Research Question 3:

What do Saudi secondary school students and their teachers perceive to be appropriate solutions for Saudi secondary school students’ difficulties with English writing?
In this study, open-ended questions with students, student focus groups and teacher interviews were used to address Research Question 3. The aim was to elicit students’ and teachers’ opinions on how the difficulties Saudi secondary school students experience in English writing can be addressed effectively. Specifically, the question was divided into two sub-questions: one was about students’ suggestions to address their difficulties in sentence level issues; and the other concerned students’ suggestions to address the paragraph level issues.
With regard to the open-ended questions from the questionnaire, 537 out of 600 students answered the first sub-question and 451 answered the second sub-question. However, students did not provide any detailed suggestions for either sentence or paragraph level issues. In other words, the questionnaire mainly elicited general suggestions for coping with students’ problems with English writing.
Using thematic analysis, the findings of the data from all three instruments, open-ended questions with students, student focus groups and teacher interviews, revealed a number of suggestions that address Saudi secondary school students’ difficulties when writing in English. These suggestions were classified into seven specific themes: language function, curriculum; creativity; extra English classes; practice; previous learning experinces in English; and teacher-related issues.
Language function
Another suggestion introduced by participating students for improving teachers teaching approaches was concerned with using the English language functionally. Specifically, it was about how to functionally use grammar and vocabulary correctly in different contexts. In the questionnaire, it was mentioned 59 times that students required their teachers to teach them how to use grammar and vocabulary correctly in different communicative functions. Students perceived that learning how to use English in terms of grammar and vocabulary would help them reduce their problems in English. This is exemplified in what one student said:
“ We do not know how to use grammar. We don’t use our sentences. We just know the rules and how to answer the grammar questions in the exam. We should be taught how to use our English in our daily lives.”
Another student mentioned
“ We do not apply the rules of English grammar. We just know that if you face this problem or question, you put that. For example, if you find the word “ now”, you choose or put the verb with ing.”
Another student mentioned
“We learn grammar separately from writing. They do not teach us how to use the grammatical rules we have learned in written compositions. Aside from what we memorize and imitate from class and the texbooks we don’t know much about English grammar.”
One student said
“When we use the words we learn, we will never forget them. We know a lot of words but we do not know how to use them correctly”.
Another student said:
“ The teacher doesn’t give us the chance to create our own examples on the rules we learn, we just listen and do nothing except copy, paste and memorise. Therefore we can’t write correct English grammar for the things that we have not memorized. ”
2nd male student said
“ We just memorise the words and their meaning in Arabic. We need to use the words correctly in complete senteces not just memorise them”
2nd female student
“ Teachers should teach us how to use the words correctly in different communicative situations. For example, we have had learned a new word today which is “ material”. We know the meaning in arabic but we do not know how to to use it correctly in different contexts in English writing.”
(Removed some comments and edited the rest)
These comments show that students suggest that they want to use the grammatical rules and vocabulary they learn correctly in different meaningful situations. It seems that students want to have an active role in their learning instead being passive copying and pasting. Basically, the students have a problem with how they are taught as if the language should not be important to them outside class. The teachers teach them how to cram, memorize, imitate mainly for exam purposes since they do have to complete the curriculum. However, regardless of these two factors, the students actually demonstrated a genuine interest in the language as more than just a means to excel in academics. They are interested in learning how to speak and write proper English for alternate purposes other than to complete the curriculum and pass examinations.
As implied by the students’ comments, they do not merely want to memorise the grammatical rules and vocabulary. Instead they want to use them communicatively in different real life situations. This demonstrates that students want their learning to focus on language function not just on language form. Notably, this contradicts with what they teachers are practicing; which is focusing on language form as opposed to language function.
The comments show that students were concerned about applying what they have learned. They mentioned some examples on how they are required to answer questions such as fill in the blanks, choose the right answer, among others. These kinds of questions depict that the students do not learn the grammatical rules and vocabulary to convey meaningful messages; conversely, they mainly focus on the end product which are the final exams.
The comments reveal that the students want to apply the rules they learned in their written compositions. They want to learn the language functionally. Additionally, they want to have an active role in their learning by using the words they learn rather than memorizing them and filling in the blanks without knowing how to use them.
The comments show that the focus of teaching English is on how students master the knowledge of grammar and vocabulary rather than on how to use them correctly in different communicative functions.
The comments illustrate that it seems that the knowledge of linguistics features is not enough to convey communicative messages effectively.
It appears also that there is a heave concentration on language form in terms of grammar and spelling. Overemphasis on the final product is reflected in a text free of mistakes in grammar, spelling and punctuation.
This seems that teachers view writing as a way of producing a text free of mistakes.
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Curriculum
The findings of the open-ended questions in the questionnaire showed that word curriculum was mentioned 95 times. The statement most frequently mentioned was “the curriculum should be improved or changed”. Some students introduced ideas such as “supporting the curriculum with pictures”, “specific lessons for writing”, “reducing the amount of grammar lessons”, “the curriculum should be suitable to their proficiency levels”. Predominantly, the comments made by students indicate that the existing curriculum needed to be revised or improved in order to enhance their performance in English writing.
Relevance to students’ lives
Students’ views in the focus group were consistent with their responses in the questionnaire. Students generally agreed that topics introduced in the English curriculum generally and the writing lessons especially are not relevant to students’ daily lives. Participants suggested that the curriculum should be updated by including topics relevant to their lives. They believed that writing about such topics would help them improve their English.
The following comments were made by two students and they indicate the sentiments of many other students:
The curriculum should be changed because the topics are not related to our lives. Why do we have to write about topics such as Oil and Ozone? We need to write about things we see in our daily life. [2nd year male student 2]

The curriculum should include topics that help us learn how to use our English at the airport, coffee shops and whilst shopping . [1st year male student 1] In a similar vein, female students asserted that they need to write about topics reflecting their own interests, such as “fashion styles and make up”, which suggests that the curriculum should include topics that were related to their life experiences.
Supporting the students’ views about the topics introduced in the English curriculum, participating teachers implied these topics should be relevant to students’ experiences in real life situations in order to encourage them learn English and practice writing. One teacher claimed that:
The curriculum is killing me. I do not know how to teach students about abstract things such as writing about early traders and oil. Students need to write about something they can see in their lives such as their favorite sport. [Male teacher 2] Curriculum sequence
Many participants expressed their concern for the curriculum to be suitable for students’ proficiency levels. In other words, the responses showed that students face problems in understanding the content of the curriculum, largely due to its non-appropriateness at their proficiency levels. Some students believed that they were being given advanced grammar lessons before they had learned the basic ones. Typical of their observations were the following statements made by two students:
Different types of verb tenses should be taught systematically. For example, we learn the past in the elementary, the present in the intermediate and the future in the secondary school. When we graduate from the secondary school, we can differentiate between the different verb tenses. [2nd year female student 3] The curriculum should be made suitable for our age and proficiency levels. Some information is repetitive since the intermediate school so that we do not get benefits from the curriculum. [3rd year female student 3] However, regarding the appropriateness of the curriculum in terms of proficiency levels, one student suggested a sequential strategy to learn writing that reflects the opinions of some other participants. He commented:
The curriculum should introduce writing lessons gradually. I suggest we learn how to write simple sentences in the elementary school, the compound sentences and write guided paragraphs in the intermediate school, and then in the secondary school we should learn how to write a paragraph freely. [2nd year male student 1] Most teachers consistently reported the curriculum should present lessons from easy to difficult and should not be repetitive. These views are represented in the vignettes below:
I think the curriculum designers need to simplify the rules and give examples ranging from easy to difficult. For example, give students examples on regular verbs then irregular ones. [Male teacher 3]

I suggest that the curriculum should be arranged in an easy way and it should be appropriate for students’ proficiency levels. The existing curriculum is confusing. The curriculum introduces the tag question in each lesson. I think the curriculum should present the past tense with all its forms such as past simple, [past continuous and past perfect]. Then, it should introduce the present with all its forms. [Male teacher 1] Although there are no specific lessons in the curriculum for dictation or spelling, I give extra lessons. The focus on spelling is in the third year level which is the last stage in secondary school. I think the curriculum designers need to change the curriculums and focus on spelling in the intermediate school. [Female teacher 2]

I think the topics are repetitive, especially in grammar. The students study them in both the 1st and 2nd year levels…Also, the same applies to yes/no type of questions; it is repeated over and over again. [Female teacher 3] Attractive and interesting curriculum
Another prominent theme relating to curriculum to emerge from the data is that most students suggested that it should be interesting, motivating and attractive. They perceived that currently the curriculum is “very old” and “very boring”. They indicated that it should be supported with “pictures, audio and video aids”. The following comment made by one student reflects the view also expressed by several other students:
You should change the curriculum and design the lessons based on what we like; please, make it more attractive by supporting it with pictures and videos. [1st year male student 3] Consistently, the majority of teachers felt that the curriculum should be more attractive and motivating to students and should be updated regularly. The following comments made by two teachers also echo the sentiments of many of their colleagues:
I feel frustrated because the curriculum is so very old that my students always feel frustrated. My students always ask me why it is old, the pictures are old; the topics are not related to our lives directly and are not attractive. [Female teacher 1] I was taught this curriculum when I was a student and I have been teaching the same thing for 10 years. I cannot believe this that curriculum designers think that it does not need an improvement. The generation change and the technology have been improved but the curriculum has not. [Male teacher 3] In short, the findings from this current study, as perceived by the students and the teachers, provide insights into the need for making the existing curriculum motivating and attractive. The students and teachers also indicated that the curriculum needs to be meaningful and interesting through the engagement with peers, teachers and address relevant issues affecting learners’ lives as well as the community. In addition, they suggested that curriculrm should be suitable for students’ proficiency levels and the leesons should be sequenced from easy to difficult.
The next discussion focuses on another important issue; the issue of “creativity” and its relationship to English writing.
Creativity
Creativity was one of the most frequently mentioned themes (63 times) to emerge in the findings. The findings showed that students perceived their writing performance would improve significantly if they created their own English compositions. The following statements from three students reveal that they preferred creation to memorization and imitation:
We need to compose our paragraphs and create our sentences instead of copying and pasting. [3rd year female student 1] The English subject mostly depends on memorisation rather than understanding. I think being creative would help us learn English very well. [2nd year male student 1] We should create our sentences. We just copy and paste or we just use the right answer if the question is a multiple choice. we do nothing [3rd year female student 2] These responses imply that students want to create their own writings. They considered memorization as a factor contributing to their problems in English writing and believed that it did not help them to use their English skills fluently. More specifically, they do not want to just imitate a model with no input of their own; rather, they stressed the importance of production and creation of their own sentences, ideas and compositions. In fact, students and teachers alike perceived that memorization was one of the key strategies prominently used in learning and teaching English in Saudi secondary school students. Importantly, many students suggested that they should produce their own written work even if they do make mistakes. Two students stated:
We want to create our own writing and make mistakes. We can learn from our mistakes. we need to use our own examples and sentences. We need to try and try until we learn [ 1st year female student 3] We memorize the determined topics. We do noting when we write. We are like a machine. We just copy and paste without understanding why, how, and what we write. We need to create our compositions. [2nd year male student 1] This illustrates that students perceived that they would take risk of their own learning in terms of making mistakes if this taking risk would help them create their own senteces and compositions when writing in English. This commens also reveals that students wanted to know their writing to focus on the function, the content and the process of their own writing rather than just on the final product that is reflected in free grammar and spelling mistakes.
Students clarified their desire to be creative in terms of creating their own sentences and compositions when writing in English, not just in the secondary school but in the earlier grades. This is reflected in the following views presented below:
We need to learn how to create our own sentences in the elementary schools to be able to create our own compositions in the secondary schools. [3rd year male student 2] To improve our writing, we need to write about topics interesting to us. We can write about it at home and create our own ideas and sentences. [2nd year female student 1] We should be taught how to create our own ideas and how to write meaningfully, not just spelling and grammar without knowing anything…I really want to learn and create my own sentences but unfortunately the teachers always force us to copy and paste. [1st year male student 3] We need to write a real letter to a real friend instead of copying and pasting. [3rd year male student 1] These comments reveal that students are of the opinion that the creation of sentences by themselves will reduce their difficulties in English writing. They want to use their English writing skills functionally and not just formally. In other words, they believed that learning English writing should focus on learning how to use the language fluently and creatively in different contexts.
Importantly, students’ views were supported by the teachers interviewed. They generally agreed that creativity would help students to use the English language effectively so that their problems were solved. Typical of their remarks was the following statement made by one teacher:
For reducing students’ difficulties in English writing, I suggest that students should write freely and create their own sentences and paragraphs. Teachers need to make competitions between them to create their own compositions. [Female teacher 2] Importantly, although students and their teachers views were similar regarding the importance of creation/production in writing as a means for the improvement of writing, it was evident that some teachers were opposed to the idea that students want to be creative and productive. This view is expressed by one teacher as follows:
They [students] want us to do everything. They should create their own sentences. They should create their own paragraphs. The curriculum does not help us to encourage them to create their own. [Male teacher 1] This implies that some students therefore like to be directed and told what to do; they do not want to produce their own sentences and ideas. Interestingly, two teachers clarified that a few advanced students desired to create their own compositions:
To be honest, some good students want to create their own works and they ask me if there is a problem with that. I always encourage them. I think some students do not want to imitate or copy but our way of teaching and the curricula instruction forces them to imitate and copy and paste. [Male teacher 2] If I find good students who want to improve their writing, I encourage them to create their own. [Male teacher 3] Critically, one teacher explained that he wanted to help students to create their own sentences and compositions but he faced obstacles. To elaborate:
I am not required as a teacher to give them the chance to put the word in sentences on their own. I think it is a good idea to let them create their own sentences and compositions and I think if they get accustomed to create their own, they will do a great jo, but it think I will face a problem with the class in relation to time and size. I will not be able to give feedback because of the heavy work load. [Male teacher 2] The above viewpoint suggests that while some teachers felt the need to encourage creativity in students as a principal way to help them overcome English proficiency problems, they faced a number of limitations. These included the mandatory curriculum, class sizes and instruction time that hinded creativity in the classroom.
Extra English classes
The introduction of extra English classes, lessons and courses was suggested by both students and teachers as an effective means to address the difficulties faced by Saudi secondary school students when writing in English. From the open ended questions in the questionnaire, students’ attitudes were evident in phrases such as “extra English class”, “extra English lessons” and “English courses” that were mentioned by 163 respondents. Consistently, in the focus groups, all the intervieweed students suggested that they need extra English classes to help them reduce their difficutlies in English writing. The following comments made by some students are indicative of those made by many others:
I suggest two English classes a day to reduce the difficulties we have in English writing. [1st year female student 2] Just four classes a week is not enough for learning a second language. We just learn here. We need to have more classes. There should be specific classes for writing and reading, etc. [1st year male student 3] We need special classes for writing as it is neglected and we rarely practice writing. Even in the exam we do nothing. [2nd year male student 1] I think one class a day is not enough. We need at least two classes to have the chance learn and use English. Also, the size of the classroom is small but the number of students is high. We need extra English classes. [2nd year female student 2] The above statements reveal that currently the number of classes devoted to English does not likely meet the expectations of students and may not help them to become more proficient in acquiring better English writing skills.
Teachers also share similar views about having extra English lessons to overcome students’ problems. Three teachers argued that:
A forty-five minute class is not enough for students to learn English. I suggest increasing the number of English classes and some of them should be arranged in an English lab for practicing their English. [Female teacher 1] We don’t have enough time to give feedback. Students need to have extra English classes so that we can follow them and give feedback. This would help lessen their problems in English writing. [Male teacher 1] There is a need for increasing the number of English classes, otherwise 4 classes a week would not help them to learn English very well. [Male teacher 2] Overall, the findings suggest that with more exposure to English classes, the less difficulties students might have with writing. Accordingly, increasing the number of English classes will help students impove their English language skills and writing in particular.

Practice
Another frequently mentioned theme was “practice”. The findings show that students needed to practise both general English skills and specific English. This was evident in 163 responses stemming from the questionnaire. These respondents believed that they needed to “practice their English inside and outside the classroom”, “practice using the new vocabulary and the grammatical rules they had learnt in different contexts”, “practice spelling”, “practice writing free paragraphs”, “practice English inside the class” and that they “needed to practice writing on a continuous level”.
Consistent with their responses about the importance of practice, students expanded on this theme in the focus group. The following comments illustrate the above view:
We need to practise what we have learnt. We need to speak English in the class at least once a week. I suggest that we can call it English day. [1st year male student 2] We need special classes for writing as it is neglected and we rarely practice writing even in the exam we do nothing. [2nd year male student 1] If we don’t practice writing ourselves, we would learn nothing. [3rd year female student 2]

The above clearly indicates that students believed practice is an important predictor of their ability to write well in English. It also indicates that their limited English proficiency is a result of the lack of opportunity to improve their writing skills using a trial-and-error process. Consistently, students’ views were supported by the their teachers who agreed that when students practiced in English, their writing problems tended to decrease. Two teachers expressed this view:
I try to encourage students to practise spelling although the textbook does not have exercices about spelling because I believe learning needs practicing. [Male teacher 3] I think practicing is a fundamental factor for learning English. Practicing helps students to express their ideas. I believe that practicing is the most effective way to help students decrease their difficulties in all the four skills. [Female teacher 1] However, from a negative perspective, the teachers complained that their current heavy workload was a problem as it prevented students from acquiring better writing practices. Also, they were in fact critical of the present curriculum as it did not adequately focus on practice as a means to develop English language performance. Two teachers stressed that :
Students can practise writing in their free time but the problem is how I can give them feedback. We are not able to give feedback. The ability to givie feedback depends on the class size and the number of students in the class. [Male teacher 1] We know that learning a second language needs practice. I believe that many students are smart and love English but they need to practice using their English outside the classroom. For writing, they should practice writing more and more. But the curriculum which is being implemented does not encourage students to practice writing by themselves. [Male teacher 3] These responses further demonstrate that although some teachers believed in the importance of encouraging students to practise free wrting, they did not ask the students to do it because giving the students the chance to practice free writing entail teachers’ feedback that comsumes time. Also, these responses revealed that although some teachers may intend to give the students the opportunity to practice writing freely in English, the existing curriculum does not encourage students to do so.Essentially, these insights have implications for curriculum developers and policy-makers. It seems that teachers want to have the authority and freedom to implement suitable strategies that allow their students to practice more.
Previous English learning experinces
A number of students expressed the view that one of the issues that could solve their difficulties in English writing was having a strong foundation in previous English learning experinces. To have a strong foundation, students suggested that they needed to learn English from an early age as possible. Data from the open-ended questions from the questionnaire revealed that 73 students endorsed this view. However, students suggested different stages of one’s life to start to learn English. Some remarked that they should “learn English from early childhood” while others mentioned that they should “learn from the third year level in the elementary school”. However, most of the responses indicated that students should commence learing English from the first year level in the elementary school.
It should be emphasized that most responses in the open-ended questionnaire did not specifically give adequate explanations about the reasons why strong foundations in English skills are required to alleviate students’ problems with writing. However, the importance of a strong foundation is reflected in the two statements below:
It depends on the foundation. We have learned nothing in the intermediate school. It is expected we learn English from the first year level in elementary school. If we did, we would be great in English. [2nd year male student 2] Sometimes the teachers believe that all students know the letters but most of them do not. They didn’t learn them very well in the elementary school. [3rd year male student 3] In contrast, the focus group did reveal much more details regarding strong foundation. All students agreed that learning English should begin in elementary schools. Students associated their difficulties in writing English to a weak foundation of learning. One student pointed out:
The foundation is very weak. It should be strong. We cannot learn how to write a paragraph before knowing how to write a complete sentence. We will not be able to learn English very well unless we learn it from the first year level in the elementary school. [3rd year male student 1] This implies that students without a strong foundation will most certainly face challenges in meeting the requirements of English at the secondary school level. Students are required to write a paragraph at the secondary level, yet they seem incapable of writing a complete sentence correctly. Perhaps this is why some suggested learning the basics of English as early as possible. However, the reality is that some students in the secondary school are not conversant with all of the English letters, let alone writing complete sentences correctly.
Several students wondered how meaningful learning in English could occur if students did not have a solid foundation and according to one of them:
If the foundation is strong, English would be easy to learn. It is very difficult because we as Arabs do not speak English widely. Also, we do not have not good foundation in the 6th year level in elementary school. The teacher did not teach us very well . He made us pass without being component enough in English. There are some students who did not learn the English letters very well when they were in the intermediate school level. [1st year female student 1] Students’ responses suggested that strengthening the basic English skills learnt during their early childhood years would benefit them in later learning. In other words, if young children do not acquire the basic skills of a second language early, it will be very difficult for them to acquire advanced skills.
Consistently, students’ views were supported by their teachers who perceived that learning English should begin in elementary schools. One teacher commented:
Students have a lot of problems in grammar because of their weak foundation. To reduce these problems, students should learn basic skills early in elementary schools. [Female teacher 2] Another teacher wondered how she could teach students advanced skills when students had difficulties in mastering the basic skills, for example, the English letters. She pointed out:
Students need to have strong foundation from childhood as some of them attend secondary schools without recognizing all the English letters. In these cases, it very, very difficult for students to advance their English skills. This is why I advocate that students learn the basic from a very early age. [Female teacher 3] The above comments clearly highlight the plight faced by teachers. The challenges they face seem enormous because of the weak foundation possessed by many students. In these cases, students fail to meet the expectations of their teachers. Arguably, obtaining a strong foundation from an early age will most certainly facilitate the teaching of advanced English skills in the secondary school. This problem could be aggreviated, as indicated by the students, by the skill level of some of the teachers. Coupled with this is the weak preparation of teachers as indicated by the students ( see discussion below).
Related to the issue of a weak foundation is the design and implementation of new curricula to address the issues that English teachers face. Several teachers signalled that while the successful learning of English language relies on skills and processes, it is imperative that Saudi Arabian educational policy makers consider the issue of a strong foundation when designing curricula as well as strategies. The importance of this is noted in the comments below:
I feel frustrated because of their base or foundtion. I get distracted between teaching them the foundational rules in spelling, grammar and writing sentences and in teaching them the current curriculum that has more complicated grammatical rules. I think that learning English from the third or fourth level in the elementary school would make students better in English so that their future difficulties would be lessened. [Male teacher 2] I believe that if students learn English very well when they are very young, a lot of their challenges in English writing will be reduced. [Male teacher 1] Thus, the comments echoed by both the students and teachers above clearly indicate the importance of having a solid foundation in basic English skills. It would also serve to address future difficulties students encounter in their English writing.
Teacher related issues
The findings of data analysis below revealed two major teacher related themes, namely teacher training and improved teaching techniques. In the following discussion, teacher training refers to the training English teachers receive. For improved teaching techniques, two issues are explored, namely feedback and motivation. When discussing the issue of motivation, three sub-discussions will revolve around the issues of ‘varying teaching techniques’, ‘using technology’ and ‘using games’.

1. Teacher training
Students believed that teachers needed training in teaching English. This training should be of an acceptable level that would lead to improvements in students’ English proficiency. The research results indicated that the word “training” was mentioned by 37 respondents. Most of the responses to the open-ended questions suggested, “train teachers how to teach English” but the suggestion was not substantiated with details, rather, students offered general reasons for the need for teacher training in English.

With regard to the focus group, students agreed that teachers need to be trained in how to teach English generally and writing specifically. Students claimed that teachers’ training may have a positive impact on students’ learning outcomes if it was successful in addressing the challenges students face in English writing. Students pointed out that teachers should be trained in how to use “effective teaching methods”. One student commented:
Teachers should undertake some courses in how to teach English and how to use effective teaching methods. Hopefully, teacher training will allow us the chance to be responsible for our own learning by creating sentences and writing our paragraphs by ourselves instead of copying and pasting. Teaching training in English is crucial for teachers if they want to improve their students’ English skills. [2nd year male student 1] This comment highlights the view that students perceive the importance of teachers’ training as pivotal in promoting their learning. It would appear that students valued pedagogical training to help teachers improve their teaching methods. The students suggested teachers should be trained in how to employ “effective teaching methods” in terms of giving students the opportunity to be autonomous and creative rather than passive, reproductive and imitative when writing in English. It seemed that students valued the teachers’ role in promoting students’ learning. They were in favour of teachers educating students in certain ways that would foster communicative and interactive situations whereby students could express their views orally and in written English compositions effectively. They suggested that training teachers would help improve the quality of teachering when effective teaching techniques were employed. This will in turn have a positive effect on students’ learning outcomes in English writing.
Another student contended that improving teachers is more important than improving other affecting factors such as the curriculum:
The teachers should be trained and improved before improving the curriculum. [1st year male student 2] In a similar vein, another student stated:
If the teachers are trained how to teach English, these difficulties will be reduced or overcome as I think the teacher is the main reason for all these difficulties. [2nd year female student 2] Evidently, the general consensus among students was that priority should be given to teacher training. Although improving the curriculum was perceived by students as very important if students’ English writing was to be properly addressed, other students deemed improving teachers to be the most important. Clearly, students consider the teacher as the most influential factor in their learning and they linked their difficulty in learning English to teacher training and practice. Overall, the findings illustrate that students conclude their teachers’ performance and training will affect their learning outcomes. The call for better teacher training to address students’ challenges in English writing is not only emphasised by students but also by their teachers.
Interestingly, teachers do concur that they need training in teaching English generally and writing specifically. Teachers noted that training programs could help them improve their teaching practices. Although all the interviewed teachers have no less than 5 years of teaching experience, they perceived that they needed English teaching training programs. One teacher pointed out:
I attended four courses in teaching generally such as classroom management. To be honest, I did not benefit from those courses. We just attended and got certificates. Specifically, it is like a lecture where we listen to the presenter and then we sign for attendance. We have never been trained how to teach writing. Therefore, I suggest that we need training sessions on how to teach English and how to teach writing specifically. [Male teacher 1] It is evident that teachers considered current training to be useless because it was impractical. In other words, it lacks practical applications where teachers were passive listeners. In addition to the lack of teaching practical content in teacher training courses, teachers perceived that trainng courses were irrelevant to their teaching needs and to teaching methods in terms of focusing on the main four skills of learning English. Although classroom management is one of the issues related to teaching and learning, teachers suggested the training courses should be relevant to teaching the fours skills of learning English especially teaching writing. Teachers in fact value the relevance of being trained to teach English because it would promote students’ learning how to write in English. One teacher noted:
The ministry just trains us how to manage the classroom; how to introduce the information or the lessons in a simple way; how to use portfolio for you as a teacher; or to assess the questions of the final exam from the previous year. We need training courses in teaching English specifically not just in teaching generally. [Female teacher 2] While four teachers suggested they wanted training courses to concentrate on teaching English, especially the main four skills, there were two male and female teachers who wanted to be trained in how to teach English because they had never had such training. This request was stated by one teacher such:
We need to learn how to teach English in a professional way. Unfortunately, even in the university, we haven’t been trained to teach the four skills. We haven’t been taught how to become an English teacher. [Male teacher 3] This comment shows the teachers’ desire for pre-service teacher training to prepare them for educating students in English and in a way that improves their teaching practice.
To sum up, the findings revealed that teachers acknowledge that teacher training will help them improve their teaching practice so that students could improve their English writing. In fact, teachers and students agreed in their suggestions that when teachers attend special training courses on how to teach English, difficulties faced by Saudi secondary school students would probably decline and consequently lead to more widespread English proficiency skills.

2. Improved teaching techniques
The majority of students’ responses were that teachers should improve their teaching techniques. The students believed that when teachers do so, students’ problems in English writing could be reduced. The phrase “improve teaching techniques” was referred to by 62 respondents. With regard to the responses to the open-ended questions in the questionnaire, only a few students gave some details explaining their suggestions. In most responses, the participants mentioned some strategies to improve teachers’ teaching techniques but without giving much details, such as ‘giving feedback’ (mentioned by 20 respondents), ‘varying teaching techniques’ (mentioned by 50 respondents), ‘using technology’ (mentioned by 17 respondents), and ‘using games’ (mentioned by 20 respondents). These specific suggestions are discussed below.
• Feedback
From the open-ended questions in the questionnaire, feedback was mentioned by 20 respondents and it refers to students needing their teachers to comment on their written work. They believed feedback on their written work would help them decrease their problems in English writing. Most of the responses that suggested “give feedback” did not provide details as to why and how teachers should provide this feedback. However, two students did elaborate on the issue of feedback and stated that:
Teachers should give feedback rather than just have a look at whether we complete the written work or not. [1st year female student 2] The teacher should give feedback rather than just sign on the written work without any comments to improve writing. [2nd year female student 2] The above viewpoints illustrates that some students were dissatisfied with the way their teachers checked students’ work implying that some teachers were only concerned with students completing the written tasks and failed to provide the necessary written feedback. In addition, it would appear that some students valued the importance of receiving feedback as a way to help them address their problems with English writing. Feedback was deemed important as it could assist them in developing their learnings in English.
Unlike the open-ended questions in the questionnaire, students in the focus group provided many details on their suggestions on the issue of teachers’ feedback. In their responses, all students concurred that teachers should give students feedback on their written work so that mistakes could be identified and corrected.
One student queried as to how students could develop their writing English in the absence of feedback and stated:
Feedback is important. How can we improve our writing if there is no feedback? How can I know my mistakes? I want the teacher to read what I have written and comment on my work. After that, I can correct the mistakes I have made and then return my written work to her in order to check it again. [3rd year female student 3] It would appear that some students value the role of feedback in order to improve his or her English writing. In addition, the responses pertaining to feedback suggest that some students did not concentrate solely on their grades. Instead, they wanted feedback on the mistakes made and how to rectify them. Thus, feedback was deemed important for the improvent of English skills.
Furthermore, some students suggested ways in which teachers could provide feedback. These are illustrated in the excerpts below:
We want the teacher to motivate us when we write correctly by providing comments such as “Well done, good or excellent” … And when we do mistakes, we don’t want her to embarrass us or yell at us. We need the teacher to comment in a nice way. For example; ‘If you do this, it will be better” or “There is a mistake, you may write this and this”. [3rd year female student 2] Positive feedback will help to motivate and enhance students’ learning. On the other hand, direct negative comments, whether it is verbal and/or written, may negatively affect students’ motivation and confidence. In short, the above excerpt clearly reveals students’ preferences for positive feedback rather than negative ones.
Although some students indicated their desire to receive feedback from their teachers to help them improve their written English, one student perceived that it could be difficult for some teachers to give feedback to 30 students in one class.
Other comments from participants in the group of second year female students are represented below:
I think the teacher does not concentrate on what we write. The most important thing that is to write in the notebook. She walks around and sign without checking what we have written. [Student 1] Even the homework we are given has no feedback because we just copy and paste. [Student 3] May be it is difficult to check the work of 30 students. [Student 2] I don’t know but she should be concerned about what we write and give feedback to reduce our problems and improve our writing. [Student 1] Although some students understand that it could be difficult for teachers to give feedback to a class with many students, others believed that teachers should find an effective way to give feedback despite this obstacle. This illustrates that while students appreciate their teachers have a heavy workload, they insisted that they needed feedback and considered it as an important component of teaching in order to enhance their learning and improve their writing.

Supporting the views of some students, the teachers agreed that providing feedback was important for promoting students learning and to help students reduce their problems with English writing. One teacher was of the opinion that:
I believe that one of the possible solutions to reduce students’ challenges in writing is to give them feedback on their written work. However, the Ministry should reduce the number of students in classes and reduce teachers’ workload. I teach 24 classes a week. It is too much. [Male teacher 3] This shows that although teachers believe in the importance of giving feedback on their students’ written work, they sometimes cannot do so because of the number of students in classrooms and their workload. These two factors are real obstacles in relation to the issue of feedback. However, not all teachers endorsed the importance of giving feedback as echoed by one teacher:
I do not give feedback because students always copy from the board and they do not make mistakes. They do not make mistakes in spelling because they copied the words from the board. [Female teacher 2] The above comment indicates that it seems some teachers see no benefits in giving feedback because of the fact that students are required to merely copy and paste implying that the major focus in the teaching of English writing in Saudi secondary schools is primarily the teaching of spelling and grammar.
In summary, the responses showed a consistency between both teachers and students regarding the significance of feedback. Teachers and students indicated that providing students with feedback on their written work plays a crucial role in addressing the difficulties students face in English writing.
• Motivation
One of the issues suggested by students for improving teachers’ techniques is to address motivation. Students indicated that motivation is important for enhancing learning. They suggested some ways for teachers to motivate students to learn English. The most commonly elicited ways for teachers to motivate students to improve their English writing were to vary teaching techniques, use technology and use games. These issues are discussed below.
i) Varying teaching techniques
In the open-ended responses, it was mentioned by 50 respondents that teachers should “vary their teaching techniques”. However, students did not elaborate as to why this should happen. With regard to the focus group, more than half of the students justified why they required their teachers to vary their teaching techniques. Three students mentioned that:
We need our teachers to motivate us by using different teaching techniques. We get bored when teachers use the same method of teaching during every lesson [3rd year male student 1] Please, instruct teachers to vary their teaching techniques to motivate the students to learn instead of disliking the English subject. [1st year female student 3] The teacher should vary her teaching techniques to make the lessons interesting to us. Our problem is that the teachers repeat the same grammatical rules year in, year out. For example, we are taught every year in the same way that the pronouns “he”, “she” and “it” take the verb “is”. What I am saying is that we do not want to learn the grammatical rules like machines. We need variations in teaching techniques. This will stimulate our thinking and improve English skills. [2nd year female student 3] The above viewpoint clearly indicates that using the same routine of teaching English could demotivate students. It also implies that some teachers use similar ways of teaching grammar. In addition, students stressed that teachers should vary their teaching techniques by getting their students to create their own sentences using the grammatical rules that they were taught. It may also indicate that varying teaching techniques would assist students to become proactive in the English learning process.
A similar view on varying teaching techniques was stressed by another student who commented that:
We need the teacher to change her teaching techniques. Half of the girls get bored and sleep especially when she teaches via the use of a projector. She turns the iChat off and starts showing slides quickly and we just listen until we fall asleep. [2nd year female student 1] In most instances, students were of the opinion that unvaried, standard ways of teaching, for example, using Power Point, instills a degree of passiveness in students because they are not afforded the opportunity to contribute their own ideas and opinions. In addition, student participation is minimized during lessons and students tend to become demotivated. As a result, there is minimal learing during their lessons. On the other hand, varying teaching techniques, including the use of creative learning and interactive approaches could maximize students’ participation and engagement lessons. The latter was clearly evident in the responses articulated by students, that is, changing the way teachers introduce their lessons will most probably enhance students’ engagement, participation and communication.
To reiterate, another suggestion that would most probably enhance student learning was mentioned by a student who stated that:
We like group work. It is easier for all the students to learn when we work in a group. A student who understands nothing will understand when his partners helps him. It is a way of changing the boring class atmosphere. We can help each other. It is very motivating when we help each other and we share ideas. [1st year male student 3] This comment clearly shows that group work could help to motivate students. Evidently, some students prefer group work where they can interact and communicate with each other and to discuss and exchange ideas. The students also clarified why they preferred group work. They stated that whilst some students preferred group work and/or working in pairs, others might prefer working individually. With this view in mind, it would be beneficial to students if their teachers used group work, visual presentations, audio clips and other relevant approaches to deliver the subject content to meet the needs of students who have a variety of different learning styles. This is reflected in the comment presented below:
Teachers should use videos, audios, computers, projectors to motivate us. [3rd year male student 2] Overall, the findings indicate that the use of a variety of teaching techniques serves to motivate students, caters for individual learning needs and inspires them to learn English at a more efficient rate.
ii) Using technology
In relation to improving students’ motivation to learn English, another suggestion was greater integration of technology in English lesson plans. This view was raised by 17 students in the open-ended questionnaire wereby they stated that they were in favour of this methodology. However, once again, students did not generally expand on this suggestion as to how teachers chould use modern technology to enhance their teaching in order to benefit their students.
With regard to the focus group, students pointed out that greater use of technology in lessons would most certainly boost their motivational levels in learing English. The importance of technology to enhance learning and its role as a motivational tool was expressed by a student as such:
I hope our teacher uses modern technology such as videos, computers and projectors to make the lesson interesting. I hope our teacher uses technology to demonstrate “real” conversations between two people to motivate us. By doing so we can listen to these conversations and learn new vocabulary. [3rd year male student 3] The above viewpoint suggests that students want to learn from authentic everyday resources via technology because it motivates them to learn. Also, students prefer listening and/or watching a “real conversation” between people rather than reading written conversation between two persons. In other words, students’ responses suggest that using technology to provide students with authentic everyday real-life tasks would raise their motivation to learn English. When students “see” the real word inside and outside the classroom via technology, it is expected that their motivation to learn English will improve. Their responses also suggest that authentic resources would help motivate them and enhance their language skills. These views are presented below:
Teachers should change the topics so that they are related to what we like and make it more attractive by supporting it with pictures and videos. In essence, they should use more technology in their lessons. This is sure to motivate most students. [ 2nd year female student 3] We need labs with modern technology like English institutes have in order to motivate us to learn. [2nd year female student 3] In addition, students also stressed the importance of using the Internet in the classroom. Several students were critical of the lack of using the Internet as a teaching aid in Saudi schools and Two students elaborated on this fact by stating:
Why don’t our teachers use the Internet to make the lesson motivating? We can reach the world via the internet. [3rd year female student 3] I spend most of the day browsing the Internet and playing games on the PlayStation. I sometimes browse Google by writing English words. I search for something in English. I chat with some people in English. I chat with games players in English. [1st year male student 1] Consequently, students believe in the importance of using the Internet to help enhance their motivation to learn English. The above comments show that students tend to learn English via the Internet because many online communications are in English, for example when using chatrooms, playing games and contacting native English speakers who are also game players. Thus, the above comments demonstrate that communicating online with English speakers will encourage students to interact with others and motivate them to practice their English. Also, it would assist in improving one’s English language vocabulary, spelling and writing.
iii) Using games
Students suggested that teachers should use games to motivate students when teaching English. In the open-ended questionnaire, students’ responses were similar in that 20 respondents referred to “games”, for example “effective use of on-line games to stimulate learning”, “using games that could improve English proficiency” and “teachers should use games”. However, they did not clarify clarifying how they would be implemented. Nonetheless, in the focus group, students agreed that games would help motivate them to learn English and improve their command of the language. This view was expressed by two students and their comments are indicative of the sentiments of several other students:
We need the teacher to give us games to motivate us and I will learn English very well. [1st year female student 3] We need games, competitions or something similar to motivate us to practice writing and use our English. [2nd year female student 3] The above comments indicate that students related their proficiency in learning English to their motivation which can be raised through playing games. This may indicate that students are eager to learn but they need a motivating environment. Therfore, it was suggested that games would be a stimulating way to motivate them to learn English. In addition, some students elaborated on the issue and provided examples of how some games help increase motivational levels. Two students remarked:
… by explaining in an interesting and practical way. For example, the teachers give us games for rearranging sentences and creating our own personal sentences. [2nd year female student 2] I like games. In the English institutes, there are computer games. For example, you choose the right answer. If you do not choose the right answer, you can try and try until you choose the right answer. I like this because it motivates me to learn. [2nd year male student 1] The above statements denote that students believed that games would help keep them engaged and active. It also indicates that when games are challenging, learning may become more motivating. It is also evident that some students may not care about making mistakes as they continue trying to find the correct answers in challenging tasks. Likewise, the comment by 2nd year male student 1 demonstrates that some students become excited when they continue trying to complete the exercises introduced in games.
However, some students also pointed out that current teaching methods bored them and they wanted their teachers to use games to make the learning environment more enjoyable. This is reflected in the comment below:
Providing us with games would make the lesson enjoyable. Unfortunately, most of the girls fall asleep in the English class because of boredom. [3rd year female student 3] The above comment also serves to confirm that students want to enjoy their learning but are not provided with the opportunity to do so. Instead they are faced with boredom with many falling asleep. This is certain to decrease motivational levels in the classroom. Also, other comments reveal that students do not want their teachers to present activities in a game setting for the sake of doing so. They must also provide and have a learning intent as demonstrated by two students who stated that: :
We need games to motivate us to practice writing and use our English. [3rd year female student 2] I spend most of the day browsing the Internet and playing games. I chat with games players in English. [1st year male student 1] Thus, it could stated that games do indeed motivate students to learn English and by conversing with other on-line “gamers”, Saudi students can learn new vocabulary as they move from one stage to another in a game. In particular, they learn how to spell words thereby providing the motivation to learn English in terms of writing, communicating, spelling, and vocabulary.
To sum up, the findings reveal that improving learners’ motivation to understand the English language better has not been given much attention by curriculum designers, policy-makers and teachers. Most students feel that teachers should apply various teaching techniques so that rich learning experiences are offered and delivered. The findings also suggest that until now little attention has been given to integrating modern technology including information/multimedia technology such as videos, audios, computers, projectors and games to motivate student learing. Students had formed the opinion that improving motivation is an essential aspect of helping students solve their English language problems.
Conclusion
In conclusion, as a form of solution, the teachers can begin to emphasize on language function. The students are obviously interested in learning English as more than just a means to pass exams. They want to know the language and be able to use it correctly outside the classroom setting. Regrettably however, the teachers are more concerned with getting the students to complete the curriculum by making them memorize and imitate. In addition, modifications should be made in the curriculum to suit both the real-life events of the students and their proficiency levels. Essentially, it should be made attractive and interesting. Additionally, such allowances such as creativity, extra english classes, and practice should be introduced in the system. The students would like to be more involved in their English writing by creating the own compositions; they would like extra lessons and practice in the language as well. Moreover, learning English can be introduced earlier on in the students’ lives. There are teacher-related issues which must be addressed such as: teacher training and improved teaching techniques. While the students believe that their teachers are lacking in adequate training on how to teach English writing to beginners, there must also be improvements on how the teaching practice is executed. This could provide a sustainable solution on the difficulties faced by Saudi students in English writing.

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