Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Saudi Students’ Experiences of Their Writing Transfer in Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Study(University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2024-12) Alnasser, Ahmed; Brown, Clara LeeAs writing transfer becomes increasingly crucial for students navigating diverse academic demands, understanding its mechanisms is essential, particularly for the field of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. This study investigates the experiences of Saudi undergraduate students with writing transfer from EFL courses to discipline-specific courses, examining how they apply, adapt, and encounter difficulties with writing skills across various academic contexts. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with five participants and analyzed using thematic analysis. The analyses identified two overarching categories of writing transfer: simple transfer, comprising (1) no transfer, (2) discrete application, and (3) assemblage and adaptive transfer, which included (1) reconceptualization and (2) modification. These findings shed light on the unique challenges and successes that college EFL learners experience when transferring writing skills across different academic contexts. Specifically, simple transfer often hindered students’ ability to meet the demands of new writing contexts, while adaptive transfer required them to make more substantial adjustments in their approach to more challenging writing tasks and to develop a clearer understanding of what writing skills and knowledge could be effectively transferred. This study underscores the need for targeted instructional strategies in EFL programs to promote effective writing transfer across genres and emphasizes the importance of broadening adaptive learning frameworks in EFL settings.39 0Item Restricted PERCEIVED LINGUISTIC AND NON-LINGUISTIC BARRIERS FACING SAUDI FEMALE PARTNERS LEARNING ENGLISH(University of Mississippi, 2024-05-29) Dulli, Samah; Coles, FeliceThe partners of the Saudi students who come to the United States on scholarships to earn a degree (Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D.) are eligible for full scholarships as well. However, most of them fail to proceed in earning a degree or fulfill the language proficiency requirement needed to join an academic degree program. This study surveys between 10 to 20 adult female partners of Saudi university students to elicit their opinions on how much English they think they will learn during their partner scholarship time in academic and non-academic settings. This study investigates the female partners of the Saudi degree learners and the factors that they believe could influence their level of attainment of the English language or mastering the second language while in Oxford, Mississippi, as they have full scholarships to earn degrees. Keywords: Sociolinguistics, Saudi Females, linguistics/non-linguistics factors, Motivation, EFL learners, Language barriers.27 0Item Restricted EFL Learners’ Perceptions of AI Tools in Enhancing their Target Language Use: A Quantitative Study of Saudi International Students in the UK(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-12-05) Alsubaei, Mouneerah; Thompson, PaulThe integration of AI tools into education has gained considerable attention in this era of technological advancement. In light of the increasing interest in the use of AI in language learning, it is essential to understand how EFL learners perceive the potential of these tools to improve their usage of the target language. Despite the growing prevalence of AI tools, there is limited research concerning Saudi international students' perceptions of these tools in the context of language learning, specifically in the UK. This study attempts to address the consequential gap in the literature by investigating Saudi international students' perspectives on AI tools for improving EFL use, particularly in overall language performance and four skills, especially in the UK. Moreover, it attempts to identify significant differences in students' responses to the questionnaire based on gender, age, current educational courses and years of language learning experience. Data collection questionnaires were distributed to targeted respondents (N= 237) and analysed statistically by SPSS. This study revealed interesting findings. Participants generally believe AI improves overall language performance and writing skills, particularly grammar, spelling and punctuation. However, AI's effect on critical thinking, reading, listening and speaking could not be proven by the research findings, except in terms of vocabulary use. There is no significant difference between participants' responses based on gender, age, current academic courses or years of language learning experience. However, there is a significant difference based on current academic courses in relation to the number of times the research participants use AI tools to improve their English Language use. Most comments from students were positive and they expressed the effectiveness of AI in improving writing skills.150 0Item Restricted What factors make reading comprehension difficult for English learners in Saudi primary schools from the teachers’ perspective?(University of Reading, 2023-10-03) Aljaloud Alhanouf; Tsakalaki, AnnaThis research investigated the challenges limiting reading comprehension abilities among young learners in Saudi Arabia's primary schools where English is taught to them as a second language. The study adopted a mixed-method methodology, employing both quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to gain a complete understanding of the factors influencing reading comprehension difficulties and potential strategies for improvement. The study recruited 23 participants, where 20 participated in the study survey while the remaining three were part of the qualitative interviews. The research was guided by two main research questions, them being: (1) What factors make reading comprehension difficult for English learners in Saudi elementary schools from the teachers' perspective? and (2) What strategies might help teachers improve reading comprehension ability for English language learners in Saudi primary schools? The outcomes from this study showed that a number of factors that contributed to the reading comprehension challenges faced by the young learners in Saudi Arabia primary schools, including linguistic elements, including grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, and language variations. Difficulties with grammar, limited vocabulary, and phonemic challenges hindered a proper pronunciation and spelling, ultimately affecting learners' capacity to understand English language texts. Moreover, the differences between the native Arabic language and English create a cultural void that limited an effective comprehension. There were also inadequacies in the syllabus and curriculum, particularly with lack of clear objectives in the curriculum and a steep learning slope presenting challenges for learners' reading comprehension abilities. The study recommended addressing the challenges with the curriculum and also employing active teaching and learning techniques to develop effective English reading comprehension skills among the young learners in the Saudi Arabia primary schools.44 0