TEACH ENGLISH IN SAUDI ARABIA Common Learning Problems
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Difficulties at Various Levels and Solutions when Teaching and Testing

At All Levels:

• Phonemic differences are not clearly defined (eg, short "i" and long /i/; voiced and unvoiced consonants /p/ and /b/, /t/ and /d/).
• Third person and plural "s" or "es" is not produced, nor are "-ed" regular endings.
• Intonation patterns are flat and dull.
• Word stress is ignored and therefore whole utterances sound robotic and monotonous.
• Continuous and simple aspects are very often confused. This gives rise to "I swimming three times a week" or "They are not here, they eat their lunch now, teacher".
• Verb tenses are omitted, with a tendency to speak in the infinitive (eg, "I go next weekend").
• Auxiliary verbs, prepositions and pronouns are very often omitted altogether.
• Verb and noun forms are often confused (eg, "I breakfast Hadeed")
• Complex sentences are rarely attempted.
• Discourse markers are lacking, even at higher levels.
• English prosodic features are not attempted, therefore features such as pausing and hesitation (well, erm, yeah, you know, etc) are lacking or Arabic equivalents are used, sounding strange to an English ear.
• Comprehension of the spoken and written word is usually synonymous with having "learned" it. Students do not consider production and experimentation as a means towards interiorizing and therefore effectively learning new lexical items.

At Level Two:

• Simple and continuous aspects of the present tense are confused ("I checking any problem").
• Third person and plural forms are not pronounced, giving rise to misunderstandings of number and person.
• There is a tendency to use the infinitive of verbs instead of the correct form, especially for future plans and arrangements.
• Adverbs of frequency are not used, or sometimes there is excessive use of "usually".
• Active vocabulary is very limited.
• Basic question forms (is, are, do, does, can) have not been properly assimilated or are omitted.
• "Wh" questions are limited, and when used the auxiliary is frequently omitted.
• Students make no attempt at comprehension of spoken utterances beyond the very familiar. A lot of prompting and assistance is require from the interlocutor even with familiar situations and topics.
• Some individual sounds are often confused or lazily pronounced, impeding comprehension.
• "Very" and "too much" or "too many" are often confused.
• Pronouns, both personal and object, are omitted or used incorrectly.

At Level Three:

• Students continue to have some of the above problems, but they also have certain strengths and greater resources.
• Comprehension is now much greater and less assistance is required by the interlocutor to maintain communication when dealing with familiar situations and daily routines.
• Fluency is greater,with students showing more self-confidence in their expressive capabilities.
• However, lexical resources are limited to the familiar and routine matters of daily life and the workplace.
• No attempt is made to extend discourse beyond these areas, or if so, incoherence often results.
• Spatial relations, size, shape and comparison between objects and people cause difficulties.
• Although basic grammatical mistakes still occur frequently, they do not cause breakdown in communication.
• Pronunciation is generally weak, and poor phonemes often cause incomprehension.
• Use of tenses is limited to the present. Past forms are recognize but not produced with any consistency.
• Prepositions of time and place are misused or lacking, causing breakdown in communication.

At Level Four:

• Students at this level possess greater comprehension and need less assistance or prompting by the interlocutor, showing a limited but effective command of the spoken language.
• However, when speaking, inaccuracies abound and there is little attention to tense and aspect.
• Modal verbs are incorrectly used - the intrusive "to" is a frequent mistake - or modals are completely lacking.
• Attitudinal, hypothetical, speculative or deductive language is understood but not used productively.
• Individual sounds, word and sentence stress, and intonation patterns all cause major problems, especially "Ed" regular endings, and there is overuse of the infinitive.
• Prepositions are misused. The tendency to say "before" instead of "ago" and "during" in place of "for" is widespread. Also there is confusion between "at", "in"and "into".
• Personal pronouns are frequently omitted, causing ambiguity.
• Vocabulary is wider, but discourse makers are rarely used, thus giving a staccato effect to speech. The lack of pauses and hesitation strategies accentuates this problem.

What These Problems Tell Us

In view of all these problems, the following factors need to be taken into account to improve students' speaking and comprehension ability:

1. International examination scales - UCLES, LCCI or NVQ - for use as reference points
2. The client's objectives
3. The students and their cultural background
4. Teaching objectives and classroom practice
5. Testing procedures and marking schemes

1. Using International Examination Scales to Evaluate Saudi ELT Learners

• The UCLES (University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate) has a five-point scale for the evaluation of speaking performance corresponding to five specific examinations - KET, PET, FCE, CAE and CPE.
• The requirements for the midrange FCE exam state the following

"Generally effective command of the spoken language. Able to handle communication in familiar situations. Able to organize extended discourse but occasionally produces utterances that lack coherence and some inaccuracies and inappropriate usage occur. Maintains a flow of language, although hesitation may occur whilst searching for language resources. Although pronunciation is easily understood, L1 features may be intrusive. Does not require major assistance or prompting by an interlocutor."

• Students at level four require major assistance or prompting by an interlocutor. They are unable to organize extended discourse because they lack the vocabulary, structure and the necessary discourse markers.
• It is clear that if Saudi students are to deal effectively with course content in textbooks at intermediate level, such as Headway Intermediate, then they will have to improve their oral and aural performance.
• Oral and aural ability of the best students at level 4 "threshold" level, is normally similar to that required to pass PET:

  "Limited but effective command of the spoken language. Able to handle communication in most familiar situations. Able to construct longer utterances but not able to use complex language except in well-rehearsed utterances. Has problems searching for language resources to express ideas and concepts resulting in pauses and hesitation. Pronunciation is generally intelligible, but L1 features may put a strain on the listener. Has some ability to compensate for communication difficulties using repair strategies but may require prompting and assistance by an interlocutor."

• Participants studying for the PET examination are capable of passing if they have successfully finished a course at level 3 such as Headway Pre-intermediate. The book has all the structure and vocabulary required.
• So, is too much emphasis being placed upon the written word? What is happening in the classroom? Are students correctly tested before entering courses? These questions are dealt with in subsequent sections.

2. Corporate Clients' Objectives for Their Personnel

• All clients use English for both spoken and written communication at work.
• The objective is to improve student performance in the necessary area for that person to have realized consciously that he has made progress.
• Therefore, if a student has a shift report to write at the end of his working day which he has difficulty in completing, but as a result of attending a 5-week English course he is now demonstrably better at doing it, then the course has been successful.
• However, if the student needs to speak on the telephone on a daily basis and merely ticks boxes for the report, then obviously speaking and listening practice will be more of a priority.
• Most classes will have students of mixed ability, with different age groups and levels of motivation.
• Their objectives may not coincide with those required for their jobs, or those of the company they work for.
• Nevertheless, any improvement in oral or aural skills inevitably leads to wider all round improvement, and therefore should be encouraged wholeheartedly.

3. The Students and Their Cultural Background

• ·Students have different learning styles and come from different backgrounds. Nevertheless, certain general statements can be made about the type of student at the European Centre.
• He is educated to secondary level and may have spent up to three years at technical college, during which time he will have had some instruction in English.
• His instruction will generally have been descriptive and grammar-based, using Arabic as the medium of instruction. · He will be used to teacher-centred activities and rote learning.
• He prefers to use the English he knows rather than experiment with new forms. This also applies to mistakes and "Arab-English" forms which are very ingrained.
• English is a common language used for communication between millions of foreign workers and their Saudi hosts, and therefore many incorrect Indian or Egyptian forms of English are in common use.
• The Saudi is very direct when addressing Indians, Filipinos, etc, dispensing with polite forms. He prefers to say "Give me a falafel sandwich" rather than "Could I have a falafel sandwich?" This means that in class students will have to "unlearn" some bad habits they have acquired in daily life.
• Students have had little experience of communicative teaching approaches.
• They do not organize their learning in a systematic way. Vocabulary is noted without system, if at all. Pronunciation is not given sufficient attention, while there is too much learning of grammatical paradigms.
• As a cultural norm, it is expected that the class will be teacher-led, and students may feel insecure if given too much control of their own learning.
• While students are generally motivated to learn and cause few discipline or class-management problems, some regard their course as an easy option to avoid working in the factory. From their point of view, they are having a holiday of five to eight weeks off work. Such students have no interest in learning, and can severely disrupt progress for the class as a whole.

4. Teaching Objectives and Classroom Practice

• Teaching objectives need to be evaluated bearing in mind examination needs, clients' objectives and the students' cultural background, and a set of objectives and values agreed on.
• Approaches will inevitably vary from teacher to teacher and the motto should always be: "If it works, do it".
• However, some basic guidelines are essential if oral and aural standards are to improve. The following points should be considered:
  • How often are "warm-up" activities done?
  • Is sufficient attention given to the four language skills in any one session?
  • Are both macro and micro skills practised in a systematic way?
  • What approach is given to the presentation of new vocabulary?
  • Is pronunciation a priority, and is stress marking done on the board?
  • How important is the practice of intonation patterns?
  • Is there any purpose to reading aloud?
  • How much teacher-talking time is there in any one class?
  • How often are pairwork or groupwork activities done in class?
  • Are such activities successful, and if not, why not?
  • What do students do in any one class?
  • Do they move about the classroom? If so, why? If not, why not?
  • Is there any attempt to "break up" activities?
  • How much laughter is their in class?
  • What kind of atmosphere is there, antagonistic or supportive?

5. Testing Procedures and Marking Schemes

• Testing is very often done by the client and therefore may be out of the European Centre's hands. If this is the case, there may well be great discrepancies in students' knowledge and performance in any given group.
• Usually testing is multiple-choice and therefore oral and aural ability are a secondary consideration, if tested at all.
• When attention is given to oral and aural ability, the percentage apportioned should be considered, and related to the levels in the classroom, either using a weekly progress test or by awarding marks based on continuous assessment.
• Obviously, there is no purpose in stating that one is trying to improve students' oral and aural abilities if this is not reflected in classroom practice or testing procedures, and therefore some standardization should be introduced.
• Few students continue for periods of time longer than one level or remain with the same teacher, therefore they do not appreciate any attempt at such standardization or lack of it. So it is best to give the student the most stimulating and diverse learning experience he has ever had in a short space of time.