Arab World English Journal | 2019
Saudi EFL University Instructors’ Barriers to Teaching the Speaking Skills: Causes and Solutions
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the causes and the solutions of Saudi EFL university instructors’ barriers to teaching the speaking skill. The sample of the study consisted of 132 randomly-selected EFL preparatory year instructors at Al-Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, and King Saud University in Riyadh city. Three instruments were utilized to collect data for the study: the first one was a questionnaire, the second was semi-structured interviews, and the third one was lectures observations. The researcher designed a five-point Likert scale questionnaire to collect the data of the study which was validated by a panel of raters consisting of ten university professors and instructors. To ensure reliability, Cronbach Alpha formula was calculated. Besides, The findings of the study revealed that the causes of Saudi EFL university instructors’ barriers to teaching the speaking skill in the preparatory year were as follows: students’ use of L1 during group work or pair work, lack of vocabulary, fear of making mistakes, lack of self-confidence, and lack of motivation. Furthermore, the study results advocated the following solutions to Saudi EFL university instructors’ barriers to teaching the speaking skill: enhancing students’ self-confidence to speak without fear, correcting students’ mistakes kindly, meeting students’ needs in speaking textbooks, and adopting recent motivating techniques, increasing the motivating speaking activities in textbooks, and testing the speaking skill. Finally, the study concluded that teacher training and preparation programs should help EFL instructors overcome and avoid such teaching barriers in teaching the speaking skills Cite as: Al Hassan, N. A. A. (2015). Saudi EFL University Instructors’ Barriers to Teaching the Speaking Skills: Causes and Solutions. College of Languages and Translation, Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University. (Master Thesis). Retrieved from Arab World English Journal (ID Number: 222. February 2019, 1-53. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/th.222 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Education Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University College of Languages and Translation Department of English Language and Literature Saudi EFL University Instructors’ Barriers to Teaching the Speaking Skills: Causes and Solutions By Noura Abdulaziz Abdulmohsen Al Hassan Supervised by Dr. Zuhair Zaghlool Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Linguistics Safar, 1437 November, 2015 Riyadh Saudi Arabia BARRIERS AND SOLUTIONS TO TEACHING SPEAKING 2 BARRIERS AND SOLUTIONS TO TEACHING SPEAKING 3