CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS FACTORS AFFECTING THE
TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ENGLISH IN SAUDI ARABIA.
1. INTRODUCTION.
This research is about the cultural and religious factors affecting the
teaching and learning of English language in tertiary institutions in Saudi
Arabia. Four factors namely motivation, social and economic
advancement and struggle between English and Islam and language
anxiety have been put forward, amongst others as issues worth
investigating.
Also, the teaching and learning of English has been driven by
examination success at the expense of the long- term goal of achieving
complete means of communication in reading, writing, listening and
grammar. Since motivation is low among many students partly because
of language anxiety and the struggle between English and Arabic, many
students seem to want to pass so as to climb to the next level/social
ladder, which a pass in English language provides. This makes proper
English language teaching and learning impracticable.
This research should get teachers and language planners think about the
current situation and change. It will show that something needs to be
done urgently about certain ways that English is being taught in Saudi
Arabia.
2. HOW THE PROPOSED RESEARCH RELATES TO PREVIOUS
RESEARCH IN THIS FIELD.
In this section, we look at previous research conducted by various
individuals and groups under motivation, social and economic
advancement, struggle between English and Islam and language anxiety
and their influence on English language teaching/learning in different
parts of the world.
Gardner (1985) proposed that the motivated individual is one who wants
to achieve a particular goal and experiences satisfaction in the activities
in achieving this goal. Gardner further states that motivation influences
language achievement as well as experiences in formal and informal
language context influence attitudes and motivation. Gardner and
MacIntyre (1993) are of the opinion that integrativeness reflects a
positive interest toward the other language or group in general. Since
learning a language involves associating with another cultural group, they
propose that the motivation to learn the language could involve attitudes
toward that community. They also say that attitude toward the learning
situation play a role in the language-learning situation. This may involve
attitude toward the instructor, class, textbooks, language laboratory etc.
Laine (1977) investigated Finnish students learning English and found
that indicators of self-confidence and motivation had association with
English achievement. In Belize, Gordon (1980) found that language
aptitude was the best indicator of English achievement among school
students followed by attitude toward the learning situation. Kraemer
(1990) investigated Israeli Jewish students studying either French or
Arabic as a foreign language. She found that motivation was also a
central mediator in the prediction of language performance. Lett and
O’mara (1990) did a similar project and found motivation as a factor in
achievement even among military personnel. Bartley (1969) similarly
found that those who dropped out of language study had significantly
lower aptitude scores and less positive attitudes than students who
continued their studies.
Dornyei, Z. and Csizer (1998:203) state that motivation is used by
teachers and students to explain success or failure in second language
learning. They also say that without motivation, individuals with
remarkable abilities cannot achieve long –term goals. They go further to
say that appropriate curricula and good teaching without motivation isn’t
enough to ensure students’ achievement.
Motivation is a major variable that affects the teaching and learning of
the English language in Saudi Arabia. The objective of teaching and
learning in English is unclear to a majority of the population here.
English to a greater extent is seen as the main avenue through which
western that is non-Islamic culture enters the country. However, the few
Saudi that know the value of the English language are highly motivated
to learn the language. This research will find out how motivation
influences their choice of English as a language of instruction and study.
According to Pennycook, A (1994:186) English in Malaysia is seen as a
tool for social and economic advancement both within and outside the
country. It is used in unequal distribution of wealth and power. He goes
further to state that social criticism reaches a wider audience using
English. English is used to make its destructive inroad into the culture of
Malaysians. Also, Ozog (1990) found that all the fifty students at
International Islamic University in Malaysia were concerned that English
was the main avenue through which Western that is non-Islamic or even
anti- Islamic culture entered the country.
Since the Gulf War in 1990, there appears to be a slight shift for changes
in Saudi Arabia. The use and therefore teaching and learning of English
got a big boost. Ones ability to use the English language has suddenly
become a tool of social and economic advancement. Saudi who studied in
English stand better chances of employment than those who did not.
Access to the English language became easy through satellite television
and Internet. Whether this is a factor that affects the teaching and
learning of English here, is a factor that we hope to investigate.
Also, Pennycook reasons that for many colonized people, a strong
relationship was felt between English and Christianity since the first
contact with the language was through the Christian missionaries.
Pennycook continues by saying that there has been a long history of
conflict between the Western/Christian world and the Muslim worldfrom the crusade, US vs. Iran, Iraq, Libya, Israel vs. Palestine and even
the Salman Rushdie affair. This by extension is seen as a struggle
between English and Islam. He further states that the term English and
Islam are two very big battalions in terms of international power struggle
for control of the Middle East. Independence movements in the Muslim
world often involve a revival of Islamic consciousness with a stress on
local languages and a rejection of Christianity and English.
In Saudi Arabia this fosters apprehension because some sections of the
community see English as a language of non-believers. Consequently, the
teaching of English has become a tasking competition with Arabic and to
some extent Islam. In a way, the Saudis have a feeling that English is
connected to forms of knowledge and culture that is oppositional or even
threatening to their Islamic way of life. In a way therefore, Saudis are
wary of some of the possible implications of learning English. This
shouldn’t be the case because Saudi Arabia being the capital of the
Islamic world needs English for its Islamic propagation purposes and for
the management of its oil resources. This research intends to ease
tensions and propose ways of encouraging the teaching and learning of
English in Saudi Arabia.
Mohammed Shafi (1983) suggests the need to
make English language truly Islamic involving the reassessment of
teaching methods based on Islamic concepts and objectives, retraining of
teachers, rewriting syllabuses and textbooks and stressing the new
Muslim dominated moral curriculum in his work.
This “Islamic Approach” by Shafi is being applied in Saudi Arabia
although at a low level. It is my view that English language teaching and
learning in Saudi Arabia can be Islamicised. This can be done using the
Qur’an, Hadith and books written by Saudis and other Islamic scholars
around the world. Whether this may impact on the teaching and learning
of English in Saudi Arabia is something that this study hopes to elicit.
Another factor that seems to be important in the English language
teaching and learning situation in Saudi Arabia is language anxiety.
(Ender and Okada, 1975; Eysenck, 1979; Schwarze, 1986) describe
language anxiety as the apprehension experienced when a situation
requires the use of a second language with which the individual is not
fully proficient. This, they claim, makes the individual to react in a
nervous manner when speaking, listening, reading and writing in the
second language. The negative effect of language anxiety in second
language has also been shown in (Gardner Smythe, Clement & Gilksman,
1976; Horwtz, 1986, Trylong 1987; Gardner and MacIntyre in press).
Young (1986), reports correlations between scores on an oral proficiency
interview and language anxiety. Tucker, Hamayan and Genesee (1976)
found that being more adventuresome, less anxious and more willing to
use the foreign language was associated with the achievement in a group
of late immersion students. Trylong (1986) similarly found significant
correlations of anxiety with achievement on written tests, oral quizzes
and final grades in a first-year university French course.
Language anxiety manifests itself among many learners of English in
Saudi Arabia. English is a language that is detested by some students but
they are forced to study it as a required course. To such students, the idea
is just to pass the course, not to learn and use the language. Language
anxiety makes the students avoid using English with their teachers or
with others outside the classroom. They “dodge” their teachers when they
meet outside the classroom because of the fear of using English and
making mistakes. This makes it a real issue in our investigation.
3. MAIN QUESTIONS OR HYPOTHESES.
A) GENERAL AIMS/OBJECTIVES.
1) To identify the cultural and religious barriers to the teaching and
learning of English language in Saudi Arabia.
2) To advance remedies to these problems and barriers.
3) To serve as a guide in English language teaching and planning
to people with similar cultural and religious background in
countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Sudan, Egypt and even
Northern Nigeria.
B) SPECIFIC AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.
1) Is the teaching and learning of English affected by
cultural and religious influence in Saudi Arabia?
2) Is English language teaching and learning seen as a
cultural tool of the West on the Saudis?
3) Are teachers free to use any material they wish in
teaching English?
4) Is the course content controlled to suit cultural/religious
objectives of the Saudis?
5) Is the learner motivated to learn English?
6) What are teachers’ attitudes toward the learning and
teaching of English?
i)
Saudi teachers.
ii)
Non-Saudi teachers.
7) Do graduates of schools/colleges and universities who
studied in English have better job placement than those
of Arabic?
8) Is high or low motivation a factor in learning English in
Saudi Arabia?
9) Do non-proficient students show anxiety/apprehension
when made to use English?
10)
What is the influence of other general factors like
class size, instructional materials, unqualified teachers,
mixed ability classes, unclear objectives etc, in the
teaching/learning of English in Saudi Arabia?
4. JUSTIFICATIONS OF THESE AS WORTHY OF
INVESTIGATION.
This research hopes to justify the following assumptions:
1) That the learning and teaching of English language is
affected by the culture and religion of the Saudis.
2) That English language teaching and learning is seen as
a tool of the West on the Saudis.
3) As a result of (2) above, students’ motivation is a factor
in learning English in Saudi Arabia.
4) That the course content in English is controlled to suit
the cultural and religious inclination of the Saudis.
5) That anxiety affects the students because they avoid
using English outside the classroom even with their
teachers because of the fear of being laughed at by
others. This affects their learning of English.
6) That this research will serve as guidance to teachers and
teacher educators in places that have similar cultural
and religious backgrounds.
5. OVERVIEW OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
This research is going to make use of questionnaires,
interviews and observations. The questionnaires will take
various formats like factual questions, sex, yes/no
questions, multiple choice, ranked questions, closed ended
questions, scale questions and Guttman Scaling. For
interviews, I intend using structured interview, which uses
tightly specified questions in advance. Observation will be
done in the classrooms by going into colleagues’ classes
during real time class sessions. Pre-planned observational
behavior will be noted down as they occur live.
The questionnaires and interviews will be administered on
students, teachers and administrators; while observation
will be conducted on both students and teachers in the
classroom.
6. SOURCES AND TYPES OF DATA AND METHODS OF
COLLECTION.
Our sources of data are students, teachers and administrators concerned
with the teaching and learning of the English Language. The respondents
come from various universities and colleges around Saudi Arabia.
Three types of data are used – numerical, observational and verbal. The
numerical data is collected using questionnaires, the verbal data uses
interview in its collection of information and observational through
observation in the classroom.
The questionnaires are to be filled by the respondents. Some may be
helped to fill them out. Interviews are to be done on one to one situation.
7.METHODS OF ANALYSIS.
According to Hatch and Farhady (1982:39), descriptive statistics is used
to summarize data by coding, doing numerical computations and
preparing a final study. I intend using the Central Tendency for my
analysis. These are mode, median and mean. The mode is the most
frequently obtained score in a data and is the easiest measure of Central
Tendency. Median is the score that is at the center of distribution, while
mean is the most commonly used measure of Central Tendency because
it takes all scores into account. It works on the arithmetic concept that if
scores are distributed along a scale, the mean will fall exactly at the
balance point (pg 39-55).
Measures of variability in this research will be analyzed using Range,
Standard Deviation and Variance. Range is the easiest and most informal
method to talk about the spread of distribution of scores (Hatch and
Farhady 1982:57) and is used to measure the difference between the
highest and lowest values in a set of scores (Nunan 1992:231). Standard
Deviation (SD) is also a frequently used measure of variability that looks
at the average variability of all scores around the mean. The larger the
SD, the more the variability from the central point in the distribution and
vice versa.
The researcher will analyze the interview and observation results based
on a list of set predetermined expected behaviors. This will then be
interpreted and conclusions made.
8. MAIN STAGES IN THE CONDUCT OF THE PROPOSED
RESEARCH.
a) Working on the Proposal ====
b) Reading the Literature ======
c) Pilot Study ==============
d) Collection of Data =========
e) Writing and Submission of Thesis ==
Amajam Abwaku Chibok.
12/10/2000.
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