Key elements of the ESL/EFL teacher preparation program at the University of Ha\u27il, Saudi Arabia: EFL practitioners and faculty perceptions.

This investigation was designed to determine the perceptions of ESL/EFL faculty members and ESL/EFL practitioners teaching in Girls’ Public Schools in the city of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia, towards key components of the ESL/EFL teacher preparation program, major goals and curriculum of EFL teaching in public schools. This research tested if the difference of teaching level (university vs. grade school) causes a difference in the perceptions of EFL/ESL faculty or EFL/ESL practitioners. The data was gathered from two main sources which are university level, University of Ha’il, and grade school level (i.e., elementary, intermediate, secondary). A survey was used for this study which has been modified and validated through a pilot study conducted by the researcher. A total of 96 surveys were used to be analyzed (83 EFL/ESL practitioners, 13 ESL/EFL faculty members). The data was analyzed using the mean, standard deviation, frequency, t-test, and nonparametric test (Mann Whitney U test). Data concerning EFL teacher preparation showed that EFL faculty members and EFL practitioners have demonstrated similar attitudes toward most of the items on the survey (87.2%). Only five items were considered to have shown significant difference in the perceptions of the EFL faculty members in Girls’ College of Education in University of Ha’il and the EFL practitioners in girls’ public schools in the City of Ha’il (elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools). In both samples there was an overwhelming majority that affected the results. For the EFL faculty members, master’s degree holders are the majority who responded to the survey. Also, EFL practitioners in public schools with more than 5 years of experience were the majority of the sample. There were significant differences relating the importance of having courses like Introduction of Linguistics and EFL syllabus design. Also, the same can be said about cultural awareness of different cultural backgrounds of EFL learners. It is clear that EFL faculty were more supportive of the notion more than EFL practitioners who had more of a spread of opinions. Additional results relating to major goals of EFL teaching in public schools showed that there were significant differences in the perceptions of EFL teachers and faculty members. As for the satisfaction with the current EFL teacher preparation program, it is very clear that it is supported by EFL faculty members while EFL practitioners are dissatisfied with it. Further data of the study relating to curriculum content indicated that EFL faculty and EFL practitioners didn’t demonstrate significant difference in their perceptions. These findings regarding EFL syllabus design and curriculum content is in consistence with communicative-based approaches rather than relaying on highly structured, grammar-based approaches