A Comparative Study of Non-English Major Saudi Students’ Perceptions Toward Using Arabic in Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Abstract

In this paper, I examined gender dynamics in Saudi students' perceptions of the use of their first language (L1; Arabic) in English classrooms. Using a mixed-methods approach, I used a questionnaire with 400 students (200 men, 200 women) that assessed their attitudes towards using L1 for vocabulary, grammar, classroom atmosphere, anxiety reduction, and teacher approachability. There is a lot of gender difference: Females report much more positive attitudes toward L1 use on all factors, especially for vocabulary, grammar, anxiety reduction, and teacher approachability. L1 gives reassurance and lowers anxiety for women, who value  it qualitatively, but men prioritize L2 exposure and L2 proficiency (hence express less of a preference for L1). Overall, while the differences in classroom atmosphere are not statistically significant, the broad patterns of the findings indicate that women are more likely to perceive that L1 use helped to reduce anxiety and to facilitate comprehension. These findings reinforce the notion that gender influences the ways in which learners view language learning strategies. This study contributes to existing literature by providing more recent evidence from Saudi context, taking into account further consideration of the role of gender and the provision of linguistic support in the EFL classrooms. Strategies for teaching men and women could be revised taking into account these gender-specific differences to better meet emotional and cognitive needs (for example, perhaps women need to be able to use L1 to some extent but in a strategic way), which could in turn promote engagement and make it easier to overcome barriers stemming from EFL.