A Survey of English Fluency in Saudi Arabia Schools

This survey analyzes students' English needs in the technical and vocational training corporation (TVTC) in Saudi Arabia, focusing on cosmetology and fashion design majors. It examines the drawbacks of the current English curriculum and the need for improvement in cultural relevance, content, and work-setting.

Running Head: A SURVEY OF ENGLISH FLUENCY IN SAUDI ARABIA SCHOOLS
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Survey of Academic and General English Fluency in Saudi Arabia
Schools
Student’s Name:
University Affiliation:

Running Head: A SURVEY OF ENGLISH FLUENCY IN SAUDI ARABIA SCHOOLS
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The aim of this survey is to analyze students’ English needs in the
technical and vocational training corporation (TVTC) in Saudi Arabia. By
comparing between two majors: cosmetology and fashion design.
Cosmetology and fashion design courses share the same curriculum to study
English. There are three levels through which TVTC teaches business English,
that is through a class text titled Business Goals by Knight & O'Neil &
Hayden, published in 2004. As an expert and professional in TVTC’s English
curriculum, the mentioned textbook has the following drawbacks:
1. Inadequate English skills for vocational purposes and major related
topics that students require in future’s work environment.
2. The cultural gap of the curriculum in the presented activities in a
Saudi context. In which most of the activities are presented in an
environment that is very different than what students will encounter
in their expected work setting.
3. There are four English language skills: reading, writing, listening
and communication, are not given enough attention. According to
scholars Alrashidi and Phan, poor mastery of the basic English skills
in the Kingdom is not as a result of inadequate textbook content,
but for other reasons related to course design: like the time limit, a
large number of students, and the teachers do not have sufficient
training in classroom’s setting (Alrashidi & Phan, 2015).

Running Head: A SURVEY OF ENGLISH FLUENCY IN SAUDI ARABIA SCHOOLS
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Therefore, students' English skills are lower than the expected learning
outcomes. This gap suggests the need for analysis of students' needs in
regards to three factors: culture, content and work-setting. This survey will
be sent in Arabic to the student from both cosmetology and fashion design.
The target students are either still studying at one of the three English levels
offered in TVTC or have already graduated. The last part of this report
explains the need for two open questions 15 and 16.
The survey was piloted using two participants, one is a Saudi TESOL
student at Monash (English audio-comments) and the second is a TVCT
fashion design graduate (responded to an Arabic translation of the survey,
the survey was translated under her requested as she doesn't understand
English).
Follow this link to the Survey:
Take the Survey
Or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser:
Q1
What is your major?
o Cosmetology
o Fashion design
Q2

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What level of English are you studying at TVTC?
o First
o Second
o Third
o None of the above. I have already graduated.
Q3
Where do you expect to work after graduating?
o Beauty salons
o Freelance design
o Academic career: teaching at TVTC' colleges
o Other, please specify
Q4
What is your English proficiency level?
o Advanced: I speak, read, write and understand English fluently.
o Upper Intermediate: I can communicate without much difficulty
but still make lots of mistakes and misunderstand sometimes.
o Intermediate: I can speak and understand reasonably well and
can use basic tenses but have problems with more complex
grammar and vocabularies.

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o Elementary: I can speak and understand very few things in
English.
o Beginner: I do not speak any English word.
Q5
What is your weakest English skill: Reading, Writing, Speaking or
Listening? (This question is about Academic English that uses advanced
vocabulary not basic English, think of topics like business, fashion, chemistry
can you understand texts in similar areas.
o Reading: I find it difficult to read and understand a text in
English.
o Writing: I find it difficult to write a text in English.
o Listening: I find it difficult to understand when I listen to English
audio.
o Speaking: I cannot express my ideas well when I am speaking in
English language.
Q6
Answer the questions below by choosing the value of 1-7 with a sense
of scale as follows:
Never: 0 Rarely: 2 Sometimes: 3 Often: 4 Almost Always: 6 Always:7
I…… use English outside of the TVTC English class.

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o Never
o Rarely
o Sometimes
o Often
o Almost always
o Always
Q7
I learn more about my major by reading professional literature or from
other sources than the TVTC curriculum (e.g. journals, evidence-based
papers, books)
o Never
o Rarely
o Sometimes
o Often
o Almost always
o Always
Q8
Are the activities offered in the textbook related to my culture?
o Never
o Rarely
o Sometimes

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o Often
o Almost always
o Always
Q9
I learn more about a major related topic in English when I listen to
audios or watch videos from other sources than the TVTC curriculum, e.g.
YouTube.
o Never
o Rarely
o Sometimes
o Often
o Almost always
o Always
Q10
I develop the skill of speaking in English on own my own, not through
the English classes offered in TVTC. (e.g. taking a class online where I have
to speak in English in a matter related to my major, or speaking in English to
people working in jobs related to my major)
o Never
o Rarely
o Sometimes

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o Often
o Almost always
o Always
Q11
I learn English through academic writing in major-related topics from
other sources than the TVTC curriculum. (e.g. through the internet, privet
tutoring classes, books)
o Never
o Rarely
o Sometimes
o Often
o Almost always
o Always
Q12
I learn new major related terminologies in the English course I am
studying/studied in TVTC.
o Never
o Rarely
o Sometimes
o Often

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o Almost always
o Always
Q13
The topics in the TVTC English curriculum are useful to my future work
environment:
o Never
o Rarely
o Sometimes
o Often
o Almost always
o Always
Q14
Thinking of my future career, I will use the English language mostly for:
o Contact overseas services.
o Publishing major related materials in English (e.g. books,
Journals, online blogs, social media accounts e.t.c.).
o Stay updated in my field by reading or listening to major related
topics published in English.
o Communicate with clients, workers, colleagues, students etc.
o All of the above

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Q15
In few words, please write about the topics you would like to study at
the TVTC English courses?
Q16
Please list the strong and weak points of your current English course
studied in TVTC.
Q17
How satisfied or dissatisfied were you with the English courses in the
TVTC?
o Very Dissatisfied
o Dissatisfied
o Somewhat Dissatisfied
o Neutral
o Somewhat Satisfied
o Satisfied
o Very Satisfied
The main goal of the open questionnaire number 15, is to identify the
English vocational needs for students studying Cosmetology and Fashion
design in Saudi female's vocational colleges, in regards to their future work

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environment and career development. One of the problems of the current
English course is the lack of an English major related language, according to
Al-Hazmi, English is a significant source of information for students studying
different courses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Al-Hazmi, 2017). The
significance of knowing and speaking English is further seen in the global
markets where most products are sold using English language. This makes
English a language to be globally accepted. According to Thompson, in his
book revisiting the foreign language, claimed that English is a medium of
communication in colleges and in the places of work (Thompson,1991). Also,
it is evident that a good number of non-Saudis work in this industry,
according to Sadi and Henderson in their report claimed that most of these
foreign workers come from South Asian countries (Sadi & Henderson, 2005).
These foreign workers speak English language as their second language.
Students majoring in cosmetology study: makeup, skincare, hair,
massage, and pedicure. Fashion designing students study the design and
production of clothing and sewing. Both majors study the same English
courses based on a business English textbook that was mainly targeting
people seeking work in companies. Therefore, Q16, try to extract students'
view of the current English course as they are graduating with little English
vocational terminology (Al-Qahtani, 2016). Although the current curriculum
can teach students necessary business-related topics, major related topics
are ignored

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Refence.
Alrashidi, O., & Phan, H. (2015). Education Context and English
Teaching and Learning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: An Overview. English
Language Teaching, 8(5), 33-44.
Al-Hazmi, S. (2017). Current issues in English language education in
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Journal of Modern Languages, 17(1), 129-150.
Al-Qahtani, A. (2016). Why do Saudi EFL readers exhibit poor reading
abilities. English Language and Literature Studies, 6(1), 1-15.
Fareh, S. (2010). Challenges of teaching English in the Arab world: Why
can’t EFL programs deliver as expected?. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 2(2), 3600-3604.
Sadi, M. A., & Henderson., J. C. (2005) Local versus foreign workers in
the hospitality and tourism industry: A Saudi Arabian perspective. Cornell
hotel and restaurant administration quarterly, 46(2), 247-257.
Thompson, I. (1991). Foreign accents revisited: The English
pronunciation of Russian immigrants. Language learning, 41(2), 177-204.