Needs Analysis in ESP Context: Saudi Engineering Students as a Case Study

Needs analysis can be a vital asset for teachers of English for specific purposes (ESP) to identify their learners’ key requirements or needs and determine the areas in which they are lacking skills. Against this background, this study was undertaken during the academic year 2015-16 to define the English language needs of engineering students (N= 200) majoring in civil engineering and industrial engineering. The data of this study was collected from different sources, including a classroom observation protocol, a questionnaire, and a semi-structured interview with both ESP and subject-matter teachers (SM) at Umm Al-Qura University. Results of the data analysis offered significant insights as to the teaching of ESP course. The study revealed that receptive skills (i.e., reading and listening) were mostly focused on in ESP classes. It has been also reported that writing and reading along with speaking skills were needed more than others. The data analysis helped to determine the most important language tasks in the context of engineering studies. Finally, a call was being made by both ESP and SM teachers to enhance the quality of the ESP course taught to engineering students by offering relevant suggestions. Based on these findings, the present study concluded with implications for course designers and recommendations for future studies

Dictogloss in Saudi EFL Context: Potential Effects on Students’ Writing Skill and Attitudes towards Learning English

This quasi-experimental study investigates the effects of dictogloss strategy on Saudi EFL writing skills and attitudes towards learning English. It also measures students’ attitudes towards learning English using dictogloss activities. The study opens doors for teachers of EFL towards new teaching methods and techniques for writing skills and the English language in general, away from traditional teaching. In order to answer the two main questions of the study, a sample of Saudi EFL college-level students was randomly selected and divided into an experimental group and a control group. The researcher used the dictogloss strategy when teaching the experimental group for five weeks, whereas the students in the control group were taught using the traditional way. Students were matched according to their writing proficiency, instructed by the same teacher (the researcher), and were similar in age. After five weeks of instruction, both groups completed another writing post-test and the attitude questionnaire. Measures of the means, standard deviations, and ANCOVA were used to determine the differences between the two groups. The results revealed a significant statistical difference in students writing skills, including their engagement and motivation in the class and their language output, favoring the experimental group. The study concludes with recommendations for training EFL teachers on using dictogloss when teaching writing and that dictogloss texts should be topic-based materials to integrate different language skills collaboratively

The Effect of Talking Story Books on Saudi Young EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension

The current research study investigated the effects of talking story books on Saudi young EFL learners’ reading comprehension skills. A sample of Saudi-young-EFL learners were randomly selected and divided into two groups: an experimental group (40 students) and a control group (39 students). Students of both groups took a pre reading comprehension test at the mid of the 2016 academic year. The researcher used the talking story books when teaching the experimental group for four weeks whereas the students in the control group were taught without the use of talking story books. After four weeks of instruction, both groups completed the same reading comprehension test again. Measures of the means, standard deviations, and MANCOVA were used to determine the differences between the two groups. The study revealed that students who attended reading classes using talking story books outperformed their control group counterparts in many reading-based skills. This is indicative of the positive effects of talking story books on EFL young learners reading comprehension skills.</jats:p

Dictogloss in Saudi EFL Context: Potential Effects on Students’ Writing Skill and Attitudes towards Learning English

This quasi-experimental study investigates the effects of dictogloss strategy on Saudi EFL writing skills and attitudes towards learning English. It also measures students’ attitudes towards learning English using dictogloss activities. The study opens doors for teachers of EFL towards new teaching methods and techniques for writing skills and the English language in general, away from traditional teaching. In order to answer the two main questions of the study, a sample of Saudi EFL college-level students was randomly selected and divided into an experimental group and a control group. The researcher used the dictogloss strategy when teaching the experimental group for five weeks, whereas the students in the control group were taught using the traditional way. Students were matched according to their writing proficiency, instructed by the same teacher (the researcher), and were similar in age. After five weeks of instruction, both groups completed another writing post-test and the attitude questionnaire. Measures of the means, standard deviations, and ANCOVA were used to determine the differences between the two groups. The results revealed a significant statistical difference in students writing skills, including their engagement and motivation in the class and their language output, favoring the experimental group. The study concludes with recommendations for training EFL teachers on using dictogloss when teaching writing and that dictogloss texts should be topic-based materials to integrate different language skills collaboratively.</p

Improving the Persuasive Essay Writing of Students of Arabic as a Foreign Language (AFL): Effects of Self-Regulated Strategy Development

AbstractThe current study is an attempt to study the impact of self-regulation development strategies (SRDS) on writing persuasive essay for students of Arabic as a foreign language (AFL). Therefore, 24 learners of the second semester in the department of Arabic language teachers’ preparation for non-native speakers, institute of the Arabic language for non native Speakers at Umm Al-Qura University were selected as the sample. The sample was divided into two groups: experimental (n=12) received 9 training sessions using SRDS. and control (n=12) taught using teacher-centered based model, The results of the study indicate that SRDS are found effective on writing persuasive essay for (AFL) students in general, also that the most predictable skills to be improved are respectively: paragraph writing, creating ideas, organization, clarity of position, and sentence structure and vocabulary