Job Discussion Forums

[melysnl]

Are the Saudis frightened to lose face in English class? I ask this question because I've grown weary of playing tug of war in getting the students to speak English here in Asia, especially the adults. I'm female and contemplating teaching adult females in Saudi and hoping that they aren't as "shy" as the adults in Asia. What are your thoughts?

[nomad soul]

Your subject line is misleading. There's no logical reason to compare Saudi students with those in Asia---these are very different cultures with different language learning needs and issues. You adjust your teaching style and techniques to each culture and teaching situation. For instance, teaching conversation English in a language institute isn't the same as teaching IEP or foundation year English at the tertiary level. Moreover, in your specific situation, you're going from a coeducational environment to one that's strict about gender segregation in every facet of society.

You're essentially asking for a general profile of Saudi female students in a university foundation year program. For starters, they love getting positive attention and compliments from their teacher (and do the same to the teacher). Although there will always be those few shy, quiet girls, overall, Saudi female students tend to be talkative, especially those who have traveled or lived outside the Kingdom. But don't expect all that talking to be entirely in English; they have to be reminded to speak the target language. The sharper, serious students---usually those in a science track---tend to be more focused and motivated, and therefore, cooperative in class. Others may be hesistant to speak because 1) their language skills are lower than the proficiency level they've been placed in; 2) their previous teacher(s) frequently used Arabic in class; and/or 3) their previous teacher(s)---usually Saudi---incorprated an old-school, strict teacher-centered teaching approach. By the way, you're likely to have to contend with the issue of students being preoccupied with their smartphones in class.

Of course, given the Kingdom's ultra-conservative culture, you'd have to ensure certain topics don't get brought up in class, so you need to have a high level of cultural awareness. Ditto for common media used for teaching. For example, don't be surprised if you're informed by higher ups that using music in class is verboten. But frankly, how your students are in class depends on you as a teacher and how well you 1) exhibit empathy and fairness as well as build rapport and trust in your classroom; and 2) use engaging, fun activities to motivate them and stimulate their learning. Pretty basic teacher stuff.

[gorkomi]

:/

[PeterParvo]

Saudi students appear to be open and easy-going, but just ask them a question like "Should the Internet be censored?" and you'll find out rather quickly just how open-minded they are. They can wear NY Yankee baseball caps backwards and listen to hip-hop music, but their minds are living about 1400 years in the past.

My university did have its fair share of future mutawas, but I can't say I ever had one from the UK or the US.

I'm not slamming Saudis, because I liked many of my students, but to say they are just like Americans seems a bit of a stretch to me.

Just out of curiosity, were your freewheeling Saudi students Sunni or Shia? I mostly found the Shia much more personable and genuine.

[gorkomi]

[gorkomi]

[clyde]

This is a question I could answer fairly well. I taught for 6 years in Korea in a variety of contexts (kindergarten up to CEOs). Korea is much different. There is a real urgency to learn there. The balli-balli culture pervades everything. Parents continually complain about nonsense just to feel involved, and God help you if you ever need a sick day.

Saudi is the polar opposite. Students are almost always late and there is nothing that can done. They do very little homework, and learn much more slowly. They are not shy however and as Koreans never really master communication and pronunciation very well, Saudis readily do. Koreans skate circles around them though in terms of reading and writing. The whole cultural religious thing is overblown in my opinion. In two years here, I have never had an issue. A 25 year old, freshly graduated, single, beer-monster (I know you know a few) will be in danger of losing his job or worse however. I find that being respectful and gregarious will take you far here. One little tid-bit that I will mention is that living in Korea for 6 years has provided me with exactly 3 Korean Facebook friends, whereas one week in Thailand usually lands me 10 or more (foreigners and Thais). I have also made some wonderful Saudi friends too. I don't want to sound too crass here, but my experience was that Koreans really hate and mistrust foreigners. Saudis are for the most part very accommodating and gracious hosts.

In short, I find life in Saudi MUCH better than Korea. I am far less stressed out, I make much more money without having to kill myself. There is more vacation and housing is fantastic. I am, however, a married grown-up and I take what I do seriously. There are a lot of opportunities for growth as an educator here if this is important to you.

[melysnl]

Thanks for the replies.

Clyde,

That's good to know that they are not shy. I'm burnt on pulling answers out of perpetually face saving adult students here(Taiwan currently). I agree about Korea too. It's not missed and Taiwan won't be either. I'd like to have more of a connection with the local people. I've previously visited a few ME countries as well as Kuwait for an extended period of time and they were quite welcoming overall. It felt genuine too. I'm a bit apprehensive about Saudi though, but I'm openminded and braced for change and with any luck I'll be heading there some time in the next 6 months.

[fledex]

Having spent 7 years teaching adults in Taiwan, 2 years teaching adults in Oman, 2 years in PYP programs in Saudi, and 2 years teaching adults in China, I never found the female students in any of these places to be shy or unwilling to speak English, unless they were at an extremely low level of English ability. True, I didn't have female Saudi students, but I met some of them in the hotel where I stayed and through the female teachers. Other than something as basic as not shaking hands in public, I never found them to be shy or unwilling to speak English. I used many of the same materials in all these places, except Saudi. I found students very willing to free talk, answer questions, pose questions, and so on. It didn't matter whether they were male or female. I did have female students in Oman and Afghanistan. So really, I don't recognize the Taiwan you're talking about. I have friends in all these places and found the students equally engaging in the ME and Taiwan/China. Of course, the ME educational and work standards are a total joke compared to China/Taiwan, where the work force in any company seems to be extremely overqualified.

[Menvoulezvous]