The Perceptions and Attitudes of Saudi EFL Students Toward the Use of Communicative Language Teaching in Oral Communication Classes (Published)
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is widely and extensively practiced in language teaching, especially in EFL classes. In fact, most educators consider it to be the most effective and practical approach to language teaching. Early studies indicated that the positive or negative attitudes of learners toward CLT can affect their language learning process. As a result, the current study aims to unveil the perceptions and attitudes of Saudi college and graduate students toward the implementation of CLT to enhance their speaking and listening skills. Furthermore, gender role is also considered since Saudi has a segregated system of education. Questionnaire items adopted from Komol et al. (2020) were rated on a Likert scale which ranged from “Strongly Disagree” (1, very low) to “Strongly Agree” (5, very high). Mean Likert scale scores were used to evaluate the responses of participants along with the standard deviation (SD). The study found that Saudi participants displayed a higher perception of CLT activities when compared to their attitude. Moreover, females showed a higher perception and attitude toward CLT activities than males did. The highest mean scores of perception items among females are “Making a short video” because it allows them to get more exposure to English use while males have chosen “Teacher’s instruction on class CLT activities” as more significant. Concerning attitudinal items, males believe in using CLT activities to promote their language proficiency. In contrast, females believe in using role-play activities to improve their language proficiency. Finally, females showed less preference for CLT group or class activities than males did.
Keywords: CLT, Females, Perception, attitude, males
To Talk or Not To Talk: Perceptions of Yemeni Undergraduates Regarding Their Willingness to Communicate in English (Published)
Willingness to communicate (WTC) in a foreign language has gained much more attention as an important concept in improving students’ oral skills. The present study explored undergraduate students’ perceptions of their WTC in English across four types of contexts and three types of receivers. The exploratory design was employed with 100 college students who were involved in the current study. Data of the study were collected through using a self-reported questionnaire. Descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviations were run to analyze the data. Students were found to be more willing and less willing to communicate in classes in terms of both communication contexts and in terms of the three types of receivers. Some pedagogical implications for future research are provided by the end of the study.
Keywords: And Receiver- Type., Context- Type, Perception, Willingness to Communicate
Perception of Teachers and Students towards Methods Used In Teaching and Learning of English Writing Skills in Secondary Schools (Published)
Writing skills are important for effective communication. However, the development of writing skills among learners depends on the methods used in teaching and learning. Recent survey of writing competence among students in schools shows that majority of them cannot write properly. This raises concern regarding methods used in teaching and learning. Low levels of writing skills in West Pokot have greatly affected overall mean scores in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations for the years 2009 to 2011 with mean scores dropping from 7.66 to 5.09. The purpose of the study was to determine the perceptions of teachers and students towards the methods used in teaching and learning of English writing skills in secondary schools in West Pokot County of Kenya. The objectives of the study were first, to establish teachers and students perception of methods used in teaching and learning of writing skills and second, to compare teachers and students perceptions of methods used in teaching and learning writing skills. The study population was 31 teachers of English and 2580 form four students. The sample size included 31 teachers of English and 334 form four students selected through simple random sampling technique. Data was collected through questionnaires and analyzed by use of mean and t-test. The study revealed that both teachers and students had negative perception towards methods used in teaching and learning of English writing skills and this was not statistically different(p-value=0.1594).
Keywords: Perception, Teaching Methods, Writing Skills