Abstract
“English is the only foreign language taught in Saudi schools as part of the mandatory curriculum and therefore enjoys a relatively high status” (Carfax Educational Projects, 2016, p. 10). The teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL/L2) within the basic curriculum of Saudi Arabia commences in the fourth grade. However, in spite of the best efforts of the Saudi Ministry of Education (MoE) to develop English learning in schools, the language proficiency of Saudi high school leavers remains insufficient to carry out even basic interactions, let alone undertake university study through the medium of English (Al-Johani, 2009; Al-Seghayer, 2014; Alhawsawi, 2013; Alrabai, 2016; Khan, 2011; Rajab, 2013). In fact, the recent Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL iBT, 2017) demonstrated an overall average score of 64 of 120 for Saudis who took the TOEFL iBT between January and December 2016. This paper therefore seeks to examine the factors responsible for the low EFL performance of Saudi students on completion of their high school studies. In order to do so, the researcher randomly selected 60 school leavers and 30 teachers who responded to an interview designed to elicit the underlying causes of such poor English proficiency. The results revealed that the reasons fall into a number of discrete categories related to the student, the teacher, the learning environment, and the curriculum.
Highlights
The teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) within the basic Saudi curriculum commences in the fourth grade
The present study will outline a number of factors held to contribute to this phenomenon and provide new evidence from data elicited from students and teacher interviews in order to address and overcome these barriers and to improve the learning of English as a Foreign Language across schools in Saudi Arabia. 1.1 Previous Research on Factors Leading to Low English Proficiency of High School Leavers The various studies which have sought to investigate this topic include that of Al-Nasser (2015)
The comparison of the views of students and teachers which were used as a means to pinpoint possible overlaps and reasons which fall into the following categories: Student reasons for their low proficiency in English: 1) The absence of an educational goal
Summary
The teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) within the basic Saudi curriculum commences in the fourth grade. Over the years, it has invested substantial funds and efforts into initiatives to improve textbooks and additional supports for English teaching at school In these respects, Saudi Arabia aligns with other countries in which English is a second rather than a foreign language; that is, countries which hold little domestic currency but enjoy a relatively advanced economy and aspire to establishing more significant economic impact on the world stage, such as Oman, Taiwan and Thailand. It may be possible to prescribe a benchmark of proficiency and attainment for school leavers in EFL countries and measure Saudi school leavers against this standard Such a level needs to be defined in an absolute way; for example, in relation to measures of vocabulary size or an established international classification system of levels of English ability such as the widely used Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Since comparable Arab countries such as Oman, Bahrain, and Palestine score higher on the iBT, and the many other higher scoring countries where the L1 is vastly different from English (e.g., Thailand and Taiwan) this does not satisfactorily explain Saudi learners’ weak performance
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