EFL Teachers’ Perceptions, Evaluations and Expectations about English Language Courses as EFL in Saudi Universities
EFL Teachers’ Perceptions, Evaluations and Expectations about English Language Courses as EFL in Saudi Universities
Yazar: Liton, Hussain Ahmed
Dergi: International Journal of Instruction, Vol. 6 No. 2, 2014
Anahtar kelimeler: Perception, Attitude, Socio-cultural milieu, EFL courses, Motivation

The focus of this study is to explore EFL teachers’ perceptions, evaluations and  expectations about English language courses as EFL in Saudi tertiary level. In  other words, this article aims at creating a new avenue for effective EFL teaching- learning curriculum techniques and syllabus in the Saudi tertiary context. Saudi  universities offer credit and non-credit Foundation English courses as a part of  their program, which are not being very effective. These courses do not promote  the students in dealing with their disciplines or programs oriented courses. Even  after completion of the Foundation English courses in consecutive two or three  semesters, students fail to grasp comprehensive control over the reading materials  of their discipline-oriented courses. This is a common scenario in almost all the  universities in KSA. The author of this paper ventured to study the predicament of  EFL courses in some universities through survey questionnaires, observation as  well as primary and secondary sources. The data were collected through  questionnaires from a total of 25 EFL teachers at renowned Saudi universities.  The research results revealed that the existing Foundation English Course syllabus  is not tailored appropriately to the needs of the students so far as the higher studies  concerned, and EFL classroom is not conducive to task-based language teaching  (TBLT) practice due to large class size . It, therefore, suggests that  university Foundation English Courses should be redesigned in assimilating the  learners’ standard and previous learning, and course contents should cover the  socio-cultural factors of the learners. The study also concludes with some effective  implications and recommendations based on the findings of the present research

The focus of this study is to explore EFL teachers’ perceptions, evaluations and  expectations about English language courses as EFL in Saudi tertiary level. In  other words, this article aims at creating a new avenue for effective EFL teaching- learning curriculum techniques and syllabus in the Saudi tertiary context. Saudi  universities offer credit and non-credit Foundation English courses as a part of  their program, which are not being very effective. These courses do not promote  the students in dealing with their disciplines or programs oriented courses. Even  after completion of the Foundation English courses in consecutive two or three  semesters, students fail to grasp comprehensive control over the reading materials  of their discipline-oriented courses. This is a common scenario in almost all the  universities in KSA. The author of this paper ventured to study the predicament of  EFL courses in some universities through survey questionnaires, observation as  well as primary and secondary sources. The data were collected through  questionnaires from a total of 25 EFL teachers at renowned Saudi universities.  The research results revealed that the existing Foundation English Course syllabus  is not tailored appropriately to the needs of the students so far as the higher studies  concerned, and EFL classroom is not conducive to task-based language teaching  (TBLT) practice due to large class size . It, therefore, suggests that  university Foundation English Courses should be redesigned in assimilating the  learners’ standard and previous learning, and course contents should cover the  socio-cultural factors of the learners. The study also concludes with some effective  implications and recommendations based on the findings of the present research