English Grammar Achievement Level Among Secondary School Leavers In Saudi Arabia
Creators: name: Al-Faqih, Mohammad Mahmoud
Publisher: name: Leeds Beckett University
Year: 2023
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: This study aims to investigate the researcher’s hypothesis that the achievement level of grammar among secondary school leavers in Saudi Arabia is unsatisfactory, and to investigate teachers’ perceptions of grammar teaching. In the first phase of the study, the researcher attempts to answer the following question: 1. What is the level of grammar achieved by Saudi students upon completing secondary school? The question above is based on the following hypotheses: 1. The overall achievement in English of Saudi secondary school leavers is an unsatisfactory basis upon which to pursue higher education. 2. In particular, the level of grammar achieved by secondary school leavers in Saudi Arabia is very low. In this phase the researcher used a self-devised test and a standardized test to measure the grammar competency level of more than 400 students who newly joined Jubail Industrial College upon completing their secondary school education. These students were randomly chosen as the sample of the research population. The tests’ results were analyzed and in light of this analysis, the researcher proceeded to the second phase of the research in which he collected a lot of data through various instruments. By using this data, the researcher attempted to answer the following main questions: 1. What are the most important grammar items that Saudi secondary school leavers need to learn before they join higher institutions where English is the medium of teaching? 2. What are the most appropriate approaches to teaching grammar to Saudi students? 3. What is the appropriate sequence for presenting grammar items in the secondary school English course-books? In the second phase of the study, the population consisted of teachers who taught students at the secondary schools and at the post-secondary school educational institutions. The researcher used the triangulation method to collect data from various resources. To achieve this, the researcher used three questionnaires and two semi-structured interviews to collect the necessary data to answer the questions above. The first questionnaire was specially designed for the students, the second questionnaire was designed for the postsecondary school teachers, and the third questionnaire was designed for the secondary school teachers. More data were collected by the semi-structured interviews which were conducted on the secondary school and the post-secondary school teachers. The data which were collected by the research instruments were analyzed and explained on charts and histograms in order to be easily accessed by the reader. The research recommendations were based on the research findings which were extracted from these data. There are three chapters in the research dealing with data analysis, research findings and research recommendations. The research findings were also enhanced by different points from the literature review chapter which included a lot of opinions, suggestions and discussion of various researchers and linguists who have made a remarkable contribution to the research area.