A Deconstructive Reading of William Golding ‘s Lord of the Flies for EFL Learners in the Saudi Context

Abstract

Comprehending words and expressions in the English language is a critical challenge for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in the Saudi context given the enigmatic nature of the language and ambiguity of texts with multifaceted interpretations. Focusing on the use of Jacques Derrida's deconstruction approach, William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" was analysed in terms of characterisations, themes, and textual structure to explore how a deconstructive reading influences the interpretation of this post-world war English novel and the implications and challenges of applying deconstructive textual analysis among EFL learners in the classroom. This qualitative study was purely descriptive that employed purposive and convenience sampling techniques for the selection of the texts, where the novel and the researcher served as the key instruments. In particular, the deconstructive reading procedure, advantages and challenges of deconstructive reading for the EFL learners, and multifaceted interpretations of the novel were discussed in this study. Through a deconstructive reading, the EFL learners play an active role in deconstructing the meanings of texts based on their own interpretation and understanding, which can indirectly enhance their interest in language and improve their critical thinking skills. Expectedly, this study would spark interest and appreciation to the concept of deconstruction as well as other prominent literary works, particularly William Golding's allegory debut novel. In order to discover the various dimensions of meanings in literature, it is recommended for future research to comprehensively explore the novel in detail and conduct deconstructive analysis on prominent speeches and characters in play.

Indonesian L2 Learners’ CEFR-based Listening Proficiency: Interactions with Attitudes towards Teachers’ Use of L1

“…This may be attributed to constant exposure to English, albeit limited to one session a week, through teachers' instructions, audio-visual materials, and communicative activities necessitating them to sharpen their listening skills. This finding may also imply that contrary to the findings of several studies suggesting that generally, learners from the non-English department were generally low achieving (Shah et al, 2013;Sulistiyo, 2016), as far as the present study was concerned, they learned, albeit slowly.…”

“…He mentioned that albeit being taught English for several years, Indonesian learners seemed to have limited English capability despite completing courses (Kirkpatrick, 2007). In non-English department contexts similar to the present study, studies in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia (Shah et al, 2013;Sulistiyo, 2016) reported findings that may help explain the relatively low level of proficiency among learners in the present study. In Saudi Arabia, Shah et al (2013) reported that many learners took English classes for grades or for passing the classes as required in their curriculum with little or no motivation to improve their proficiency.…”

“…In non-English department contexts similar to the present study, studies in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia (Shah et al, 2013;Sulistiyo, 2016) reported findings that may help explain the relatively low level of proficiency among learners in the present study. In Saudi Arabia, Shah et al (2013) reported that many learners took English classes for grades or for passing the classes as required in their curriculum with little or no motivation to improve their proficiency. Similarly, a study by Sulistiyo (2016) in Indonesia reported that teaching English to learners from non-English departments was not a success story.…”

Teaching English Intensively by NESTs in the Saudi EFL Setting: Status and Implications

“…It could be argued, therefore, that the strong present mainstream stance to include intensive English programs for Saudi novice undergraduates is due to their inadequate language level despite the long previous duration of studying English (almost six years, 4 hours a week). So, among the most constrains that deter EFL teaching in Saudi education is the limited time for instruction (Shah, Hussain, &Nasseef, 2013, p. 107 andAl-Seghayer, 2014, p. 19).…”

“…Equally, the findings of Chen & Goh (2011) assure that EFL teachers find it difficult to prepare activities and apply them effectively due to "students' limited vocabulary and communicative abilities (p. 339). In the Saudi EFL situation, Shah et al (2013) confirm that there is an additional set of challenges encountered by the EFL teachers, which has a direct impact on classroom learning and teaching such as "limited instruction time, large class sizes, mixed ability classes and various development needs, high expectations from students and parents, lack of resources, inappropriate textbook material and student's low proficiency" (p. 107). Likewise, the students themselves could be challenged by these obstacles.…”