Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Learner Autonomy: An Exploration of Saudi EFL Secondary School Teachers' Attitudes and Practices(University of Leicester, 2024-01-18) Almufayrij, Hala Fahad Mohaammad; Ashkham, JimThe objective of this research is to examine the current perceptions on learner autonomy (LA) among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Saudi Arabia. It focuses on teachers’ practices to promote their students’ autonomy. The main obstacles encountered in the facilitation of autonomy are highlighted. A questionnaire was administered to 101 EFL female teachers in secondary grades of public schools in Saudi Arabia for this quantitative study. In order to achieve reasonable results, the use of both descriptive statistics and content analysis was employed throughout the data analysis phase. The research findings revealed an overwhelming positive belief among EFL teachers about the significance of LA and its positive impacts on students' language learning. The teachers mainly linked LA with concepts of self-instruction and control. The results of the descriptive analysis revealed that teachers use several strategies both inside and outside the confines of the classroom to foster students' autonomy and independent learning. Teachers often adopt the roles of facilitators and resources in cultivating students' self-directed learning. The most noteworthy finding relates to the prevailing conviction held by teachers about the significant influence of motivation on LA. The findings of the content analysis indicate that teachers tend to prioritise outside classroom practices to a greater extent than those inside the classroom. They explained these efforts to promote LA in instructing EFL students. The study also highlights several significant obstacles to promoting autonomy among Saudi EFL learners. Data collected has shown a statistically significant negative impact of an elaborate prescribed curriculum that leads to a lack of time to foster LA. Moreover, other obstacles include learners’ factors (such as low proficiency in English and lack of motivation), and teachers' misunderstanding of the concept of LA.23 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.131 0