Job Discussion Forums

[almost there]

Hello,
I'm a graduate student studying TESL in the US. I want to learn about teaching in Saudi Arabia and would be very appreciative if any of you could tell me anything about the English curriculum at Saudi public universities and anything related to teaching English at the public universities. I'm not concerned about pay, working conditions, or contracts. I'm concerned with teachers' attitudes toward the English language curriculum (if there s a set curriculum), teaching methodologies, and anything else that would give me an idea about the current status of teaching EFL in Saudi universities. I have a few questions, but please feel free to include anything relevant that I didn't ask.

Who decides the curriculum? (Ministry of Education, university, teacher?)

If the curriculum is the same for all public universities, could you please tell me about it?

From my readings of journal articles dealing with EFL in the religion, I'm inclined to believe that there is a lot of enthusiasm for contrastive analysis. Would you say this is the case?

What are the pros & cons of teaching in Saudi universities. (Only include what is related to actual teaching and what goes on in the classroom. I'm not concerned with lifestyle, weather, pay, etc.)

Thank you very much!

[lazycomputerkids]

[almost there]

LOL Sorry, I meant region not religion.

Thank you for your response. I meant to say that based on some studies that I've read dealing with EFL in the Gulf and at least one in Jordan, I got the impression that perhaps teaching in the middle east may be commonly informed by contrastive analysis, at least in cases dealing with teachers whose L1 is also Arabic.

[lazycomputerkids]

[freesoul]

[tacomaboywa]

Here's a link to the Ministry of Education:

http://www.moe.gov.sa/openshare/englishcon/

Perhaps you can contact them directly and hope that someone might actually respond with relevant information.

Good Luck!



---------------
Avoid M-Trading
http://www.tulbah.org/

[GlobalDawg]

I can't speak for all universities in Saudi. The one I left a year and a half ago struggled with curriculum during the five years I was there. Before the curriculum can be appropriately designed and developed there is a need for standards to be in place--standards were non-existent across the curriculum.

Currently, the institution is operating on hit and miss suggestions on textbooks from ESL textbook salesmen. There is no systematic approach to textbook selection. Several years ago when the institution initiated it's BS Engineering program, the HoD of the English Language Center directed me to "select a textbook that indicates academic writing" by title. There was no time given to reviewing textbooks, nor was there consideration, time or thought put into developing the course--the textbook drove the curriculum. I'll go out on a limb to suggest that this is common in the majority of educational institutions in Saudi. However, with the push for reform in the UAE and Qatar, things may be changing in Saudi.

The majority of students arrive on college campuses having experienced six years of EFL at the secondary level. However, more than 85% of those students are unprepared to engage in an English based learning experience at the tertiary level. The EFL teacher at the preparatory level goes into the classroom with a textbook (in my experience an outdated textbook published in the late 1980s) and starts on page one and attempts to get through as much of the material as possible by the end of the term.

Students are offered courses in the four strands with very little consideration given to alignment. Methodologies are outdated. Values and aims of the society (a critical element of design) are a mixed-match with the curriculum because of the conflict between culture and religious philosophy on the one hand and the desire for only selective aspects of western education on the other; delivery is based on the dependence of western publications that often require censorship due to cultural sensitivity.

The most critical aspect of the curriculum is that the learning experience is limited to the sciences, maths and language learning with very little attention given to art, social sciences and other disciplines that would enhance literacy and language proficiency in general. Due to the limitations in curriculum design, i.e. the total absence of bi-lingual methods, approaches and strategies, many students even lag behind in their primary language abilities.

[lazycomputerkids]

[Dervish Finkelblatt]

I liked it better when you said things like..."moray."

Honestly, I have no idea what you're taking about.

[lazycomputerkids]