Teaching English in Saudi Arabia

Prof. Reima Al-Jarf

King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Website: http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf

Technology is not currently used in ESP classrooms at the College of Home Economics. Therefore an attempt was made to use online learning in ESP instruction from home, in addition to traditional classroom instruction. Comparisons of pre- and posttest scores of ten graduate students revealed significant differences in students’ achievement. Results showed that in learning environments where technology is unavailable to ESP students and instructors, use of technology from home and even as a supplement to classroom techniques helps motivate ESP graduate students and enhance their mastery of English.

Prof. Reima Al-Jarf

King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Website: http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf

The present study reports results of an experiment in which the author and her female students at King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh were connected with a male professor and his male and female students at Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) in Makkah. The two professors and their students shared an online grammar course using www.makkahelearning.net. All the students were freshman and were enrolled in their first grammar course. They had no prior experience in online teaching. Students at KSU used their PC’s and internet from home as they had no internet access from campus, whereas those at UQU could access the course from the UQU computer center. All the students were given the course URL and they enrolled themselves.  Each week, we posted a question or discussion thread that required the students to use a particular tense or grammatical point in the “Discussion Forum” and added grammar websites related to the grammatical structure discussed in class. The grammar websites contained explanations, exercises, a daily grammar lesson, and quizzes. Flash and Powerpoint presentations were also posted. Despite the encouragement, extra credit given and private messages to students, very few students from both universities registered in the course and there was very little interaction in the discussion forums. The experiment proved to be a total failure. Cultural factors contributing to students’ inadequate participation in the online course, and hesitation to register and interact will be discussed, as male and female students in Saudi Arabia study in a gender-based learning environment.

Prof. Reima Al-Jarf

King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Website:  http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf

I taught 4 types of EFL courses to undergraduate students online:  Grammar, writing, culture and study skills using Blackboard and Nicenet. Online instruction was used as a supplement to traditional in-class instruction.  Significant differences were found between pre- and post-test scores in writing, grammar and culture but not in study skills. The achievement level was higher among active participants who posted threads and shared in the discussion than passive participants who were just browsers and did not write anything, and between members of the latter group and those who were not registered in the online courses at all. The effect of online instruction on students’ attitudes is also reported.

Prof. Reima Al-Jarf

King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Website:  http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf

At my college, we have no PC’s and no internet connectivity in EFL classrooms. Therefore, I have been using technology in EFL instruction from home as a supplement to in-class instruction since the year 2000. My students and I use our own PC’s and internet connection from home. I used Blackboard, WebCT, Moodle and Nicenet in teaching 18 reading, writing, vocabulary and grammar courses to freshman students and a culture course to sophomore students.  In each online course, there was a student leader. Student leaders had the highest posts and responses (50- 150) and the highest student-student and student-instructor interaction. They were the first to register. They posted their own threads, short paragraphs, stories or poems on the discussion board. One posted a daily quotable quote, another posted a weekly poem of hers, and a third posted a daily joke. They could locate information from internet sites. They responded to threads posted by me or by their classmates. They created a warm online climate by responding to their classmates, by sending encouraging messages and thank-you notes and inviting students to respond to their own posts. Student leaders had a higher proficiency level in EFL, were well-read, had a good writing ability, and many were creative writers. They were more competent and more comfortable with technology than their classmates and above all they were highly motivated and eager to learn. The study will provide sample posts and responses and report results of interviews with student leaders.

Prof. Reima Al-Jarf

King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Website:  http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf

An experiment with 55 female freshman students enrolled in their first writing course in ESL was. Before instruction, participants were pre-tested. They wrote a paragraph. They completed all the exercises and writing assignments in the textbook assigned by the department. In addition, the students used a coursesite with Blackboard Corporation that the author developed. They used the internet from home as it was inaccessible from campus.  The coursesite was used as a supplement to the traditional in-class writing instruction. The instructor sometimes started a thread on the “Discussion Board” and listed sites in the “External Links” related to the writing skills and grammatical structures covered in the course. The students posted their own threads and wrote short paragraphs on the Discussion Board. They also posted stories or poems that they read and liked to share with others. They commented on and responded to whatever their instructor or classmates posted on the Discussion Board. Some had a homepage, and others sent their assignments to the instructor.  They answered the quizzes posted in the Assessment area. They e-mailed each other and e-mailed their instructor. The instructor did not correct any errors. She just encouraged the students to write and communicate.  At the end of the semester, the students were post-tested. The online course usage frequency was obtained for each student from the usage statistics provided by the Blackboard Corporation. The frequency of usage represented the total number of hits made by each students in all areas of the online course throughout the semester. For each student, the frequency of usage score was correlated with the posttest scores. The correlation coefficient was non-significant. High and low frequency of use of the online course did not seem to correlate with high and low writing achievement. In addition, T-test results showed significant differences between the pre- and posttest means scores at the .05 level suggesting that the students did improve as a result of the writing instruction. However this improvement could not be attributed to using the online course, i.e, using the online course did not seem to affect student achievement level.  Interpretation of the results will be provided.

Prof. Reima Al-Jarf

King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Website:  http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf

Prof. Reima Al-Jarf

King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Website:  http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf

The present study aimed at finding out whether electronic courses are currently used at

Saudi higher education institutions, in which majors such courses are offered and which delivery systems are used. All Saudi university websites were searched for electronic courses and delivery systems used such as WebCT and Blackboard.  In addition, a sample of college deans, vice deans, and faculty members at some universities were interviewed to find out the factors that impede use of electronic courses. It was found that only 3 universities (23%) are currently offering online courses using WebCT. The amount and type of e-courses offered are not proportionate with the number of colleges, departments and faculty number at those universities.  The current use of WebCT and Blackboard is not cost-effective. Instructors were classified into 4 categories in terms of their use and attitude towards online instruction. It was found that lack of online teaching skills, lack of training in technology integration, inadequate infrastructure, faculty workload and lack of administrative support contribute to lack of motivation and to the insufficient use of online instruction. Since integration of technology in higher education is inevitable, and since the successful implementation and use of online instruction cannot be achieved if faculty members do not possess the basic skills to teach online, training in online teaching is a prerequisite for the efficient use of e-courses. Therefore, this study proposes a model for training faculty in online instruction and technology integration. The training should introduce instructors to online delivery systems, creating a course, online course components and how they are used, and training methods. A number of recommendations for the successful adoption, integration and use of online instruction were given.

Prof. Reima Al-Jarf

King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Website:  http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf

Technology is not currently used in EFL classrooms at King Saud University. Therefore an attempt was made to use online learning in EFL vocabulary instruction from home, as a supplement to classroom instruction. Two groups of freshman students participated in the study. The pre-test scores showed no significant differences between both groups in their vocabulary knowledge. Then, both groups studied the same vocabulary textbook, and completed the same lessons and exercises in that textbook. In addition, the experimental group used an online course with Nicenet (www.nicenet.org). They accessed the Nicenet vocabulary course from home. Each week, I posted a question or discussion thread that required the students to use the vocabulary items they have studied in the ‘Conferencing’ area. I also added vocabulary websites related to the vocabulary items and themes discussed in class in the ‘Link Sharing” area. The vocabulary websites contained explanation, exercises, a daily vocabulary lesson, and quizzes. The students were encouraged to check the vocabulary links, respond to the questions and discussion threads, add vocabulary links, and post vocabulary threads. Comparisons of the post-test mean scores showed significant differences between the experimental and control groups. Results showed that in learning environments where technology is unavailable to EFL students and instructors, use of technology from home and even as a supplement to traditional classroom techniques helps motivate and enhance EFL students’ learning and acquisition of English vocabulary. 

Prof. Reima al-Jarf

King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Website: http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf

Technology is not currently  used in EFL classrooms at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  Therefore an online course was used in the teaching of English grammar from home. The aim of the present study was to find out whether integration of online learning in grammar instruction significantly improves EFL freshman college students’ achievement and attitudes. Two groups of freshman students participated in the study. Pretest means scores showed significant differences between the experimental and control groups in their grammatical knowledge.  Following online instruction with Nicenet, comparisons of the posttest means scores showed significant differences in achievement. The study concluded that in learning environments where technology is unavailable to EFL students and instructors, use of an online course from home and even as a supplement to in-class techniques helps motivate and enhance EFL students’ learning and mastery of English grammar.

Prof. Reima Al-Jarf

King Saud Univeristy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Website: http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf

E-mail messages received from 190 students were analyzed for types of requests, academic needs, reasons for seeking author’s help, communication strategies and cultural differences. It was found that 6% of the messages were from non-Arab students studying in the USA, New Zealand, China, and Poland; 10.5% were from Arab students studying in Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan, 9% from Saudi students studying in the UK, USA, Australia, Germany, and France, and 74.5% were from students studying in different higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia. It was also found that 34% were undergraduate and 66% were graduate students; 48% were female and 52% were male students.  Analysis of the message content revealed no differences between Saudi students studying in Saudi Arabia, those studying abroad, Arab students and non-Arab students’, nor between male and female requests. Several differences were noted between undergraduate and graduate students’ requests. Undergraduate students mainly sought help with assignments (47%), asked how to improve their English (19%), asked an academic question (31%), requested examples of admission test questions (6%), sought career advice (3%), and recommending a college for graduate study (22%). Graduate students mainly requested a list of references & websites for their theses (38%), asked for a copy of my publications ( 22%); asked questions about first and second language acquisition and teaching of EFL (27%), asked me to suggest a thesis topic (13%), to validate and edit their questionnaires (11%), to provide a list of criteria, or a list of reading and speaking skills (6%), to read, edit and evaluate their proposals (5%), to administer a questionnaire or select the research sample for them, to give them examples of comprehensive exam questions, and requested permission to translate articles or replicate a study of mine. As to communication strategies, non-Arab students’ messages were courteous and showed ability to write a business letter and wrote a thank you note following my reply. By contrast, most Saudi students studying in the Kingdom, especially females, concealed their identity. Their messages were authoritative in tone, set a time limit for reply, some lacked courtesy, many gave excuses for their requests, and did not send a thank you message after receiving a reply. Furthermore, Saudi and Arab students’ messages revealed academic problems such as lack of searching skills, inability to answer application questions, lack of mastery of research/proposal components (selecting topic, used to spoon-feeding, were not taught how to write a business letter), in addition to student characteristics and social factors. When asked why they sought help from me, they reported that their instructors and advisors were not specialized, were not available or not helpful, did not train them to search, did not provide guidance, did not encourage asking questions from students, did not study research methodology nor library searching skills. Recommendations for improving the teaching learning situation at the graduate and undergraduate levels will be provided.