, 2014) and the primary language used for communication around the world (Rich, 2014). English language learners are given limited chances to practice speaking in authentic situations in class, and teaching to communicate effectively in an authentic environment is often overlooked. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) emphasizes meaning and communication in language learning, and with CLT the goal is to improve learners" "communicative competence" (Richards & Rodgers, 2001). Nevertheless, challenges are faced when applying CLT in the EFL classrooms. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to critically explore elements of the CLT approach and to better understand some of the cultural difficulties involved in its application. The paper will propose more application of the CLT in EFL classrooms, in place of language teaching techniques currently used in the Arab context. This paper will also examine issues dealing with the theoretical background of CLT, and focus on the implementation of activities that can encourage students' communicative competence.
Learner autonomy is a developing concept that has been the focal point of number of research papers investigating language learning. It has been under investigation by number of scholars and researchers over the years, the concept of learner autonomy has been supported by number of researchers, others attempted to prove that it does not fit all learners of different backgrounds. In this research paper, the focus is mainly on learners' perspectives of learner autonomy, what do they know? To what extent the students understand the concept of learner autonomy? Developing autonomous learners is an area that needs to be explained. There are limited studies conducted in the Saudi context therefore, this study investigates Preparatory year female EFL students' perspectives of learner autonomy in the Saudi context. Moreover, it examines whether the learners have the knowledge and the competence to develop their learning. The perspectives and views of 150 learners were collected using a questionnaire. The study follows a mixed methods approach. The reviewed literature showed that implications of learner autonomy reflected positively on learners (Burkert & Schwienhorst. 2008;Han, 2015). The main findings of this study revealed that students participated in this study had negative perspective of learner autonomy.
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