Técnicas experimentales para determinar el transporte de iones

Affective factors, which emerged from the interviews relevant to the students’ learning

experience included: motivation, stress and anxiety and their attitude towards the

language. Affective factors refer to the emotional side of a human being (Hulse, Egeth,

Deese, 1981, p.4). Motivation was found to play an important role in students’ achievement both in the OOPT and in the English language courses run by the university. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors emerged from the analysis. Some students valued developing proficiency in English because this was required for their field of study or future career, and hence were extrinsically motivated, while others enjoyed the learning experience and were therefore more intrinsically motivated. Some students may not see the relevance of learning English as they do not see it having a purpose in their future. These students may treat learning English as university requirement and hence not be very interested or motivated to study the language. Other Saudi students, on the other hand, who travel frequently and spend summer holidays in the UK or America, may be more interested in learning English as they know they will have opportunities to use the language. Another motivational factor, which emerged from the interviews, was the choice of specialisation chosen by the student. Those intending to study the Sciences or medicine know they will need English in future.

Participant 5 highlighted the difference in attitudes towards studying English between Science and Arts students. She argued that, unfortunately, for anyone specialising in Arabic, geography or history, English will seem like a waste of time and effort. This can make a significant difference to the way in which students approach learning the language. The Science students are definitely more appreciated by the participants in this study, but it was explained that they needed a higher GPA from school to be able to get into these specialised

courses; those who did not have a high enough GPA were placed into Arts courses, even if they were interested in the Sciences.

There are also a number of students who do not view learning English in a positive light. According to Participant 6, some students are simply not interested in the language. Many of her students argued that their reasons for studying English were just to pass their degree course as they did not like the language. However, P.6 attributed much of this to the fact that students in the PYP had a lot of pressure placed on them and they needed to gain good grades to be allowed to study their specialist subject. Similarly, Participant 7 also argued that students view English as a requirement to be admitted onto their degree programme and are often demotivated to study the language.

Participant 4 identified yet another issue, which may influence intrinsic motivation, namely that of the quality of the learning experience in English courses. She makes reference both to the level of challenge as well as to the need to change the traditional teaching approaches, which focus on the four skills.

Students become more motivated to study and to improve their English when their course seem related to their interests and needs and when the course seem more advanced and challenging and when assessment methods seem more flexible more interactive more dynamic and more fluid, they appreciated when the exam gives qualitative evaluation description for the weaknesses and strengths in each different skill they truly need other than the basic traditional four language skills.

It would appear that current teaching approaches may also need to be re-evaluated in order to identify ways in which language courses can increase students’ intrinsic motivation for the subject. This may have implications both for achievement and students’ enjoyment of the learning experience.

Aside from motivation, anxiety and stress also emerged from the analysis as factors contributing to students’ achievement in English courses as well as in the OOPT. Most students experience stress and anxiety throughout their academic years, especially those who are in the foundation year. According to Seipp (1991), anxiety can be a normal reaction to any new experience and, as the university experience is totally different from schooling years’ experiences, too much anxiety can affect their learning and proficiency. Participant 7

courses and they have to have certain grades in-order to specialise in the major they want. That puts pressure on the student’. The participant suggested that ‘if they can take English in a relatively less stressful environment, that would affect their competence and would be positive’. If this stress were taken away, Participant 6 believes they would relax and that would affect their competence; they would then have a more positive attitude towards the language.

Students’ attitude towards language further emerged as affecting achievement in English courses. Many students lack self-confidence and some are convinced that they will never be able to learn the language as it is too difficult. This is especially true with regards to the speaking component. Participant 5 illustrates how students view developing competence in English like any other subject that they can take home and memorise, but they need to be reminded that learning a language is a skill, not theoretical knowledge. It is unfortunate that some students lose their confidence at school level and they give up hope of learning English before they even start university. In schools, teachers may not have been proficient at English themselves and they have simply encouraged their students to memorise and pass English exams. P.8 suggests that teachers are not sufficiently qualified and this is why they teach in traditional ways; she recommends that they be asked to take professional developments courses to update their skills.

Some teachers also made reference to how student use of Standard English was perceived as an indication of better competency in the language. Participant 4 argued that students who were able to use Standard English were regarded as being at a higher level than others, especially in reading and writing. Furthermore, she suggested that those who used non- standard English were placed at lower levels, even though they may have been ‘proficient users of English’. This suggests that some students were able to perform well in reading and writing although they may have struggled with communication, while others may have been more fluent in speaking but adopted different forms of English. Students who are confident and extrovert may be more prepared to use the new language and make mistakes, but that does not mean they are proficient. Proficiency must surely include accuracy and accuracy must be assessed by standardised criteria. There needs to be some form of standardisation

when making judgements on performance; if there is no standard form of English to use for assessment, this must affect the reliability and validity of any testing system.

Financial background also emerged from the Stage 3 interviews as an important factor, in

particular when this resulted in increased opportunities to practice English both in school and when travelling abroad. Stage 3 Participant 1 commented that ‘a better financial background means the ability to attend private schools and to travel, so they are exposed to languages’. The private school system is subjected to demands from parents for a higher quality of education, and therefore resources are often greater. However, not only the materials but also the teachers were likely to be better qualified for teaching English. Teachers in the state school system are all Saudi and, consequently, their own level of English may be limited as they have gone through the same school system. However, in private schools, there are not the same limitations on employing foreign staff and thus some of the teachers may be native speakers of English or may have studied in English-speaking countries.

Even teachers from other Arab countries, let’s say Syria, Egypt, or Lebanon, she may have gone to an English school, or a French school, her education may have come from a private school or an international school in her own country and she has a better proficiency than a Saudi teacher (P.1).

Students from the private school system are thus less likely to be placed in lower level classes. Some may also be exempted from the English language course altogether, as they have taken a TOEFL exam or IELTS test instead. It is clear that students who come from a family background, who can afford private education, have an advantage. Private schools start teaching English at an earlier age, and they provide intensive language courses. This gives such students an advantage and they will normally go straight into the English course at an advanced level. In addition, private and international schools; often teach all subjects through the medium of English and this gives extra confidence to privately-educated students (Participant 6).

Being able to use smart phones and computer programmes to enhance their English can also help those from better financial backgrounds, according to Participant 4. This means such students have more opportunities to practise the language. Because of this extra practice outside the classroom, students can improve their skills and gain better results in tests.

Additionally, some wealthier students have an added advantage of frequently speaking English in the home (Participant 6) and may be more familiar with the topics covered in the OOPT or ELI modules. However, Participant 4 did not believe that tests reflect the actual level of English proficiency for language users not their success in the future; she was in fact opposed to all kinds of testing and believed that these are outdated methods of assessment.

Other factors, which emerged from the analysis as having implications for students’ achievement, were their health and wellbeing as well as the way students responded to certain teaching approaches and their own ability to learn languages. In interviews, some teachers suggested that the health of the student may adversely affect performance, especially with English being a foreign language and the other subjects all being easier, as they were taught in Arabic. A student weakened by ill health ‘may need more focus and more strength to absorb the language’ (Participant 2). Yet it is probable that ill health only played a role in exceptional cases and can therefore only be viewed as relevant for a small number of students. Nonetheless health-related issues can affect an individual’s achievement; these may be either physical health or mental health issues, such as anxiety, or depression that may lead to a weak performance. Mental wellbeing may be affected by family problems, as Participant 5 suggested, and this may influence the student’s overall proficiency.

The relevance of teaching as well as the way students responded to particular teaching approaches was also found to influence achievement. As Participant 5 argued, if students are taught one hundred words of vocabulary in a module, then these words should be ones they will actually use. Participant 5 pointed out that the unit on shopping is always well received probably because students perceive it as useful. They may go to restaurants where the waiter is not a Saudi; he may be from the Philippines or from Sri Lanka, and does not speak Arabic. However, this waiter will probably be able to speak English, so there is an opportunity for a Saudi student to practise the language. In Saudi Arabia, there are many other nationals working in the Kingdom and they come from countries like India or other parts of Asia, where English is spoken; even in the shopping centres P.5 believes there are opportunities for using English. If more emphasis were to be placed on such opportunities, the learning of English may have more relevance and students may actually enjoy practising their language skills.