EFL teachers’ attitudes on the use of Literary Dialogues in Developing Spoken Language Awareness in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The role of literature in English Language Teaching (ELT) classrooms in Saudi Arabia has not been extensively examined. Thus, this study aims to gauge the attitudes of English as a Foreign language (EFL) teachers in Saudi universities on the role of literature to raise learners’ awareness on spoken English features. The study employed an open-ended questionnaire to measure the effectiveness of a set of pre-used materials designed using a literary text. A total of 18 EFL teachers took part in evaluating the materials. A thematic analysis was applied to examine the qualitative data. The finding revealed that overall, the attitude of EFL teachers in Saudi universities towards utilizing literature in ELT materials was mostly positive. Additionally, the participants expressed several issues they could foresee if they applied this method regardless of their positive attitude. Finally, the attributes of EFL teachers (e.g. gender, teaching experience) did not seem to necessarily affect their attitudes.